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n the early 1890's, Cedar
Point expanded with many new additions. Around this time, electricity
was first added to the resort that made it possible to power arched
passageways with lights over some of the many pathways throughout
the park. On the beach side of the resort they had a water toboggan
type ride built where guests could be able to climb to a top of the
tower and descend down a ramp into the refreshing Lake Erie. Also a
Candy Pagoda opened on the peninsula selling a wide range of candies. 
Located parallel to the Grand Pavilion, the
Switchback Railway was Cedar Point's first roller coaster in 1892. This
ride was about twenty-five feet high and reached speeds of ten miles an
hour. The ride incorporated two tracks, which ran side by side, one
for the ride down and the other for the train to be hauled back to the
top. To achieve this, they were hauled back up by muscle power of a
ride attendant. During the next few years, other resorts opened
near the vicinity of Cedar Point. One of these new resorts was Johnson's
Island, which was only about 10,700 feet away from the Point. This
close competition cost the resort a great loss of money and the park
itself showed it by falling into cosmetic despair. Luckily, a man named
George
A. Boeckling would arrive in Sandusky, Ohio, in late 1897.
Boeckling became one of Cedar Point's owners in the off season between
1897 and 1898 and didn't waste anytime with his plans of the new Cedar
Point. He had the existing buildings at the park repainted and cleaned
and added a carousel. By this time, the swimsuits that were available
for rental were in need of replacing and sure enough, he had all new
ones ordered that year. After the 1898
season, the park showed a modest profit and even more improvements were
made for the 1899 season. The biggest addition was the Bay Shore Hotel,
which was built near the pier on the other side of the peninsula. With
the success of the Bay Shore, Boeckling had the White
House Hotel built next to it. Once the White House opened in 1901,
the existing Bay Shore Hotel was turned into a boarding house. The new
hotel included two floors of rooms with a restroom on each level. Later
they added seventy new rooms, which gave the hotel a grand total of 125
rooms. Cedar Point's second
roller coaster, the Three-Way Figure Eight Roller Toboggan, was built
near the beach in 1902. The ride was forty-six feet tall and had eleven
cars on its hilly track. After eight years, the ride was removed and the
Racer roller coaster took its place. The Sea
Swing was also added in 1904 as a ride that let guests sail over
Lake Erie as this unusual ride spun riders. Two years later, in 1904,
the Crystal
Rock Castle opened mid-way between the beach and the pier and sold
beer and wine to guests. The building's exterior had the look of a
stone castle and the structure itself remained on the peninsula until
the early 1960's, when it was intentionally burned. Also that year,
the Detroit Dredging Company dredged the lagoons,
which were once almost obsolete, into interconnected passageways. In
parts of the lagoons, they added lights that lit the area dimly and
canoes and rowboats were then used in them.|
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