Welcome Back to Euclid Beach Park

East side, west side, all around the town – most of us have a store of memories of fun times at Euclid Beach Park. When we were growing up in Cleveland we were taught at an early age how to get around the city on public transportation. We were taken downtown to department stores to shop and learned the location of the public buildings – City Hall, the Court House, Public Auditorium, and the Armory.

Each summer we found our way to Euclid Beach, which for eastsiders was easily accessible by streetcar. Streetcar fare was 10 cents in Cleveland and 12 cents if you rode into East Cleveland.

There were community picnics, church picnics, school picnics, and family picnics, but a day at “the Beach” with my friend Ellie has stood out in my memory through the years.

Ellie came to Kirk Junior High (Note 1) when we were thirteen. She had brown curly hair and a smile that lit up her whole face, making little crinkles by her eyes. She was as out-going and spirited as I was shy and reserved, and we became good friends.

Ellie lived with her father, a streetcar motorman for the old Cleveland Railway Company. Her mother had died before she moved to Cleveland and she had learned to be self-reliant.

When summer came Ellie invited me to go with her to the Cleveland Railway employees’ picnic at Euclid Beach.

The day couldn’t have been nicer. Ellie and I started off at 11 a.m., carrying brown bag lunches and a little money we had been able to save for the occasion. When we got off the streetcar at the Park entrance, we scurried to the Log Cabin Registration Desk and came away clutching long strips of complimentary tickets. We looked for the dining pavilion near the lake and noticed the movie theater. (Note 2) We studied the movie schedule and went on to buy a beverage. As we ate our lunches we planned our fun. Inasmuch as we wanted to make a day of it, we’d start off seeing the movie. Then we’d use the complimentary tickets, saving our money for extra rides on the Racing Coaster and Thriller.

The movie was not one we’d remember, but it passed some time. Ellie and I had fun on the Aero Dips and the Bug. She had to coax me to ride the Bug because I remembered not liking it when neighbors took me to the Beach when I was eight. That day no one else wanted to ride the Bug, so I rushed to the ride, climbing into a car that was empty except for me. Without other riders to help hold me in, I had to hang on for dear life. The Bug rolled up, down, and around, and as it whipped, jerked, and lurched, it seemed intent on unseating me. It was a terrifying ride for a spindly little kid trying not to be thrown to the floor by a mechanical monster! It seemed an eternity until the ride ended and my heart stopped pounding.

Ellie and I rode the handsome horses on the carousel and then waited in a long line to ride the Mill Chute. As the afternoon progresses, the crowd increased, and the line got longer. We finally got a seat on the Racing Coaster, laughing and screaming as our red car came down the hills and whipped around the bends, beating the yellow car to win the race!

There was a long line at the Dodgem too, but we managed to board separate cars so we both could drive and bump each other as well. The electrical sparks that bounded around the ceiling made the ride more exciting.

We had been in the Surprise House so many times we knew most of the surprises. We liked the mirrors and the tilted rooms, and were curious to see if anything in there had been changed.

Our tickets gave us one ride on the Thriller, The Rocket Ships, and the Great American Racing Derby. Time passed and it was dark when we finished the complimentary rides.

The line for the Thriller was exceptionally long. When we got to the boarding place we positioned ourselves to get into the front seat, but were pushed aside. We decided we’d take repeat rides to get that choice spot! Ellie and I screamed as we came down the hills – especially the first drop!

We waited in long lines and rode the rides until we had only 10 cents left, so we had to take the Cleveland streetcar home. When we checked the time it was midnight! The East Cleveland (Hayden Avenue) streetcar stopped at our corner, but the ride home via St. Clair Avenue and Superior was longer and brought us to a point several blocks from our street. Also we would have to come through the Nickel Plate Railroad underpass. Ellie assured me there would be no problem, and surely by this time my family would be asleep. Her father was working the night shift so she could stay all night at our house.

It was 1:00 A.M. when we got to our street corner and I was shocked to see our family ablaze with lights! Not only was our house lighted, so was the house next door.

Just as we reached our porch my brother drove up. He was twice my age and was very concerned about his kid sister. He had driven my mother to Euclid Beach. They walked around looking for us, asking people there if they had seen us near the streetcar stop at the entrance. Our neighbors were out riding through nearby streets looking for us. My brother was furious and my mother nearly frantic, but Ellie and I really didn’t understand why for a long time. A day at Euclid Beach could be so much clean fun!

Note 1: The six East Cleveland elementary schools fed the William H. Kirk Junior High School, Grades 7 – 9. Built in 1932 and named after William H. Kirk, a long time superintendent of East Cleveland Schools, it was located on Terrace Road, west of Lee Road. The school was demolished in 2002; a new W. H. Kirk Middle School is now on the site.

Note 2: Movies were shown at the Avenue Theater which originally held vaudeville shows. Around 1938 the structure was converted to house the Dippy Whip.