Geauga Lake

Geauga Lake (previously named Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and Six Flags Ohio) was an amusement park located in Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio, United States, founded in 1887. On September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair, the park's owner, announced that the traditional amusement park would close down and that the property would operate solely as a water park, beginning in the 2008 season. The water park is still open today as Wildwater Kingdom.

History

1887: Pre-amusement park era

Geauga Lake was originally known as "Picnic Lake" or "Giles Pond." The Geauga Lake area was home to early settlers such as the Staffords, Mark Patterson, Capt. Simon Henry with his wife Rhoda Parsons and their children, Charles Swires, the Brewsters, and Bohan Blair. There is currently a city park and ballfields on East Boulevard in Aurora, named after this lake. Sullivan Giles chose this area for his log cabin in 1817. He later built a large frame home on the spot behind Geauga Lake depot on the north side of the lake. When the railroad came to town in 1856, it made a stop at "pond station". Giles took advantage of his scenic lake location and, in the last half of the 19th century, established picnic grounds, a dance hall, and other entertainment near his home for the all-day pleasure of residents and those taking the train to the country for a getaway.

Geauga County, Ohio

Geauga County (/dʒiːˈɔːɡə/ jee-AW-gə) is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 93,389. The county seat is Chardon. The county is named for a Onondaga or Seneca language word meaning 'raccoon', originally the name of the Grand River.

Geauga County is part of the Cleveland-Elyria, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.

In 2008, Forbes Magazine ranked Geauga County as the fourth best place in America to raise a family.

History

Geauga County is named after the Onondaga word jyo’ä·gak or Seneca jo’ä·ka, both meaning 'raccoon' (originally the name of the Grand River).

After the discovery of the New World, the land that became Geauga County was originally part of the French colony of Canada (New France), which was ceded in 1763 to Great Britain and renamed Province of Quebec. In the late 18th century the land became part of the Connecticut Western Reserve in the Northwest Territory, and then was purchased by the Connecticut Land Company in 1795.

Lake

A lake is an area of variable size filled with water, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land, apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean (except for sea lochs in Scotland and Ireland), and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are also larger and deeper than ponds, though there are no official or scientific definitions. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. However most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams.

Natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for industrial or agricultural use, for hydro-electric power generation or domestic water supply, or for aesthetic or recreational purposes.

Geauga County Maple Festival

The Geauga County Maple Festival is a fair celebrating the production of maple syrup. Geauga County's festival is the oldest maple festival in the United States and one of the largest as well. The fair takes place in Chardon Ohio in the Chardon Courthouse Square District. Chardon is located in Northeast Ohio about 35 miles east of Cleveland. This past year was the 82nd Geauga County Maple festival.

Dates

The Maple Festival is held annually, the last full weekend in April. However, several times in the past, The Maple Festival has been postponed until the first weekend in May due to heavy snowfall in the Chardon area. The festival hours are: Thursday: 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM Sunday: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM

The festival address is: Historic Chardon Square Route 6 and Route 44 Chardon, Ohio 44024.

Tappin' Sunday

Maple Syrup is typically made from the sap of Maple trees such as the Sugar Maple, the red maple and the black maple. Maple Trees are plentiful in the Chardon Area and there are several trees located right on the Chardon Square where the festival takes place. The celebration of Maple Syrup begins on Tappin' Sunday which occurs on the second Sunday in March. This includes the tapping of all the maple trees on Chardon Square to have syrup for the festival. To tap a tree, you must drill a hole in the tree to start. Then you must tap the spile and hang the bucket from the tree. The sap collected from Tappin' Sunday is then taken to the Chardon Square Sugar house where it is turned into Maple syrup stirs for customers to enjoy. Tappin' Sunday 2012 is on Sunday, March 11.

Creative Commons

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