Euclid Beach Park

Euclid Beach Park (1895?September 28, 1969) was an amusement park located on the shore of Lake Erie in northeast Cleveland, Ohio.

Category: Image - :Euclid Beach.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Euclid Beach and the bath house, circa 1905

Originally incorporated by some investors from Cleveland and patterned after New York's Coney Island, the park was originally managed by William R. Ryan, Sr., who ran a park with gambling, a beer garden, and freak shows. In 1897, Lee Holtzman became Euclid Beach's new director, but he offered it for sale in 1901.

Dudley S. Humphrey, Jr., led six members of his family in managing the park as of 1901 (they had previously operated concessions at the park, but had been particularly unhappy with the way Ryan ran it). They expanded the beach and bathing facilities, including adding a lakeside swing, added many new attractions, and advertised to locals with the slogan, "one fare, free gate and no beer." Van Tassel, David D. and John J. Grabowski, eds. The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996.

Designed to be a family-friendly park, the Humphreys would not even let anyone in who had had a beer at a nearby bar; also, signs throughout the park instructed that only children were permitted to wear shorts, because the Humphreys thought that proper dress would promote a family-friendly atmosphere. At one point the park advertised that it would "present nothing that would demoralize or depress," and that visitors would "never be exposed to undesirable people."Francis, David & Diane. Cleveland Amusement Park Memories, Gray and Company (2004). Not only families were attracted to Euclid Beach Park; it was also a place for company and community group gatherings. In 1910, the park was the site of an exhibition flight by aviator Glenn Curtiss.