Meyers Lake

• Ida Saxton McKinley1847-1907Canton banker's daughter, bank cashier and wife of William McKinley who was firs...

How Meyers Lake began

Meyers Lake takes its name from the lake northwest of Canton that Perrin's 1881 history says was first called the Large Spring, where Bezaleel Wells's surveyors Butler Wells and Daniel McClure set up a station in 1805; it was named for Andrew Meyers, who afterward owned a large body of land around it. The lake was a fishing ground and, a magazine account says, a Native encampment before the Lake Park Hotel opened in 1869. Canton drew its water from it from 1870, and an amusement park around the lake, dated 1920 to 1974 in Wikipedia and from 1880 or earlier in other accounts, closed in 1974. The small village that took the lake's name first appears in the census in 1930 with 277 residents, fell to 173 in 1970, and had 724 in 2020.

Settled 1805 (station near the Large Spring), incorporated by 1930 census, by Butler Wells and Daniel McClure for Bezaleel Wells.

Where the name comes from

Perrin's 1881 county history says the Large Spring, as the lake was first called, became Meyers Lake from Andrew Meyers, who afterward owned a large body of land around it; Wikipedia names the lake for Andrew Meyer, a pioneer who settled there, citing Lehman's 1916 Standard History of Stark County.

Before the town

No Native village or mound is recorded inside the village. A Cleveland Scene article on the park says the land was a Native American encampment and a good fishing spot before the park, without naming the people or giving a source. Perrin's 1881 county history says Native people were still numerous near Canton in 1805 and mentions an encampment near Leonard's station northeast of the city. The land was ceded by the Treaty of Greenville (1795).

• Encampment and fishing place at the lake (camp) — Meyers Lake, northwest of Canton, before 1869, undated (clevescene.com)

Timeline

1. 1805 — Butler Wells and Daniel McClure, surveyors from Steubenville, set up a station for Bezaleel Wells on his land about two miles northwest of Canton near the Large Spring, workmen building and cultivating there in what Perrin calls likely the first systematic occupancy of the township.
2. 1869 — The Lake Park Hotel is built at the lake, followed by the Eclipse Boat Club; by 1880 the lakeshore has dance halls, a skating rink, bowling alleys and pool halls, and President William McKinley is said to have made several trips to the park.
3. 1870 — Canton's new water works, on the Holly system and drawing on Meyer's Lake, go into successful operation in February.
4. 1881 — Perrin describes Meyers Lake as a clear sheet of water from half to three-quarters of a mile long and about a quarter mile wide, fed by springs in its bottom, a favorite fishing place and Canton's natural water supply, though Canton also had to draw on the West Nimishillen Creek.
5. 1920 — The Meyers Lake Amusement Park opens, entertaining visitors for the next 54 years.
6. 1930 — The village of Meyers Lake first appears in census records with 277 residents.
7. 1936 — Billboard reports in December that construction is progressing at Meyers Lake Park on the Sky Rocket, a new type of steel coaster; the Roller Coaster Database lists six defunct wooden coasters at the park.
8. 1970 — The village census count falls to 173, down 38.7 percent from 282 in 1960; it rises to 493 in 1990, 565 in 2000 and 569 in 2010.
9. 1974 — The Meyers Lake Amusement Park closes after 54 years of operation.
10. 1979 — A fire destroys most of what remains of the park property five years after it closed in 1974.
11. 2020 — The U.S. Census records 724 residents, a 27.2 percent increase over 2010.

Stories

From Canton's first reservoir to a half-century amusement park

Meyers Lake's role in Stark County history started with plumbing, not recreation. Canton's water works, built on the Holly system, went into operation in February 1870 drawing on the lake; Perrin's 1881 history calls the lake the natural supply for Canton's water, though the city also had to rely on the West Nimishillen Creek. In 1920, according to Wikipedia, the Meyers Lake Amusement Park opened on its shores, and it entertained visitors until it closed in 1974. The village around the lake first appears in the census in 1930, with 277 residents.

The Large Spring

Before it was Meyers Lake it was the Large Spring. Perrin's county history says that in 1805, soon after James Leonard set up the first station northeast of the future Canton, Butler Wells and Daniel McClure, surveyors from Steubenville, set up another on land owned by Bezaleel Wells about two miles northwest, near the spring. They brought workmen to build and cultivate, what Perrin thinks the first effort at systematic occupancy and farming in the township, and the stations were chosen with discrimination: Leonard's in the rolling forest country east of the Nimishillen branches, Wells's on the open plains west of the creek, offering settlers land already cleared and waiting. The lake was later named for Andrew Meyers, who afterward owned a large body of the land around it. By 1881 it was clear, half to three-quarters of a mile long and fed by springs in its gravel bottom, and Perrin says boys of all ages fished it and almost never failed to get a bite.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · archive.org · clevescene.com · rcdb.com

Ten collector wells in the Sugar Creek wellfield along the Tuscarawas River valley near the Stark/Tuscarawas county line, south of Navarre, OH (off SR-212) The water here

• Canton Public Water System72% of residentsGlacial sand-and-gravel aquifer (3 well fields)
• Aqua Ohio - Massillon28% of residentsWells in Tuscarawas Valley sand & gravel aquifer

Nursing homes (1)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-08-12: county board of elections.

Money issues on the ballot since 2018: 2 of 2 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-05-07

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