Euclid Beach Park

EUCLID BEACH PARK ELP 3/25/2011



The main gate as see today.




The Thriller, The Dippy Whip, The Flying Turn, Over the Fall, Laughing Sal, The Fun House. There are too many to name but if you were a baby boomer growing up in the 1950’s or 60’s these meant just one thing, Euclid Beach Park.

Euclid Beach Park graced Cleveland’s North Shore for the better part of 75 years. Opening its gate in 1895, the park was meant to rival the like of New York’s Coney Island. The park was originally managed by William Ryan Sr. and featured gambling, a beer hall and freak shows. It was more of a circus that an amusement park. In 1897, Euclid Beach got a new director, Lee Holtzman who ran the park pretty much the same way. But 1901, it was sold to the Humphrey family and that’s when things really started to happen. They took the park from being a side show to being one of the premier family parks in the country.

Dudley S. Humphrey and six family members ran a concession stand at Euclid Beach for many years but were unhappy with the way Ryan ran the park. After taking over management in 1901, they expanded the beach facilities with a lakeside swing and a bath house. Other new facilities and attractions were quickly added. Their advertizing slogan became “One fare, free gate and no beer.

The Humphreys came to Cleveland without a dime to their name and after year of trying several types of businesses, they hit upon a pop-corn business which they operated at the park for several years before buying an interest in it. After taking controlling interest, the family decided to build a family friendly park.

They established Euclid beach on the idea of fair dealing and clean entertainment. No alcoholic beverages were permitted, gambling was not allowed, there was no questionable entrainment and they would not stand for any “ballyhoo”. The Humphreys thought that proper dress would promote a family atmosphere and the only people in allowed into the park wearing shorts were children. They even extended the no alcohol policy to anyone who had been drinking at any of the local saloons in the neighborhood outside the park. They promised patron that they “would never be exposed to undesirable people”. With these policies in place, no one believed that the Humphrey’s would be successful but the park became immediately popular. Euclid Beach Park was on its way.

Additions and improvements happened quickly in the coming years. In 1902 the Humphreys worked out an agreement with a streetcar company to offer reduced rate for passengers coming to the park. Two year later, a roller rink was added and three year after that the Elysium was built. This was an indoor ice skating rink that was quite unique for its time. At the same time new rides sprung up with each new season. In it day the park was best known for its carousels and roller coasters.

The first of many carousels built at Euclid beach was built in 1905. It was replaced in 1910 with a larger carousel that boasted fifty eight horses and two chariots. After the closing of Euclid Beach in 1969, this classic carousel was acquired and operated by Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. In 1997 it was purchased and returned to Cleveland by an organization called Euclid Beach Now. It is currently in storage awaiting restoration. The Great American Race was a carousel like ride but besides moving up and down, the horse, arranged in parallel groups of four, moved back and forth as in a horse race. The ride was sold to Cedar Point in 1965 and operated to this day as Cedar Downs. As a kid growing up at the time it was one of the most exciting rides at the park. But, in terms of pure thrills, nothing topped the assortment of roller coaster at Euclid Beach.

Over the years of the parks existence, Euclid Beach operated at least seven roller coasters, all unique in their own way. It was the Cedar Point of its time. The first was the Switchback Railway. It was closed in 1904 and replaced by the Aero Dips which survived until 1965. Another classic coast was the Racing Coaster. It was unique in that it featured twin trains that ran side by side and raced each other to the great delight of the riders. This was the first roller coaster at the park to survive until the park closed.

Another survivor was The Thriller. Debuting in 1924, it was the most popular of the parks coaster. Although dwarfed by today’s super coasters, The Thriller was one of the tallest coasters of the day. The first drop was seventy two feet at forty degrees. It had a top speed of thirty miles an hour and at least one death is attributed to the ride. The Thriller was followed closely by what was the most advanced design coaster of its day, The Flying Turns.

At the time of its construction in 1930, there was nothing like The Flying Turns. If fact, there is nothing like it in existence today. Try to picture a roller coaster without tracks. But that’s exactly what The Fly Turns was. Designed by John Bartlett, a World War One Aviator, the coaster was trackless wooden chute that had twists and turn very similar to a bobsled course. The three car trains were designed to resemble monoplanes. Eventually six of these coasters were built around the country, including one at famed Coney Island. But the one at Euclid Beach was the tallest of them all. The Flying Turns is even immortalized the Beach Boys song “Amusement Park USA” from the album “Summer Days” released in 1965.

