LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park was an amusement park located in Middletown, Ohio. Opening in 1922 as a family picnic and campground, LeSourdsville Lake transformed in the 1940s to an amusement park with rides, attractions, and an arcade. In 1977, the name was changed to Americana Amusement Park. Following an electrical fire in 1990 that caused over $5 million in damages, the park fell into decline and was eventually closed in 1999. Under new ownership, the park briefly opened again in 2002 returning to the name LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park, but after failed attempts to turn a profit and the operating company going bankrupt, it closed permanently near the end of the 2002 season. The park's remaining rides and attractions were either demolished or sold, or still sit today.1920sMiddletown, Ohio, resident Edgar Streifthau opened LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park on May 8, 1922. Edgar's dream was to transform the former ice manufacturing facility in the tiny village of LeSourdsville into an area for residents to enjoy a decent and clean place to picnic and swim with friends and family. Construction began on the park in 1921. Edgar and his business partner, Bill Rothfuss, built a bathhouse, a restaurant, dance hall and a bridge crossing the abandoned Miami-Erie Canal that passed through the property linking the parking lot and the park. They also constructed a concrete bottom in the man-made lake for swimming.Admission was 10 cents per person, 25 cents for swimming and 10 cents for a jitney dance per couple. LeSourdsville Lake was open for business and attracting thousands of area residents.Edgar constructed the first of several "vacation" cabins surrounding the lake and platforms for camping tents. Edgar's brother, Ernest, joined his brother as a partner as Bill Rothfuss advanced his career at nearby ARMCO Steel (now known as AK Steel).
