Shady Beach

Hotel Shady Beach was built in 1896 by Warren and Ida Avis Putnam Spencer. Ida was the daughter of George C. and Mary "Polly” Temple Putnam, who owned the Fitch house and Grand View Farm to the west. Arthur B. Bowers and his wife, Fannie, were the next owners, and their son and daughter-in-law, Durwood and Helen Bowers, were the last to operate it. The hotel operated on the American plan, which provided room and meals. A 1922 newspaper advertisement declared, "Our garden supplies our table," and also announced completion of "one of the finest tennis courts at the lake." Every room had hot and cold running water as early as the 1920s. A week at Shady Beach, about the 1950s, cost $57 under the American plan, or $28 for the room only. The village purchased the Shady Beach property on the south side of Lake Road for a recreation park in 1975. The Shady Beach Annex, across the street, is a privately owned residence.

Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio · United States