Buckeye Lake

Mission Statement: www.thebuckeyelake.com

In the course of producing a documentary film for the Greater Buckeye Lake Historical Society Museum, many hours have been spent researching historical documents and interviewing past patrons of the Buckeye Lake Amusement Park.

The Buckeye Lake Historical Society had specific criteria for their needs, focusing on the Buckeye Lake Amusement Park. This left the producers with hundreds of historical documents, photographs, maps and many unpublished interviews, not directly related to the Buckeye Lake Amusement Park.



Each document examined, soon led to another topic of interest to be pursued, each interview conducted, led to another fascinating aspect of Buckeye Lake unanticipated by the producers.

A challenge faced by many documentary filmmakers is an abundance of material, the question soon becomes, “What do you include in the film and what ends up on the cutting room floor?”

The producers have decided to make use of all of this wonderful material in two ways. Currently, finishing touches are being made to a second DVD*, featuring some of the less publicized aspects of the Buckeye Lake Region, such as The Refugee Tract, The Chautauqua Movement, The Irish immigrant canal workers, The Knights of Pythia, the Ku Klux Klan, The Muskingum Valley Colored Elks, Photographer/
Anarchist Ben Shahn and more.

Most importantly is the creation of this website, a site we hope will become a source for all information or conduits leading to information regarding the Buckeye Lake Region.

As the physical characteristics of Buckeye Lake continue to evolve, as Cranberry Marsh continues its inevitable erosion and the land once covered by trees, converted to fertile farms in the late 1800’s, as these same farms continue to succumb to man made structures, it is important to tell the stories of our parents and grandparents in an effort to preserve the labyrinthine history of the Buckeye Lake Region.

It is our hope, people currently living at Buckeye Lake and the Buckeye Lake Diaspora, contribute to this living website by sharing personal archives of stories verbally passed from generation, posting photographs and moving images. We encourage all to participate in this effort, particularly in correcting errors in content.

This site is dedicated to Joseph Simpson, Kyle W. Armstrong, Kathleen Brown, Chance Brockway, Donna Braig, Craven Donal O’Donnell and all that have made the effort to preserve the memories of Buckeye Lake, The Playground of Ohio”.