In the mid-1800s, amusement parks began popping up around the United States. Lake Compounce in Southington, Connecticut was opened in 1846, and today is the oldest, continuously operating amusement park in North America.

In 1895 Coney Island began its legacy in Brooklyn, New York—prompting the trend of creating amusement parks on sandy beaches with roller coasters, rides, concession stands, and souvenirs.

The dawn of urban transportation contributed to the accessibility to city attractions. As amusement parks began to anchor themselves on the North Coast, Cleveland’s streetcars and Interurban rail lines made the parks a convenient and welcome destination.

One of the pioneers of the Cleveland amusement park trend was George William Beyerle, who in 1883 opened the 47-acre Beyerle Park on Sykora Road in Slavic Village.

The park was three miles from Public Square and was near a streetcar route that ran along Independence Road, which helped Beyerle’s vision to create a summer resort as an escape from the city. It initially featured walking trails, picnic areas, a pavilion, and well-landscaped grounds.

The park quickly grew.

By 1893, Beyerle Park had marked 100,000 visitors—drawn to the shooting gallery, merry-go-round, a theater, dancing, and bowling—all for a 15 cents admission fee. The park expanded again over the next 10 years to include a baseball park and grandstand, a dancing and roller-skating arena, and a small zoo. The nearby Burke Brook was dammed to create a lake on the park grounds, and a boathouse was built.

In 1894, however, Beyerle and his business partner faced financial problems, in part because of unauthorized checks written by his partner and multiple lawsuits filed against the park after a bridge over the lake collapsed.

Eberhardt's Restaurant - Beyerle's Park Restaurant & Tavern at Sykorta and Beyerle Rd. was a popular spot back in the 1890sThat same year, A. B. Schwab acquired Beyerle Park and renamed it Forest City Park—just six weeks before the debut of Euclid Beach Park in Collinwood. By this point Forest City Park had grown to 65 acres and offered more risqué amenities than Euclid Beach offered—like alcohol, vaudeville shows, and gambling.

In 1902, Euclid Beach Park manager Dudley Humphrey also took over management of Forest City Park. He placed the same moral standards set at Euclid Beach Park on the Forest City Park guests, which included proper dress codes and behavior. The park stopped serving alcohol and replaced the side shows and vaudeville acts with family-friendly rides and entertainment.

At the turn of the 20th Century, Forest City Park was now competing with a host of other local attractions like Euclid Beach Park, the 1900 Puritas Springs Park in Kamm’s Corners, the 1900 White City in Garden Valley, and the 1905 Luna Park in Woodland Hills.

By the 1910s, many of the Cleveland parks that were built around the streetcar and Interurban lines were facing competition from parks that were easily accessible by car, like Cedar Point and its Cyclone—the fastest, tallest roller coaster in the world at the time.

Forest City didn’t have automobile parking accommodations—further reducing its attraction to modern-day park goers.

The City of Cleveland in 1912 acquired 28 acres on the western and southern parts of the park to create Washington Park, which today is part of the Cleveland Metroparks Washington Reservation.

Forest City Park continued to operate on the remaining land until a fire in the early 1920s caused enough damage that the park closed permanently.

In 1932, five acres of the park land near Beyerle and Hugo Streets were acquired by the Tate Stars Baseball Club, and Hooper's Field was built.

Around the same time Cleveland Builders Supply Co. acquired the remainder of the park site and excavated clay from the property. The excavation site, as well as the lake, were later filled in.

No trace of the park, the ball field, or the lake remains today.

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