Destination guide

Ohio

Ohio’s amusement history includes a destination that began with water access rather than roller coasters.

The story behind the day out

A beach resort grows into an amusement park

Cedar Point opened as a public bathing beach in 1870. Its official timeline records steamer passengers arriving at the resort, followed by later additions such as docks, a dance hall and bathhouses. The opening was therefore the beginning of a leisure landscape, not the debut of the modern coaster collection. The park’s long history connects transport, the Lake Erie setting and successive forms of entertainment.