Was Kings Island built on a cemetery?

Rather than interfere with the burial grounds, Kings Island officials elected instead to simply build their amusement park around the small cemetery. Today, legend has it that those same officials inadvertently paved over a grave when creating what is now the park's guest parking lot, resulting in an agitated spirit.



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The amusement park's name represented its historical roots and its future. “Kings” for the location of the park near Kings Mills, Ohio, and “Island” in reference to the company's Coney Island roots. It would not be until October 14, 1970 that the name would become official.

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But by the 1970s, no one lived here year-round; most residents had moved to Nome, on the mainland. While several forces drove the migration, King Islanders say a main cause was the decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to close a school it ran on the island in the late 1950s.

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Cedar Fair owns 11 amusement parks including Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, Knott's Berry Farm and Michigan's Adventure. Six Flags currently has 27 parks. Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point and Kings Island, will merge with Six Flags, the company announced Thursday morning.

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It proved a good place to ride out a pandemic. King Island did not record a COVID-19 case among its population of fewer than 2,000 people until January 2022.

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And finally, on June 30, 2006, Kings Island and four other Paramount Parks were sold to Cedar Fair Entertainment Company for $1.25 billion. “In my mind and my heart, I always thought it was going to be us operating it forever,” Speigel said of the original management.

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Kings Island eventually got its name after a public contest. The “Kings” came from the town where it was built, Kings Mills. The “Island” came from its predecessor, Coney Island.

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