Punderson Manor Lodge & Conference Center history

Lemuel lived in Burton at which time he met Sybil Hickox who became his wife in October 1808.

In July 1810 Lemuel and Sybil moved into the cabin that was built for the workers to be closer to the grist mill business.

… in 1822 the lake’s name was changed from the “Big Pond” to “Punderson Pond” in honor of Lemuel.

Sybil Punderson died in 1872 and the property was owned by the Punderson Estate.

In 1885, several children reportedly died in a fire that destroyed the Wales Hotel, across the lake from the present-day Punderson Lodge.

In 1887 the hotel officially opened and was operated by J.E. Wales and his wife.

In 1902 W.B. Cleveland (descendant of Moses Cleveland) started purchasing land around Punderson Pond but did not own the rights to the pond itself.

In 1907 W.B. Cleveland took up a legal action to purchase the rights to Punderson Pond because he owned almost all of the land surrounding the pond except 5 acres which Ella Punderson owned.

Long defaulted on his mortgage loan in 1929, abandoned the property, and ownership was taken back by the Coppedge/Cleveland Families.

Ocie Cleveland used the property for a girls summer camp in the early 1930’s.

After no longer being able to keep up with the camp or financially support the property, she sold the rights of the land to the State of Ohio in 1948.

On Feb 1, 1966 the state officially opened Punderson State Park Lodge featuring 32 lodge rooms, 26 cabins as well as tennis courts, outdoor pool, shuffleboard courts, snack bar, dining room for 160 guests, and banquet / meeting facilities for up to 125 guests.

In 1979, several park employees reported seeing a man hanging by the neck from a rope tied to the rafters of the lodge's lounge, watching the image for three hours until it faded in the morning light.