November 9, 2023: So About That Abandoned Amusement Park...

I recently wrote a brief post about the release of Munchkin Scooby-Doo. In that post, I mentioned that the members of Mystery, Inc. seem to come from two different places. While most incarnations of the Scooby-Doo gang come from the California town of Coolsville, the made-for-TV movie Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster places Coolsville in Northeast Ohio. Where in Northeast Ohio, exactly? Well, that's a fun bit of trivia I wanted to share. Whoever plotted the location of this fictional town was either a resident or had done their research, because Coolsville is located in the same place as a town that's home to an abandoned amusement park!

No, I'm not making this up.

While Coolsville, Ohio, doesn't exist, a village called Chippewa Lake does. Located about 45 miles south of Cleveland, Chippewa Lake was home to an amusement park from 1878 to 1978. Many people in my family grew up near Chippewa Lake and have fond memories of summer days spent riding the rides, swimming in the lake, and otherwise enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, my memories of the place are confined to its post-shutdown years. The abandoned buildings and skeletal rides gave the place an unsettling feel, and while my friends and I were warned away from exploring the place, it would have made the perfect setting for a mystery.

There isn't much left of the original park now, but you may be able to walk the grounds soon enough. The county park service purchased the land last year and plans to turn it into a nature preserve with numerous trails. It may be worth a visit if you're a die-hard Scooby-Doo fanatic . . . or if you simply enjoy seeing animals in their natural habitat.

-- Katie Duffy