Wingfoot Lake in Mogadore, named for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s logo—the winged shoe of Mercury—supplied water for Goodyear’s blimp factory that opened during World War I. Wingfoot Lake hosted many company employee outings in the several decades before becoming a state park, including picnics specifically for Black workers in the 1930s. Additional information coming […]
Picnic Groves
Happy Days Camp
Happy Days Camp was a youth camp and picnic ground constructed in Virginia Kendall Park between 1933 and 1938 by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers on Route 303 a mile west of Route 8 near Peninsula. In 1955 the Akron Chapter of the NAACP held a picnic there. Additional information coming soon.
Silver Lake Park
In July 1910, the Akron Beacon Journal ran an article under the sensational headline “Starts a Row; Shows Weapon.” The story opened with the account of a “colored damsel,” Retchel Park, who caused a commotion at the train station at Silver Lake Park, an amusement park on Silver Lake between Cuyahoga Falls and Stow, Ohio. […]
Chestnut Beach
Chestnut Beach hosted various organizations’ outings and offered outdoor recreation and dancing. In 1937, it hosted the “All Ohio-Pennsylvania Negro outing.” The precise location is unclear. It was described as being “reached via route 8 and route 526.” The latter highway, now defunct, ran from East Akron through Mogadore to Route 43 in Suffield Township. […]
Springfield Lake Park
Springfield Lake Park in Lakemore outside Akron was the site of African American organizational outings in the 1930s. Additional information coming soon. Resources “Seiberling, B-W, Eagles’ Outing Are Scheduled; All-Nations, Odd Fellows, Vets, Negro Picnics Planned for Week-End.” Akron Beacon Journal. August 26, 1933.
Pleasure Park
Pleasure Park, also known as Curry’s Farm, was a picnic ground and ballpark on Twinsburg Road just west of Route 91 in Twinsburg where various organizations held picnics and barbecues in the 1950s-60s. Pleasure Park gained notoriety in 1962 when auto garage operator and future Cleveland Ward 18 councilman James H. Boyd promoted an ill-starred […]
Slapnicka’s Grove
Slapnicka’s Grove was a picnic ground, dance pavilion, and amusement center located one half-mile north of Mason’s Farm on Cochran Road. It appeared in the Call & Post only as the site of a clam bake in 1946. Additional information coming soon.
Diamond Lake Park
Diamond Lake Park was located along Mayfield Road (Route 322) somewhere just west of Chesterland. It hosted a range of group outings, including those of African Americans. Additional information coming soon.
Vass Picnic Grounds
In July 1935, the Lemuel T. Boydson Post No. 94 of the American Legion in Woodman’s Hall in Cleveland’s Cedar-Central neighborhood held its annual picnic at the Vass Picnic Grounds. Vass was a well-shaded plot of farmland with picnic shelters, swings, a beer garden, and a dance hall that could welcome up to six hundred […]
Victoria Park
Victoria Park was a picnic grove located along old Rt. 422 (East Washington Street) about two miles east of Chagrin Falls. Additional information coming soon.