Conneaut Lake Park history

In 1893 Businessmen of the Exposition Park Co. built a new resort hotel on a lake front parcel of property on the southern end of what was then known as Exposition Park.

The park's first mechanical ride, a carousel, opened in 1899, and was soon joined by other rides and a midway.

Ownership of the park transferred to the Pittsburgh & Shenango Valley Railroad in 1901, during which time several hotels were built on the property.

In 1902, construction began on the rebuilding of the Exposition Hotel into the new Hotel Conneaut.

The Hotel Conneaut officially opened in 1903, and its popularity led to the addition of two wings on the north and south sides of the building.

In 1907, a trolley line began operation extending from Linesville, through Exposition Park, through Conneaut Lake, and connecting to Meadville.

Although many of the park's original buildings were lost in a fire in 1908, new concrete block replacements were constructed, including the Dreamland Ballroom.

Incredibly, the park did open on time in May of 1909 just as workers were adding the finishing touches!

The amusement park changed its name to Conneaut Lake Park in 1920 and its image was transformed too with many more rides and other amusements added to reflect the changing times.

The interior of the hotel is well furnished throughout, everything being designed for health and comfort." In 1925, the hotel was expanded to include 150 more guest rooms and a new Crystal Ballroom and apartments.

1945 | Hotel Conneaut reopens in its current configuration after extensive renovations.

A 1974 takeover of the park by Doctor John and Mary Gene Winslow Flynn had saddled the park with $750,000 in debt, and expansion slowed.

1982 | Renovation program is launched to remodel 20 rooms a year.

In 1995, the owners filed for bankruptcy and the park did not open.

To help extricate himself from his legal difficulties, Harris gave the debt-ridden park to the Conneaut Lake community in 1997, but later filed a lawsuit claiming that he held a 99-year lease on the park grounds and retained ownership of several rides.

Please bring your own cornhole boards and bags.The tournament will begin at 9am. $80 to enter the team tournament with 1st place winning $2000.

In 2003 Hotel Conneaut celebrated a century of hospitality.

Their debut album received vinyl re-release in 2011 by legendary garage label Get Hip, and many MOIP songs have been featured on E’s KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS, MTV’s TEEN MOM, THE REAL WORLD, and JERSEY SHORE, and CBS’ THE GHOST WHISPERER, among others– if you listened hard enough.

Formed in 2014, Ben Allen Band has been bringing a rockin country good time to stages all over the country ever since!

Conneaut Lake Park recently celebrated its 125th birthday in 2017.

As the 2019 season approaches, the lake community is working hard to create and maintain a fun, thriving atmosphere at this historic landmark so that it will be around for the next 125 years too!