Silver Lake Park

Over the years, Silver Lake Park had a series of increasingly larger dance pavilions. The last and largest pavilion, shown here, was 90 feet by 236 feet and had 15,000 square feet of dance floor. Eight trips around the balcony equaled one mile. The pavilion had more than one million shingles and was illuminated by more than 1,000 lightbulbs. (Pete Mellinger Jr. collection.)

The park’s final pavilion, which debuted in 1903, was created by making a large addition to the previous dance hall, more than doubling it in size. The dance floor in the 1903 pavilion was believed to be one of the largest in northeast Ohio. The first dance hall at Silver Lake was a mere 20 by 30 feet. (Author’s collection.)

Construction of the pavilion was a herculean task requiring up to 16 railcars of lumber, the largest single order that the Falls Lumber Company had ever received. Heading the carpentry labor for the project was Zenas Mosteller, seen here on the far right with his family. Mosteller also constructed many of the large homes on Broad Boulevard in Cuyahoga Falls. (Mosteller family collection, used with permission of the Chart family.)

The domed tower on the west center of the pavilion served several purposes. The first floor (ground level) contained a souvenir stand, while the second floor contained a refreshment stand. The tower also contained a 9,000-gallon water tank for fire protection. Fortunately, there were no major conflagrations reported at the park. (Author’s collection.)

With several hundred acres of land to enjoy, Silver Lake Park was well equipped to accommodate large company picnics and other excursions. Here, a big crowd gathers outside the pavilion. The park was also a favorite destination for youth groups and Sunday school picnics, sometimes hosting more than a dozen large church picnics a day. (Pete Mellinger Jr. collection.)

At one point, the park electrified many features. According to this postcard, the lights from the Silver Lake pavilion could be seen from more than a quarter-mile away. In an even more dramatic display, the park later added a lighted sign with the name Silver Lake Park in two-foot-high letters. (Author’s collection.)

On the lower floor of the pavilion was the park’s dining hall. This facility, decorated with woodland greenery along its beams, could accommodate up to 500 hungry guests at one sitting. In the 1880s, former High Bridge Glens excursion agent Harvey Parks and his wife managed the dining hall. In later years, Jim and Margery Spindler worked at the lunch hall. (Pete Mellinger Jr. collection.)

Margery Spindler also worked at the Gaylord Inn, a well-known restaurant located across from the park. Later, the Spindlers opened another popular eatery, Spindler’s Inn (seen here). The restaurant was located in Cuyahoga Falls at Hudson Drive and Melvin Avenue, near the current site of the Cuyahoga Falls United Presbyterian Church. (Fred Long Collection, Stow–Munroe Falls Public Library.)

Although dancing became one of the activities most associated with Silver Lake, dances were almost permanently discontinued in 1891. This was due to the fact that early dances were not generating enough money to even cover the musicians’ salaries. According to William Lodge, the son of the park’s founder, he turned the situation around by embarking on a successful advertising campaign to promote the dances. (Pete Mellinger Jr. collection.)

One of the largest numbers of dancers on the floor in one afternoon was approximately 1,200 couples. To provide as much space as possible for “tripping the light fantastic,” the orchestra was located in an overhead platform that hung from the ceiling. The dance floor was so large that it could be divided into two halves, separated by a curtain, thereby enabling the park to offer private and public dances simultaneously. (Pete Mellinger Jr. collection.)

The Silver Lake pavilion featured music by some of the area’s leading bands, including the Cuyahoga Falls Band (seen here), the 8th Regiment Band, the Great Western Band, Mustill’s Orchestra, and the Bowman & McAfee Orchestra. The park also hired regional acts such as Buss’ Famous Band, a 45-piece orchestra “famous on two continents,” to perform. (Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society Museum.)

The beauty of Silver Lake inspired several local musicians to compose sheet music for the park. Manley F. Sears of Cuyahoga Falls wrote this lively number. Sears played bass and piano in the park’s orchestra. His brother Howard played violin and served as orchestra leader. In the beginning, various local bands were hired to play at the Silver Lake pavilion. In later years, the park established its own 10-piece orchestra. Dances were so central to the park’s popularity and success that it offered both afternoon and evening dances. Couples wishing to give their dancing feet a rest could sit on benches in the pavilion or step outside to the balcony to enjoy the cooling breezes from the lake. As with the park’s other attractions, no dances were held on the Sabbath. (Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society Museum.)

This especially touching piece of sheet music with ties to the park was composed by W.B. Taylor and describes memories of time spent at the park with a lovely young woman from Cuyahoga Falls. The man who created the musical arrangement for this piece, Daniel O. Betz, was an Ohio composer who operated a school for piano tuning. He also provided the arrangement for another composition related to Silver Lake. The Lodges’ philosophy about strictly avoiding “anything that would tend to demoralize” extended to music and the dance pavilion. A sign at the park warned: “Persons caught dancing the Rag-Time, Turkey-Trot, Grizzly-Bear or any other dance suggesting vulgarity will be immediately ejected. We will not tolerate any form of improper dancing and will discontinue the music if this rule is not observed.—The Silver Lake Park Co.” (George E. Zurava collection.)