Crystal Beach (Vermilion Part 2)

Finally (I know you were waiting at the edge of your seat for this) part 2 of my Vermilion post. In this post we will cover the old Crystal Beach Amusement Park . If any of you are familiar with the area you can probably see that I am working my way West into downtown Vermilion.

Then and Now

Anyone that grew up in Vermilion or the surrounding area has probably at least heard of Crystal Beach. Even though the park has been gone for about 50 years now, the fond memories still linger on in the minds of the last generation and the generation before that. Unfortunately nothing remains of the long gone park and the location is now home to the Crystal Shores apartment complex.

Entrance to Crystal Shores today.

A little bit closer.

Entrance to Crystal Beach in 1907 (Vermilion Views)

The Farm on the Lake Turned Amusement Park

In 1874 a man by the name of George Shadduck turned his cattle farm on the shores of Lake Erie into a public picnic area and bathing beach. The place became a hit and he soon added a beer garden, gaming facility and a dance hall. A little over 32 years later in 1906 a man by the name of George Blanchat purchased the property with the intentions of "stepping things up a notch" and while inspecting the property with his wife they noticed that the sand at the beach had crystal-like qualities when they let it run through their hands, and thus the name Crystal Beach was born. In 1907 the park reopened under the new banner and indeed "stepped things up a notch".

The first ride in the park was the merry-go-round. (Vermilion Views)

"The Casino".  The second floor was home to a dance hall and roller skating arena. Dance marathons were held here during the war. Downstairs was the refreshment area. This building was destroyed in 1947 by a fire. (Vermilion Views)

The new dance hall was built less than 6 months later. It was call "Crystal Gardens" and could comfortably accommodate up to 2,000 dancers. (Vermilion Views)

Inside the new dance hall 1948. (Vermilion Views)

The Jimmy Dulio Band playing at Crystal Gardens. Unknown year. (Vermilion Views)

The Rides

After the park was purchased from the original owner and rechristened at Crystal Beach, numerous rides and other attractions were added. As you saw above the first attraction was the tent-covered merry-go-round.

The Toboggan Ride that went right into the lake. Unknown Year. (Vermilion Views)

The "Thriller" was built in 1928 and stood for 30 years. (Vermilion Views)

Park manager inspects the "Thriller". (Vermilion Views)

The "Airplane Ride" was located at the front of the park. 

The replacement carousel. (Vermilion Views)

The "Rocket Ships". (Vermilion Views)

Along with all of these rides pictures above there were other (less extreme) attractions which included the ferris wheel, penny picture machines, pinball machines, jukeboxes, roller skating and a bowling alley. This really was the place to be in the early to mid 20th century.

David and Goliath

After the original park owner Mr. Blanchat died in 1938 his son-in-law James Ryan took over operation. When Mrs. Blanchat died in 1952, ownership of the park passed to her daughters Thelma and Eleanor. This signaled the beginning of the end for Crystal Beach. People began passing by and traveling West down the newly built highway to the much larger amusement park in Sandusky, Cedar Point. The swing music that used to bellow from the dance hall faded away and the "Thriller" made one last run. In 1962 the park was sold to the Crystal Development Corporation. That same year an auction was held and all of the buildings and rides were auctioned off, most of which were used for building materials, save for one. The Crystal Garden Dance Hall remained on site for a couple more years. The original plan was to turn it into a community theater, but the plans fell through and the building was eventually demolished.

The Crystal Garden being demolished in 1965. (Vermilion Views)

Crystal Beach's story of David and Goliath unfortunately did not turn out like the biblical tale. The park just could not keep up with the costs of renovations and the ever-growing Cedar Point, but the memories live on with the Baby Boomers and their parents, and the stories will live on through their kids to be passed down to future generations.

"See those apartments over there? You'll never guess what was there before..."

(Vermilion Views)

This post was supposed to cover multiple parts of Vermilion, but it didn't quite work out that way. So stay tuned for part 3 of Vermilion sometime in the next week.

Thanks for reading.