History of Lakeside, Ohio

In 1873, Lakeside began as a small tract of cleared land, a campsite where Christian revivals often took place. The deed to part of what is now Lakeside was purchased by the Central Ohio Conference of the Methodist Church. Financial backers and organizers included Rev. Richard P. Duvall, who at one time had done missionary work for relocated Sac and Fox Indians in Oklahoma; B. H. Jacobs, a Danish immigrant who owned a store in nearby Port Clinton and who was a Civil War veteran; and Samuel R. Gill, twenty-seven years of age, who had grown up on the Marblehead peninsula.

Throughout the remainder of the 1800s, Lakeside remained a camp area, and very few cottages were erected. However, in 1874, a dormitory-style building called Pilgrim's Rest was built. May 1875 saw the beginning of work on the Hotel Lakeside.

Today, Lakeside is a "Chautauqua," a word that implies a resort that combines religious observation, summer education, recreation and cultural opportunities.