Beach Park Station / Beach Park Station

From the 1890s to the 1930s, interurban railways were an important form of travel in the Midwest. Beach Park Station had an interurban carhouse, where repairs were performed and passengers boarded. The Lorain & Cleveland Railway (L&C) built the 65½ by 200 foot brick station in 1897. By 1901, the L&C became part of the Lake Shore Electric Railway (LSE) and Beach Park became stop 65 on a line that ran from Cleveland to Toledo and then to Detroit. Requiring power and water, the LSE built an electric plant and water tower at Avon Lake. This infrastructure spurred the community’s development and growth. (Continued on other side

[Side B]: (Continued from other side) Some considered Beach Park the LSE’s most impressive passenger station. The LSE owned Avon Beach Park, which offered guests a dance hall, beach, and picnic and camping grounds. Many passengers came here to take a break from the city. Sold in 1923, the park became the site of a Cleveland Electric Illumination power plant. The LSE stopped running in 1938 because it could not compete with the convenience of the automobile. The station was sold in 1940 and has since been a motel and restaurant (the Saddle Inn), a movie theater, and commercial, office, and retail space.