3 of 11 History, Cedar Point-on-Lake Erie

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eeping with his plains to improve the park, Boeckling proposed a new massive hotel to be built on the beach side of the resort. The elegant Hotel Breakers was scheduled to open in June 1905 and incorporate imported wicker furniture and have Tiffany chandeliers in the lobby. A five-story high rotunda was built in the center of the hotel with a hollow interior, outlined in balconies for each of the five floors. This beautiful rotunda contained guestrooms where guests could peer from their room at the magnificent beach and lake below. A barbershop, news stand, ice cream parlor and souvenir counter were some of the other amenities the hotel offered. Each guestroom was fitted with tables, wicker rocking chairs, a double bed and a dresser.

The new hotel was such a great success that the next year Boeckling had a new structure built on the peninsula, which would later save the resort from closing. The Coliseum, erected in 1906, was constructed with two floors that contained 90,000 square feet of space. The building was built with high ceiling to keep the large structure cool on hot summer days. The Rathskeller on the first floor was filled with tables and chairs and sold different sorts of drinks to customers. On the second floor a wooden dance floor was built with a stage on one side of the room. Also added in 1906 was the Amusement Circle, which went from near the beach almost to the pier side of the resort. Some of the attractions in the semi-circle were a circle swing that gave riders the illusion of flying, a carousel which was said to be one of the finest of its time, "A Trip to Rockaway" that simulated a rocking boat, the Miniature Railway which cost five cents a ride and many other rides and attractions. A new steam engine powerhouse was built that year on an island in the lagoons and was used to power the many sights of the resort, including the new Amusement Circle. Near the Hotel Breakers, the resort also added two new dormitories to house all the seasonal help, which still house seasonal staff today.

Prior to 1907, large ships from Lake Erie cities would have to stop in Sandusky before reaching Cedar Point. In 1907, the Lake Landing was added to the western tip of the peninsula to drop off and pick up resort guests.

In 1908, the Dip the Dips Scenic Railway was constructed in the center of the midway with eighteen dips. Fifty-three feet in height and 4,200 feet long, this ride was said to go sixty miles per hour. It was later replaced in 1918 with the addition of the Leap Frog Railway. In an attractive grove near the new Coliseum a checkroom, which resembled a small pagoda, opened along with restrooms. Today the building is used as part of the Pagoda Gift Shop.

The famous steamer G. A. Boeckling was christened in June of 1909 and would carry passengers to Cedar Point from Sandusky for over forty years. This 155 foot vessel had a capacity of holding 660 people and was built by the Detroit's Great Lakes Engineering Company.

In 1910, a new bathhouse was built on the spot of the old Three Way Figure Eight Roller Toboggan and was one of the largest in the world. Taking the place of the old ride was the new Racer roller coaster, which featured a forty-six foot tall hill and small dips, becoming Cedar Point's first well-known roller coaster. Later that year, Glenn Curtiss made aviation history by flying over water from Euclid Beach in Cleveland to the Cedar Point beach. Curtiss broke a world record with his sixty-five mile flight over water and was only protected by an inner tube, if a crash would have occurred. Years after this historic flight, the novelty of flying was shown through souvenir photographs that gave the illusion that guests were soaring over the Cedar Point beach in Curtiss's Albany Flyer.

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