God Bless Chippewa Lake

You may not be old enough to remember the old amusement park Chippewa Lake in Medina County and that's okay...please keep reading. For over 100 years it was a place that families could go to do what families do best. Have fun. A place built for one reason only. Our enjoyment. Chippewa Lake closed for good in 1978.

You may heave heard recently that the 95 acre park may be developed into recreation and some housing too. I'm by no means saying that's a bad thing. But it is the final thing. When Chippewa Lake closed in 1978 they just shut the doors and that was it. It overgrew, the rides were still there, many of the buildings survived, even the front entrance. It was just like someone just lost interest. Sad. And it has been sitting there for over 30 years, decaying, overgrowing, and just slowly dying ever since. What happened there just doesn't happen anywhere ever!

It's a little eerie to be sure. You can do a Google search and see some truly fascinating photo's of Chippewa Lake in it's years of decline, and I urge you to do so. You may never get to see these kinds of pictures ever again. Abandoning lakefront property for a third of a century just doesn't happen in this country.

Perspective. Thank goodness for ten decades, someone built a place that people could go to and ride rides, play games, dance, sing, listen to music and eat fun food. We desperately need places like Chippewa Lake. It's good for the human soul. I picture people in the 1890's going there for fun, picnics at the turn of the 20th century, generation after generation going to the same place for the same reason. Chippewa Lake survived WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Great Depression, and even a huge fire a few years ago to one of it's biggest arcades. It was open when Gunfight at the OK Corral took place, and when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Then it just ended sort of...but even in it's closing, Chippewa Lake kept giving back in another way.

It has provided a generation or two with the fascination of something that once was. Enthusiasts from all over the country have visited there since 1978 to see the fallen park. Granted, not in the same numbers that graced it's entrance when it was open, but they came nonetheless. Exploring and photographing something that just doesn't happen. An amusement park that was just left to die. With the advent of the Internet, it's legacy has bewildered a whole different group that never had the pleasure of going there personally. And because of the fore mentioned Chippewa Lake will live in immortality. And that's all anyplace, anything or any person can ever ask for.

I went to Chippewa Lake twice as a kid and loved it both times. I remember it was on the lake and in the woods, so different that most parks today. It is always sad when a place built specifically for our enjoyment closes. It hurts and you can't help but feel loss. So, for whatever kind of fun you had going there, or exploring there the book may finally close. Chippewa Lake gave us fun for a century and now mystique for eternity. And I want to say thanks.

So no matter how it all finally plays out, God Bless Chippewa Lake....and thanks.