Fort Erie in Niagara Region, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

Erie Beach Park

Photographed by Kevin Westell, June 23, 2026

1. Erie Beach Park - Marker

Inscription.

Erie Beach Park. . When you arrived here at Snake Hill Grove in 1885, you were coming to have a picnic. That first year, all you needed for a great outing was a basket of food, the shade of ancient trees, and cool lake breezes. , When you came here during Erie Beach Park's last season in 1930, you entered a million dollar playground. There was no other place where you could ride a camel in the morning, a roller coaster at mid-day and your bicycle in a race in front of 3,500 spectators in the afternoon. , The park was a fantasy land. You may not have had paved roads or electricity in your house, but you could walk wide concrete promenades lined with electric lights here at Erie Beach. Decades before local town constructed public pools, you came to swim and play here in "the world's largest outdoor swimming pool". When your days were long with work and chores, you found respite as you danced with a thousand others on the open-air dance floor beneath the stars. Later, on the ferry, you listened to that same band's music drift out over the water, serenading your ride home. , Each park owner (W. B. Pierce, Edwin Baxter, Benjamin Baxter, F. J. Weber, Frank Bardol and J. Homan Pardee) worked hard to keep you coming back, and made sure that every visit was filled to the brim with excitement. Then, the stock market crash of 1929 and beginning of the Great Depression brought too much financial pressure, and on Labour Day 1930, Erie Beach Park closed. , The rides were torn down or sold off to other parks. The Erie Beach Hotel (which once boasted 65 rooms with hot and cold running water and telephone connections to Buffalo) was destroyed by fire. The Casino remained abandoned and deteriorating until it was deemed unsafe and demolished in 1976. Yet, evidence of the park remains. Today, more than 100 years after construction, the pools, pier, promenades and ride bases can still be seen. , "They had a midway. They had a zoo. They had a wonderful swimming pool with high-boards and all that, and a wading pool on the other side for the little kids. They had a ballroom. Every Sunday they would have concerts in the park. It was a really nice place to go." Maxwell Jacobs

When you arrived here at Snake Hill Grove in 1885, you were coming to have a picnic. That first year, all you needed for a great outing was a basket of food, the shade of ancient trees, and cool lake breezes.

When you came here during Erie Beach Park's last season in 1930, you entered a million dollar playground. There was no other place where you could ride a camel in the morning, a roller coaster at mid-day and your bicycle in a race in front of 3,500 spectators in the afternoon.

The park was a fantasy land. You may not have had paved roads or electricity in your house, but you could walk wide concrete promenades lined with electric lights here at Erie Beach. Decades before local town constructed public pools, you came to swim and play here in "the world's largest outdoor swimming pool". When your days were long with work and chores, you found respite as you danced with a thousand others on the open-air dance floor beneath the stars. Later, on the ferry, you listened to that same band's music drift out over the water, serenading your ride home.

Each park owner (W. B. Pierce, Edwin Baxter, Benjamin

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Baxter, F. J. Weber, Frank Bardol and J. Homan Pardee) worked hard to keep you coming back, and made sure that every visit was filled to the brim with excitement. Then, the stock market crash of 1929 and beginning of the Great Depression brought too much financial pressure, and on Labour Day 1930, Erie Beach Park closed.

The rides were torn down or sold off to other parks. The Erie Beach Hotel (which once boasted 65 rooms with hot and cold running water and telephone connections to Buffalo) was destroyed by fire. The Casino remained abandoned and deteriorating until it was deemed unsafe and demolished in 1976. Yet, evidence of the park remains. Today, more than 100 years after construction, the pools, pier, promenades and ride bases can still be seen.

"They had a midway. They had a zoo. They had a wonderful swimming pool with high-boards and all that, and a wading pool on the other side for the little kids. They had a ballroom. Every Sunday they would have concerts in the park. It was a really nice place to go." Maxwell Jacobs

Erected by Town of Fort Erie.

Topics. This historical marker is

Erie Beach Park - Marker in context image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Kevin Westell, June 23, 2026

2. Erie Beach Park - Marker in context

Photo faces west and north-west, with a view up the walkway diagonal across Waverly Beach Park.

listed in these topic lists: Entertainment • Parks & Recreational Areas. A significant historical year for this entry is 1885.

Location. 42° 53.028′ N, 78° 56.342′ W. Marker is in Fort Erie, Ontario, in Niagara Region. It can be reached from Helena Street, on the right when traveling north. This marker is in a cluster of four markers, beside the diagonal walkway in the south-east part of Waverly Beach Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 280 Helena St, Fort Erie ON L2A 1A1, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe

and in Niagara Canada.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The View from the Dance Hall (here, next to this marker); Entertainment at Erie Beach (here, next to this marker);

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Arriving at Erie Beach (here, next to this marker); The Niagara Movement - Laying the Groundwork for the NAACP (within shouting distance of this marker); Fort Erie (approx. 1.6 kilometers away); Capture of the "Ohio" and "Somers" (approx. 1.6 kilometers away); The First Fort Erie (approx. 1.7 kilometers away); Fort Erie, Pro Patria Mori Cairn (approx. 1.7 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fort Erie.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 25, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 25, 2026, by Kevin Westell of St. Catharines, Ontario. This page has been viewed 8 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 25, 2026, by Kevin Westell of St. Catharines, Ontario.