Crystal Beach, Ontario
| Crystal Beach | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
Pier that once served the Canadiana and Americana boats. View from Crystal Beach Hill.
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| Coordinates: 42°52′3″N 79°3′33″W / 42.86750°N 79.05917°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Regional municipality | Niagara |
| Town | Fort Erie |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Forward sortation area | L0S 1B0 |
| Area code(s) | 905 / 289 / 365 |
| NTS Map | 030L14 |
| GNBC Code | FAUTT |
Crystal Beach is a community within Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada with a population of 3,800. It was named for the "crystal-clear" water conditions present when it was founded on the northeast shore of Lake Erie, across from Buffalo.
Crystal Beach Amusement Park occupied waterfront land within Crystal Beach from 1888 until the park's closure in 1989. The property was once a health spa whose buildings were sited near and on a natural sand dune fifty feet high and 1,200 feet long parallel to the shore. Part of the dune was excavated to open up land for the spa. In 1888, the spa was replaced by the amusement park, which has since itself been replaced by Crystal Beach Tennis & Yacht Club, a gated community.
When the amusement park first opened in 1888, steamboats shuttled patrons from nearby Buffalo, New York to and from the park. At its peak in the 1940s and early 1950s, the park had about 20,000 visitors daily throughout the summer, from Victoria Day through Labour Day. Boat service connected the city with the park until 1956. The main passenger vessels used for these journeys were called the Canadiana and the Americana, each of which could carry 3,000 passengers per trip. The Ontario Southern Railway also provided a short-lived connection between the park and the mainline rail station at Ridgeway. This service consisted of a unique elevated monorail style train, and ran for only three summers from 1896 through 1898.
One of the memories that people have of Crystal Beach is the loganberry drink which was sold there. Even though the park is closed, several companies still sell varieties of loganberry drinks, mostly in Southern Ontario and Western New York.
The park was famous for the Crystal Beach Cyclone, which was built in 1927. The Cyclone was an intense roller coaster with a full-time nurse on-hand to revive passengers who had passed out during the ride. In 1946, high operating costs forced the Cyclone to close. Many of the materials from the Cyclone were reused in the construction of the Comet. The park also contained the Backety-Back Scenic Railway, which was an early shuttle roller coaster.
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