In
its original form, Indian Lake was a
conglomeration of shallow natural lakes and
marshes covering 640 acres in the northwest
corner of Logan County. A bulkhead was built on
the Great Miami River in the 1850s to enlarge
and deepen the lake area to create a water
supply for the new Miami Canal. The work was
completed in 1860 and the resulting Lewistown
Reservoir covered more than 6,000 acres with 29
miles of shoreline. At the turn of the century,
railroads had come into vogue and the canals
were abandoned for more efficient
transportation. No longer needed for canal
commerce, Lewistown Reservoir was designated by
the Ohio General Assembly in 1898 as a public
recreation area known by its historic name,
Indian Lake. Indian Lake quickly became a
popular resort area with its numerous islands
and untamed shoreline touted as a secluded
wilderness paradise offering supreme hunting,
shooting and relaxation.In the early 1900s,
Indian Lake became a leading destination to
exercise the intellect as well as the body. The
traveling Chautauqua Assemblies that swept the
East and Midwest came to Indian Lake’s Orchard
Island starting in 1910. These variety shows
featured lectures and programs by a diverse
roster of speakers and entertainers, including
some famous and prominent figures such as the
great orator William Jennings Bryant. Chautauqua
drew such large crowds that a hotel and cottages
were built on the island to accommodate
out-of-town guests for the two-week gatherings
in late July and early August. The village of
Lakeview became a regularly scheduled stop in
1911 on the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad,
and the Ohio Electric Line provided service to
the burgeoning lakeside community known as
Russells Point. The rail lines provided easy
access to rural Indian Lake park from Lima,
Columbus, Dayton and neighboring communities.
With
so much to attract visitors to the area by the
early 1920s, local businessman Pappy Wilgus saw
an opportunity he couldn’t resist. Pappy and his
son, French, built the Sandy Beach Amusement
Park at Russells Point to entertain the growing
numbers of tourists. Sandy Beach Amusement Park
opened on Decoration Day, 1924. The highlight of
the park was the fabulous Minnewawa Dance Hall,
billed as the best and largest in Ohio,
featuring two bandstands and room for hundreds
of couples. The Minnewawa drew all the most
popular touring performers of the day, including
the Rudy Vallee and Paul Whiteman orchestras.
The park also offered all of the favorite
amusement rides including a roller coaster,
merry-go-round, ferris wheel, Blue Beard’s
castle, and Custer’s car ride, along with a
penny arcade, fun house, boat excursions and
food concessions. One of the more unique
attractions was the Old Mill Shoot, in which
boat-like cars plunged down a roller coaster
hill into a tank of water, soaking all aboard. A
boardwalk spanned the lake to give swimmers
access to nearby Sandy Beach Island, a popular
bathing area offering slides and diving towers.
As the "Roaring 20s" gave way to the Great
Depression of the 1930s, "Ohio’s Million Dollar
Playground" at Indian Lake lost none of its
currency. Couples still crowded the amusement
park for dance marathons which rewarded the most
persistent couples with coveted cash prizes. The
winners of the 1931 National Endurance Dance
Marathon held at the park reputedly danced for
an astounding 1,922 hours! Sandy Beach Amusement
Park’s future looked rosy, but a disastrous fire
in 1935 completely destroyed the Minnewawa dance
hall, along with the wooden structures of the
Old Mill Shoot, Custer Cars, Spa bathhouse and
part of the roller coaster. A new park operator
pumped $100,000 into improvements in 1936, took
over management of most of the concessions, and
rebuilt the dance hall in an open-air garden
style. The most famous Big Bands booked the
elegant new Moonlight Terrace Gardens at Sandy
Beach Amusement Park in their tours. The bands
played on, and twirling couples continued to
dance until the early 1950s.
Indian
Lake was officially designated as one of the
original Ohio State Parks under the jurisdiction
of the new Ohio Department of Natural Resources
in 1949. The original park office was located in
Russells Point, close to the hub of activity at
the amusement park. The 1950s were a successful
decade for both Sandy Beach Amusement Park and
the new state park, as well as local business
people who provided services to tourists. The
celebration of Ohio’s sesquicentennial in 1953
was a huge event at the lake, drawing crowds
estimated at 100,000. These untroubled glory
days couldn’t last, however. The societal
turmoil of the 1960s came to Indian Lake to pay
annual visits starting July 4, 1961. Late that
evening, rowdy patrons at the bars across the
street from the amusement park sparked a riot
that involved nearly 500 youths. The July 4th
riot became an unfortunate tradition that
plagued the community for a decade as the riots
grew increasingly large and destructive each
year. The riots dampened everyone’s business
during what should be one of the busiest weeks
of the year.
Indian Lake State Park’s family campground
was built in the mid-1960s across the lake from
Russells Point and the amusement park. The
class-A campground was an immediate hit, and it
brought a new audience to the area. Meanwhile,
the quaint, old-fashioned Sandy Beach Amusement
Park was renamed Indian Lake Playland in 1967,
and it continued the struggle to compete with
northwest Ohio’s immensely popular new theme
park, Cedar Point, for nearly a decade. Indian
Lake Playland did not reopen on Decoration Day
1976, and a few years later, the rides and
concessions were torn down.
Today, Indian Lake State Park attracts nearly
1.5 million visitors each year with its
top-notch campground, swimming and boating
facilities.
Thanks to historian Bud Grandi
for sharing a wealth of information and photos.
Indian Lake History