Willow Beach Park was located along Lake Erie on Route 283 in Willoughby and was a picnic and recreational site that Black groups visited in the 1900s to 1930s. It featured ball diamonds and picnic groves, as well as a dancing pavilion large enough to accommodate several hundred people. Additional information coming soon. Resources “‘Buckeyes’; […]
Beaches and Docks
Turkeyfoot Lake
The beach at Turkeyfoot Lake opened in 1957 on an integrated basis, attracting Black swimmers who had previously used the small lake at Virginia Kendall Park. The latter closed in 1956 when the Akron Metropolitan Park Board declared that the cost of upkeep was too much to justify its continuation. African American leaders decried the […]
East 9th Street Pier
East 9th Street Pier has long been a center for pleasure, initially as the principal Cleveland dock for passenger ships that plied Lake Erie. Later, during the 1960s, the Pier became home to a popular local restaurant, Captain Frank’s. Today, it is home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Goodtime III […]
On-Erie Beach
On-Erie Beach played a significant role in the African American community in Northeast Ohio from the 1920s to the 1940s. The beach may have been the only African American owned and operated beach in the area. Located in western Lorain, the beach lay along State Route 2, near present day West 21st and Martin Drive. […]
Edgewater Park Beach
Edgewater Park Beach is located along the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of downtown Cleveland. In its early years the park appears to have been open to African Americans but not well used. In 1908, the Cleveland Gazette reported, “A few ladies of the East End held a picnic at Edgewater park last Thursday afternoon. Our […]
Craig Beach
Craig Beach was a small amusement park, beach, and picnic ground along the western shore of Lake Milton in the northwest corner of Mahoning County. Black patrons frustrated by the Jim Crow policies at Youngstown’s Idora Park traveled eighteen miles to Craig Beach in 1937 for their annual “Negro Day” outing. The Pittsburgh Courier reported […]
Burton’s Beach
Burton’s Beach, or Burton Beach, in Ashtabula County offered “cottages, dine-dance, picnic grove, swimming, tennis, baseball,” according to a 1935 ad. Additional information coming soon. Resources Burton’s Beach advertisement. Call & Post. June 6, 1935.
Gordon Park
Gordon Park is a public park, owned and administrated by the City of Cleveland. The park offered public access to water through its swimming beach and small boats. Cleveland residents could easily reach it by public transport or by car. The park was integrated during the 1940s, but racist incidents remained common. Shifts in the […]
Euclid Beach Park
Euclid Beach Park, located in Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood along Lake Erie, was the city’s best-known amusement park for about seven decades. Throughout its history, it was also the site of many confrontations over its policy of segregation. Euclid Beach was segregated starting in 1895, its first season, denying African Americans use of the Dance […]