As the park grew, so did the use of the automobile. Street car traffic to the park gave way to auto traffic and with that the need for parking lots. The year was 1921 and one of the most iconic of the parks symbols was built, the Euclid Beach Arch. There is no way to estimate the number of cars that drove through that sandstone arch from 1921 through 1969 but it still exists and can be seen as you drive down Lake Road on the east side of Cleveland. It now serves as the entrance way for the apartment complex that now sits on the site. The arch had been declared a Cleveland landmark and is now protected from demolition.

Any account of Euclid Beach Park would be remiss if it didn’t mention the Surprise House. The Surprise House was an ominous looking over 62 feet wide and 100 feet long. Opening in 1935, it has two stories of all kinds of surprises and fun for those brave enough to enter. There were floors that moved up and down and slid side to side. Blasts of air from unseen holes, loud knocking and little surprises around every corner were punctuated by the screams of the patrons. The entire design was a maze the kept you moving forward down darken hallway guaranteed to raise your heart rate and the hair on the back of your neck. However, as scary as the inside was, you got your first taste of what awaited inside before even waking through the door. Greeting you were probably the most iconic of Euclid Beach relics, Laughing Sal and Laughing Sam.

These nightmarish figures graced either side of the entrance of the Surprise House, shaking and laughing ominously. Sam was damaged during a fire and was removed but never replaced. Sal can still be seen haunting various locations. I last saw her in the lobby of a Marc’s store about two years ago. And, she was still frightening the kids just like she did standing outside the Surprise House all those years.

But at the same time the park was flourishing, there was a darker side. The Euclid Beach Park Riot was one of a series of racial discrimination protests against the park and occurred on August 23, 1946. The park had a long history of discrimination suits against it date back to1899. The park employed a special police force to “expel” any unwelcome guests, including blacks. On August 23, the Committee of Racial Equality (CORE) went to the park but were evicted by park police. The protests climaxed on September 12 when six member of Core were escorted for the dance hall. Two black off duty Cleveland policemen tried to intervene on the group’s behalf and a fight broke out. One of the officers was shot in the leg with his own revolver. The incident prompted City Counsel to institute laws for the licensing of amusement parks and for revocation of the license in the case of racial discrimination. The park closed a week early that summer and in 1947 the dance hall opened as a private club.

Euclid Beach has certainly had its ups and downs over it seventy four year history. Because of changing times that included the advent of television, the popularity of malls, racial tensions and other factors, the park lost favor with the public and closed for good on September 28, 1969. Most of the structure left standing after the closing succumbed to a series of fires and by 1986 most of the park was gone. In 1978 The Humphrey company opened a small, but short lived park in Streetsboro, Ohio called Shady Lake.

At the new park were some of the old, familiar rides and attractions. Among them were The Flying Turns, all of the kiddie land rides, the Penny Arcade games and the Sleepy Hollow Railroad. On the adjoining property the Humphrey Company continued to produce the famous popcorn, popcorn ball and candies. You can still purchase these at local markets.

Fragment of the old park are scattered far and wide but still exist. A few I have mentioned. But other remnants remain. On the old property, part of which has been declared a state park, the anchor posts for The Thriller can still be see. You can still walk the path that lead to The Flying Turns. Also still intact, although now filled with grass and dirt, is the circular pool that’s on the breach itself. The pool also served as a ride in which patrons sat in suspended swings and taken for a ride around the pool. The bridge for the Turnpike Cars still serves as the driveway to the apartment buildings on the west end of the property.

One part of the park that gets around more that most is an eight passenger rocket ship that was part of one of the rides. It has lovingly been restored to its former magnificence. The aluminum skin has been polished, the original seat replaced with red leather and it can be seem in many paraded and car shows in the area. That’s right, car shows. The rocket is now a hot rod! The usual reaction to anyone seeing it who remember Euclid beach is “Oh my God.” It is a real treat.

More bits and pieces of the park are in private collection and a number of books are available on the subject. There is also an excellent video production entitle “Euclid Beach is Closed for the season” thats guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye of any long time Clevelander.

Point is that Euclid Beach is not really dead. It still has fans all over the country. And as long as there are those who remember a warm summer day, the smell of popcorn and cotton candy on the wind and the screams from the roller coasters, the spirit of Euclid Beach will live on.