Site of Crystal Beach Amusement Park (Town of Fort Erie, ON)

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This is the former site of the Crystal Beach Amusement Park here in Crystal Beach, Ontario. Opened for the first time in 1888, the park became a popular summertime destination for Ontario residents as well as visitors from the nearby City of Buffalo. Passenger demand for transport to the amusement park saw the creation of a spur railroad from Ridgeway and the operation of two dedicated steamboats from Buffalo to carry patrons.

Situated just off the crystal-white sands of Crystal Beach, the amusement park enjoyed over 100 Seasons of operation with its peak coming during the prosperous post-WWII years, when it was not unusual for 20,000 people to visit the park each day. Crystal Beach offered visitors numerous different attractions which included different amusements, food vendors, ballrooms and of course rides. The park's feature ride for much of its history was the "Cyclone", a ride which subjected riders to 50+ mph speeds and forces up to 4G's. The Cyclone was torn down in 1946 due to its advancing age and was replaced with an equally famous "Comet". Built in the 1947 with numerous materials salvaged from the Cyclone, the Comet remained a popular ride through the closure of the Crystal Beach park and presently operates at The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in Queensbury, New York.

The advancing age and increasing overhead of operating Crystal Beach began to manifest itself just as a period of economic troubles struck both Canada and the US in the 1970's and 80's, with the Buffalo Metro area losing much of its industry and employers. Declining visitor numbers began to eat away at the park's profitability and by the late 1980's Crystal Beach was struggling to stay open. Shortly after celebrating its centennial, Crystal Beach's owners announced their intentions to close the park at the end of the 1989 season. Despite record attendance numbers during that summer, Crystal Beach shut its doors on September 30th, 1989 and began to sell off its rides.

Today, little remains of Crystal Beach Amusement Park aside from the passenger steamship pier extending into Lake Erie and the former park grounds have been converted into a gated residential community. Despite the lack of its eponymous amusement park, Crystal Beach remains a popular summer destination.