CEDAR POINT – NOT JUST AN AMUSEMENT PARK
Cedar Point has/had both a museum and a lighthouse, however there are no individual pages for either. Everything is now under the main Cedar Point website www.CedarPoint.com. Facebook: Cedar Point
Cedar Point Lighthouse
1 Cedar Point Drive (off U.S. 6), Sandusky
(419) 627-2350
The lighthouse is owned by Cedar Point Amusement Park. This 38-ft lighthouse was built in 1862, pre-dating the start of Cedar Point Resort operations in 1870. It is the oldest permanent structure on the Cedar Point peninsula. It was used as an aid to navigation until 1909. The adjoining lighthouse keeper’s home is a fine example of native limestone construction. During the Civil War federal troops erected a battery adjacent to the lighthouse to guard the entrance to Sandusky Bay and watch over the Confederate prison on Johnson’s Island. Cedar Point has erected signage to provide visitor information on the lighthouse. A causeway toll/parking fee is required to drive around the peninsula to view the lighthouse, which is located in Lighthouse Point RV campground.
The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 1984. A great history of the lighthouse can be found at: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=659
Cedar Point Town Hall Museum
Photo courtesy of Cedar Point
1 Cedar Point Drive (off U.S. 6), Sandusky
(419) 627-2350
According to the Cedar Point Food Blog below, the town hall museum renovation is no longer planned. This blog article was printed in the Sandusky Register in February 2023 https://cpfoodblog.com/2023-cedar-point-winter-chill-out-news/. The museum was located in the Frontier Town section of Cedar Point, the Town Hall Museum had an extensive display of park memorabilia, photographs, souvenirs, maps, posters, ride models, awards, and arcade machines, including two famous carousel horses. The museum also had a large collection of dental instruments, antique firefighting equipment, and ship models. A large number of items from the museum were included in a 2019 auction held in Cleveland, along with some of the park’s old arcade games. https://cpfoodblog.com/2019-cedar-point-town-hall-museum-auction/
https://auctions.graysauctioneers.com/auctions/1-2A85C0/the-cedar-point-auction
Check out the vintage photos of Cedar Point on our Remember When page.
A great tour of the historic buildings located within Cedar Point can be found at: Theme Park Insider
BOOKS
David W. Francis and Diane DeMali Francis, Cedar Point: The Queen of American Watering Places, Amusement Park Books, Inc., Fairview Park, Ohio, 1988.
David W. Francis and Diane DeMali Francis, Cedar Point: The Queen of American Watering Places, Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
David W. Francis and Diane DeMali Francis, Cedar Point: The Queen of American Watering Places, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Sandusky, Ohio, 2009.
Ken Miller, Rolling Through the Years: A Cedar Point Atlas & Chronology 1870-2020
Glenn D. Everett, Fun at the Old Cedar Point (a Time Machine Takes Us Back for a Day at an Old-time Amusement Park)
John Hildebrandt, Always Cedar Point: A Memoir of the Midway
Always Cedar Point – A Memoir of the Midway by H. John Hildebrandt
An insider’s view of the operations of the world’s greatest amusement park, Cedar Point. From a summer as a 20-year old ride operator on the Frontier Lift to becoming the park’s general manager 35 years later, John Hildebrandt brings the reader inside the fascinating world of what it takes to market and operate a destination built for fun. He walked the midway every day for 40 seasons, talking to guests and employees and collected a lifetime of stories. There is humor, history, disappointment, thrills, and excitement in his storytelling. The focus of the book is Hildebrandt’s relationship with the park’s most iconic attractions—its legendary collection of world class roller coasters—including Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Magnum, Maverick, Corkscrew, GateKeeper (to name just a few). As marketing vice president, it was Hildebrandt’s job to introduce these magnificent scream machines to the world. From how the coasters were named to thrilling first rides to the creation of memorable advertising campaigns.
Rolling Through The Years: A Cedar Point Atlas & Chronology Hardcover – 2020, by Ken Miller
If you go back in time a hundred years ago, the roller coasters were an afterthought. Cedar Point early on was all about getting away to the beach, catching a live show in the Ballroom, socializing on the Hotel Breakers porch, or having a fine picnic with your co-workers. Sure, the resort had roller coasters. And Ferris wheels. And haunted houses. And carousels. But these weren’t the focus. Cedar Point: Rolling Through The Years is a look back across time at the development and changes at the Worlds’ Greatest Amusement Park Author Ken Miller has spent the last seven years exploring the history of the resort. Magazine articles, museum archives, and over 100,000 newspaper articles spanning 200 years were examined for this detailed history of Cedar Point. Over 75 historical maps of the peninsula and over 1200 images are included in the book.
