The land on which the amusement park was built was the site of a massacre in which landowner Mitchell Clay's children were murdered by Native Americans in 1785. Two of the children had been killed and scalped while a third was captured and taken to Chillicothe and burned at the stake. Clay sought revenge, and with the help of other landowners, he killed several of the Native American raiding party.[4][2][5]
In 1926, an entrepreneur named Conley Trigg Snidow, Sr. purchased the land and began developing an amusement park for the people of Mercer County, West Virginia. The park, which featured a ferris wheel and a swing ride, was popular among locals in the county, particularly families of coal miners who resided in the area. It also featured a swimming pool, race track, concession stands, dance hall, and cabins for overnight stays. Two drowning deaths were reported during Snidow's ownership, as well as the death of a young girl on the swing ride in 1966.[5] The park was closed in 1967 because of a failed health inspection.[2]
In 1985, former employee Gaylord White purchased the land and reopened the park in the summer of 1987. After increasing insurance rates forced the park to close in 1988, White sought other uses for the location, such as fishing tournaments and off-road motorsports. In the early 1990s, White's work crews uncovered numerous Native American artifacts on the property dating to before the arrival of Anglo-European settlers. Archeologists from Marshall University spent several years uncovering artifacts and graves, and a total of thirteen Native American skeletons were uncovered, mostly of elderly people and young children. Shortly after, White began hosting Halloween week guided paranormal tours of the property.[5]
In 2010, Everyday Paranormal featured Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in Season 2 of Discovery Channel's Ghost Lab.
In 2019, Lake Shawnee Amusement Park was also featured in a haunted locations on the paranormal TV series, Most Terrifying Places which aired on Travel Channel.[7]
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