Memories of Crystal Beach Park, Vermilion, Ohio
Sandra Calvert Mueller, Marlene Calvert Feldkamp,
and Tom Ryan
Hardcover and paperback, 6x9 in, 132 pages
Wheatmark, August 2007
ISBNs: 9781587368523 (hardcover), 9781587368516 (paperback)
Description
Crystal Beach Park closed its doors for the last time in 1965.
But for the people who enjoyed all that it had to offer, sweet
memories linger on. To commemorate the one hundred-year anniversary
of the opening of Crystal Beach Park, Sandra Calvert Mueller,
Marlene Calvert Feldkamp, and Tom Ryan share the park’s
history, along with their own treasured experiences, through photos
and commentary.
Memories of Crystal Beach Park, Vermilion, Ohio presents
the nostalgic reader with two hundred pictures of the amusement
park rides, the buildings, and—most importantly—the
people who were part of the Crystal Beach family. Whether you
worked at the park, rode all the rides, or simply love to learn
about what life was like in days past, this book will take you on a
most enjoyable trip down memory lane.
About the Authors
Sandra Calvert Mueller is an elementary teacher in the West
Geauga school system. A graduate of Bowling Green State University,
she earned her masters of education from Kent State University.
Sandra lives in Chesterland, Ohio.
Marlene Calvert Feldkamp is a former kindergarten, first grade,
and reading teacher from Vermilion, Ohio. She graduated from
Bowling Green State University and retired in 2007 after teaching
for forty-six years. Marlene lives in Amherst, Ohio, with her
husband, David.
Tom Ryan is a former executive vice president at a major
community bank. He is a University of Notre Dame graduate. Tom
lives in Vermilion, Ohio, with his wife, Carole.
Excerpt
In its early history, the forty-two and a half acres that was to
become Crystal Beach Park was owned by George W. Shadduck. Shadduck
purchased the property on November 10, 1854, for $1,275 at public
sale. A judgement and order of sale against a Richard S. Harris by
a Giles Williams resulted in the sale. Frederick W. Cogswell,
master commissioner of Erie County, was in charge of the sale that
was held at the Court of Common Pleas in Sandusky. In the 1854
deed, the forty-two and a half acres was referred to as
“being the same purchased by George Hubbard of Horace
Thompson.” The land was located on the north end of lot 27 in
the first section of Vermilion township in Erie County, Ohio.
A land option document between the Shadduck heirs and George
Blanchat, recorded August 28, 1906, further described the Shadduck
property as being bordered on the north by Lake Erie, and on the
east by the Erie and Lorain County line. At that time, the Shadduck
property was bordered on the south by land owned by Mrs. L. M.
(Alice) Todd. The western side of Shadduck’s property was
bordered by land owned by George Lohr. George Lohr’s land is
now known as Nakomis Park.
The house on the property had been a stagecoach stop and a
popular stopping off place for wayside travelers since the early
1870s. There was a cupola, which, before being removed, was
reported to have been used as a lookout tower against Indian
attacks.
As travelers continued to stop for lunch and enjoy the lake that
bordered Mr. Shadduck’s farm, he decided to allow them to
drive their buggies down to the beach. This led to the transforming
of his twenty-two and a half acres of lakeside property, around
1874, into a picnic grove complete with beer garden and dance hall.
With the added attraction of a roulette wheel, the grove soon
became known as Little Monte Carlo. Vermilion resident George
“Pete” Wahl ran a tent carousel, which was added around
1898 to what was now known as Shadduck’s Grove. Wahl also
owned and operated a shooting gallery on the property.
In 1906 a successful Lorain businessman named George H. Blanchat
heard of Shadduck’s death and that his heirs, George W. and
Vera Shadduck, Frank G. Lynn, Eva May Lynn Scholl and husband
Charles Scholl, and Leana Shadduck, wished to sell Shadduck’s
Grove.
Blanchat had previously owned the Star Theater, Railway Depot,
and a bar and grill at the corner of Broadway and Lake Road in
Lorain, Ohio. This bar and grill was located where Heilman’s
Restaurant was later built. Blanchat was then the owner and
operator of a scenic picnic and boat area at Oak Point, located
four miles west of Lorain. This area is now called Beaver Park.
These business experiences encouraged Blanchat’s vision for
the Shadduck property. He was aware that Cedar Point was the only
amusement park between Cleveland and Toledo and believed that the
acquisition of Shadduck’s Grove would be a golden opportunity
to establish another amusement park to serve the community.
On October 27, 1906, Blanchat purchased Shadduck’s Grove
for fourteen thousand dollars and moved his wife, Josephine, and
one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Thelma, to Vermilion. They lived
in the stagecoach house until their new home was built next door in
1907.
Blanchat added rides, concessions, and attractions to what some
people referred to as the “park of a thousand trees.”
Shelter could be built for fifteen thousand picnickers. There was
ample room on the property for parking five thousand vehicles.
Under new management, a new name was needed. One day, while
Josephine and George were walking along the beach, Josephine picked
up some sand and let the sparkling grains sift through her fingers.
With her remark, “It looks like crystal,” Crystal Beach
Park was born.
On Decoration Day (now referred to as Memorial Day), Thursday,
May 30, 1907, Crystal Beach Park opened for its first of fifty-five
seasons.
