At 55.1 m. (R) is the entrance to the Cedar Point chaussée.
Right on the
chaussée (
adm. 25¢) to CEDAR POINT, 6 m. (580 alt., winter pop. 100, summer pop. 2,000), a popular summer resort at the tip of a narrow peninsula flanking the entrance to Sandusky Bay. The Site was formerly a wild, heavily timbered tract of 1,200 acres with a large sandy beach. Officially a resort in 1882, the point soon attracted such crowds that boats were hard put to accommodate them. Railroad and steamer excursions from all parts of Ohio and near-by States have maintained Cedar Point’s popularity as a summer playground it is a noted convention center, and a large hotel accommodates the summer residents. Facilities include a large sandy beach, picnic grounds, dance hall, skating rink, boating lagoons, minature railroad line, and amusement and concessional stands. Cedar Point is open from the second Saturday in June to Labor Day. It may be reached by ferry from Sandusky.
Tour 2 (US Route 6) Page 375, The Ohio Guide (1940)
Today, Cedar Point is one of the most popular amusement parks in the world with an attendance of over 3 million visitors annually (
source). The toll is still assessed for using the causeway to reach Cedar Point, but it is rolled into the parking fee when you enter the park. Its operating season has increased from May to October and it still hosts a marina for those wishing to reach the park by their private boat. A ferry to Cedar Point is no longer in operation.
The park is well aware of its 19th century heritage with a Frontierland section of the park with a museum and partial recreation of Fort Sandusky. At the front of the park there is a Ohio Historical Marker providing a brief lesson of its early history.
Text of the Historical Marker:
CEDAR POINT - "Queen of American Watering Places"
Cedar Point became a popular beach resort in the late 1870s, when visitors traveled to the peninsula by steamboat from Sandusky. The Grand Pavilion (1888), the oldest building in the park, dates from this era. Promoter George Boeckling formed the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company in 1897 and vastly expanded the resort's attractions. During the first decade of the 1900s, he built the lagoons, an amusement circle, and several hotels, including the landmark Breakers in 1905. The Coliseum, opened in 1906, became the centerpiece of the park and hosted many of the famous big bands through the Depression and World War II years. In the late 1950s, Cedar Point began its transformation into a modern amusement park.
Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Cedar Point Amusement Park/Resort, and The Ohio Historical Society