Conneaut Lake Park

In 1877, a humble boat landing was constucted on Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania's largest natural lake. Colonel Frank Mantor, a visionary, discovered and purchased the property and convinced investors from the Pittsburgh, Shenango, and Lake Erie Railroad to extend the railroad line to a newly built resort on the site. In 1892, Exposition Park--a permanent fair exhibiting machinery and livestock--was founded. Amusement rides were added alongside hotels, cottages, restaurants, and other businesses. The resort grew into an amusement park and was renamed Conneaut Lake Park in 1920. Conneaut Lake Park illustrates the evolution of this lakeside resort with images of long-gone attractions such as the Hotel Elmwood, Temple of Music, Jungle Cruise, Fairyland Forest, and Wild Mouse. Recent favorites such as the Blue Streak, Tumble Bug, Ultimate Trip, and Devil's Den are also included.

A comprehensive guide to 13 parks in the state, complete with information on rides and attractions. Packed with vintage postcard images and photos.

Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvanias largest natural lake, was formed when glaciers receded during the last ice age. Founded by Abner Evans in 1793, the town was originally called Evansburg in 1858 but was renamed Conneaut Lake in 1892. This area has retained much of what made it unique over the years. The large ship structure protruding from Oakland Beach Hotel was as familiar a sight to visitors in the mid-1950s as railroad cars filled with blocks of ice were to tourists in the early part of the century. Ice was harvested from beautiful Conneaut Lake, wrapped in sawdust, and stored in mammoth icehouses until it was time to ship them to large cities. Today, the lake is used mainly for recreational purposes, such as skiing, boating, swimming, and fishing. The largest Muskie ever caught in the state of Pennsylvania was from the waters of Conneaut Lake. The town is also where Channellock, Inc., a worldwide distributor of famed blue handle pliers and other quality hand tools, got its start in 1886.

Do you believe in ghosts? Whether you are a believer or a skeptic, the stories of the supernatural in Ghosts Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters will keep you riveted. Macabre and fascinating, Ghosts Among Us offers true-life, haunting accounts of eerie visitations and paranormal experiences along with artistically shot black-and-white photographs of haunted sites. The personal, firsthand reports and chilling, full-length stories are bolstered by sidebars of actual accounts of "Ghosts in the News." Each chapter explores mysterious events-events that the reader will find hard to pass off as mere coincidence. In her quest to uncover explanations for each incident, Leslie Rule extensively researched library archives and interviewed credible witnesses, historians, renowned psychics, and parapsychologists. Throughout Ghosts Among Us, Rule's findings are mesmerizing. She writes about being raised in a haunted house. "To top that," Rule explains, "[my mother] introduced me to a serial killer when I was fourteen." The reader is invited to skip ahead to learn about that chilling episode...but the pages prior to that offer their own gripping, spell-binding encounters.

A photographic retrospective covers more than 100 years of images from the history of the American amusement park.