This postcard view of Geneva-on-the-Lake probably dates from the 1940s.

By Ken Drenten

Miniature golf courses are a popular choice for fun, relaxing outdoor recreation. In Ohio, there are hundreds of miniature golf courses available. But only one of them celebrates its 100th birthday this year.

Allison’s Mini Golf, open since 1924 in Geneva-on-the-Lake, has the claim of being the oldest miniature golf course in continuous play in the United States.

The family-run course was purchased by Clifford “Bill” Allison and his wife Georgette in 1981. The Allison family – including children, grandchildren and friends – has been running the course ever since.

“Ours offer something special, it’s like taking a step back in time,” says Bill Allison in a video on the course’s website. “We have the same families coming back year after year. It’s a place they remember, they raised their kids here (at Geneva-on-the-Lake). It’s part of that tradition.”

Another postcard view of Geneva-on-the-Lake’s main strip in the 1940s.

Geneva-on-the-Lake is Ohio’s first summer resort town, dating back to 1869, when a pair of young men, Cullen Spencer and Edwin Spratt, cleared a bluff overlooking Lake Erie and opened a public picnic area. The area developed as a summer campground, and by 1905, a village of cottages, cabins and boarding houses had sprung up. By the 1940s, the town’s mile-long entertainment strip had been established.

The course at 5456 Lake Road East is open weekends from May through Memorial Day, then daily through Labor Day, and closes for the season in mid-September.

Many mini-golf courses across the state also offer batting cages, video arcade games, laser tag, food and refreshments and more. Here are some other miniature golf courses where you can sink putts around Ohio:

Alien Vacation Mini Golf at Castle Noel – 260 S. Court St., Medina.

Cabin Creek Golf – 1361 County Road 108, Sugarcreek.

Country Acres Mini Golf – 4367 SR 39, Millersburg (Berlin).

Golf Land at Victory Park – 7760 Victory Lane, North Ridgeville.

Olentangy Mini Golf – 63 Olentangy Crossing W., Delaware.

Paradise Park Miniature Golf and Gem Mining – 2777 Marion Waldo Road, Marion.

Perry Falls Mini Golf – 24750 Dixie Hwy., Perrysburg.

Putt-N-Stuff – 134 S. Kansas Road, Orrville.

Roselawn Mini Golf and Arcade – 22 Church St., Shelby.

The Trails Miniature Golf – 1601 E. David Road, Kettering.

Ken Drenten is creator and manager of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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