Area Attractions

Gaylord Grove, on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River between Bailey Road Bridge and today's Water Works Park, was a very popular camping, vacationing, and picnic spot from 1840 until the middle 1920's.

Two locally built steamboats plied the river from the Bailey Road Dam up to the river to Snake Den, then around Goose Egg Island and back for a ride costing ten cents. The boats cost $1,200 to build.

In 1890, one of the boats was taken overland from the river to Silver Lake and put in use summers for Silver Lake Park customers. It sank during a storm July 4, 1904, but was recovered the next week.

Rowboat and canoe liveries operated on both banks of the river from the dam to Goose Egg Island with Bitners the last to close in 1907. The old swimming hole was at Nauvoo Rock, now part of River Front Park. Later, swimming activities were moved to "Denver Chatmans" (on the river) which is now Water Works Park. 

Parker's Inn stood on the river's west bank where the Hudson Drive Bridge now crosses the river. It was a very popular attraction and served meals and liquor along with lodging until 1926, when it closed forever.

Camp "Foster" an army training camp was in Gaylord Grove where the River Estates bridge is today, and the 8th Regiment and 6th Battery trained there and were among the first units to answer President Lincoln's call to arms at the outbreak of the Civil War.

The Falls trained units traveled 6,000 miles during the Civil War and took part in 39 battles. Ten Falls men were lost on April 25, 1865, when the prison ship "Sultana" was sunk in the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tenn.

 - Eric Thompson