Fantasy Farm Amusement Park

Not many developers would build an amusement park next door to the successful LeSourdsville Lakeamusement park, but Edgar Streifthau was a one-of-a-kind man in Butler County, Ohio.

Streifthau, the original owner of LeSourdsville, was forced to sell his beloved park, but he still had the amusement-park bug, and in 1963 he built Fantasy Farmdirectly next to LeSourdsville.Fantasy Farm'saudience was young children, and the concept was successful for decades. The two parks coexisted for 28 years despite periodically appearing in court opposite each other. In 1982, Streifthau sold Fantasy Farmto local carnival owner William Johnson, who ran the park for another decade before finally becoming a victim of the economy. Johnson closed Fantasy Farmin 1991 and sold off all of its assets.

Author Scott Fowler is the founder of the Southwest Ohio Amusement Park Historical Societyand the Southwest Florida Amusement Park Historical Society. The organizations are dedicated to preserving the rich amusement park heritage in southwest Ohio and along the Gulf Coast of Florida.