7 Peculiar Tales from Conneaut Lake

From a 1907 postcard, Conneaut Lake's main thoroughfare (Water Street) facing west. 

With summer now if full swing, many area residents and vacationers have already made their way to Conneaut Lake to enjoy the many activities the lake has to offer or to revisit the nostalgia and fun found at the park. The lake has been a drawing force for centuries, going back to its earliest inhabitants.

Over such a span of time, it should be of no surprise, then, that the lake would be the setting for an infinite number of stories across cultures, eras, and generations, the vast majority of which are never recorded. Those that have, however, then serve as the mechanism that provides context to our past. And while that context can be captured in many ways, there’s more than a handful that speaker to the quirky and peculiar moments of an era.

Here are seven from the early days of Conneaut Lake.

Revisiting Oakwood Park

Oakwood Park, Meadville PA

In the late 1890’s, after acquiring a parcel of approximately 35 acres, the Meadville Traction Company established Oakwood Park as a destination resort. Located in what is now West Mead Township, the park was located on lands between Oakgrove Avenue and Springs Road and could be reached by riding the trolley lines out Alden Street past the Pierson School. On a big holiday, as many as 20,000 people paid their trolley fair of 5 cents, each way, to enjoy the resort facility and all its attractions at no additional cost.

Samuel and Alic Thurston: Ballooning Daredevils

As colorful balloons fill the skies over Crawford County for the annual Thurston Classic, it’s always a worthwhile venture to dig into the histories of father and son, Samuel and Alic (sometimes Alex) Thurston, the area’s early balloonists for which the event pays homage to. Many are familiar with a handful of harrowing stories about their aerial exploits, but a fuller history of the two demonstrates a level of fearlessness reserved only for true daredevils.