A century of ‘fun and smiles’: Locals celebrate Lake Winnepesaukah’s 100th anniversary

Published 8:15 am Friday, June 20, 2025

Dalton native Sonya Howard was five years old when she first visited Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park in Rossville in the late 1960s. And since that moment, Howard said she’s made returning to the family-owned and operated theme park a regular occurrence throughout the years.

“You can never have too much fun here,” she said.

On Tuesday, Howard, along with her husband and grandchildren Callie, 9, and Benjamin, 6, spent time together during the park’s Centennial Celebration Ceremony, which officially celebrated 100 years in the community.

“It’s really neat to be here during such an amazing milestone,” Howard said. “I didn’t know that it was going to be the actual presentation of 100 years, so that’s really cool to be a part of.”

Opening on May 30, 1925, Lake Winnepesaukah — known as Lake Winnie for short — was founded by Carl and Minette Dixon after purchasing Green Springs Lake the previous year. The couple named the amusement park after the Cherokee word for “beautiful lake of the highlands.”

Several notable individuals attended the centennial celebration Tuesday, including former Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis, local radio personality Styckman and historian Jim Futrell, who serves as the director for the National Amusement Park Historical Association.

Also in attendance was Lake Winnie Park Director Tennyson Dickinson, the great-granddaughter of Carl and Minette Dixon.

“I really don’t think my great-grandparents could have imagined what we are now from that small, wooded lake they purchased,” Dickinson said. “I think about my memories of a child growing up here, my grandmother allowing me to serve picnics in the catering area. At the end of the catering, I knew I was rich because I’d earned $2. But I’ve since learned that the riches here are memories and experiences I’ve had.”

Dickinson said she was proud to help bring the dreams and the lifelong work of her family, “those present and those watching from above,” to fruition.

“The work ethic and example I saw daily in my grandmother, my mother and my aunt…that fairness, honesty and positive attitude are invaluable,” she said. “And along with that came a lot of grit.”

Through several generations of work at Lake Winnie, Dickinson said she learned the importance of bringing “some happiness” to people “in all walks of life, no matter their economic condition, educational background or nationality.”

“And I also learned that I had —and still have — the opportunity, in some small way, to help heal (visitors’) psyche in a world that, during the past century, has seen depression, wars, epidemics and divisiveness,” she said. “How? With a precious commodity called fun. Think about it; where else on earth are more smiles per square inch produced than in an amusement park? Countless times I’ve heard guests relate some of their firsts, where it’s ‘Lake Winnie was my first job, I got my first kiss on the boat chute or I learned to swim at Lake Winnie.'”

Throughout the last century, Lake Winnie expanded to include the addition of several rides and attractions that have become a staple to the amusement park, said Dickinson, including a ferris wheel in 1940, a chair swing and Tilt-A-Whirl ride in 1942, the Cannon Ball roller coaster in 1967, the OH-Zone drop tower ride in 2006 and a six-acre water park expansion known as SOAKya Water Park in 2013.

Beginning in the 1940s, Lake Winnie would host free country music shows throughout the year on a floating stage. During the next 80 years, musicians such as Porter Wagner, June Carter and the Carter Family, Carl Perkins, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, George Strait, Jerry Lee Lewis, Foghat, Josh Turner, Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Randy Travis and Charlie Daniels have performed at the park.

Howard, who now lives in Fort Oglethorpe, said revisiting Lake Winnie “brings back a lot of childhood memories.”

“We used to come on Kiddie Day, which I believe was Wednesdays growing up,” she said. “A lot of the park has changed, especially with the water park, but a lot of it is still the same. I’m glad the boat chute is still here, and the Cannon Ball. I love the old wooden coaster.”

East Brainerd, Tennessee, resident Tom Carter, a former schoolteacher in Dalton, said visiting Lake Winnie with his nine-year-old granddaughter Rhowyn during its 100th anniversary was “special.”

“I grew up in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, so my family and I would come over here on occasion,” Carter, 77, said. “It was a very special trip. I remember also coming over here on class field trips when I was a junior or senior in the spring. I remember when this area used to be a swimming pool; that’s how far I go back.”

Carter said traveling to Lake Winnie “was always fun.”

“I would bring my boys when they were younger and now I’m here bringing my granddaughter,” he said. “She’s here with us for the week and the first thing on our list to do was come to Lake Winnie.”

Rhowyn Carter said she couldn’t wait to take her grandfather on the Cannon Ball coaster.

“I like doing the roller coaster and how fast it is,” she said. “It’s really fun. We just did the Tilt-A-Whirl. I loved it.”

Tom Carter said some of his favorite memories of visiting Lake Winnie over the years involved swimming in the old concrete swimming pool and riding the boat chute.

“That’s a classic,” he said. “That and the ferris wheel, and the Cannon Ball. A lot of things have changed and some of them haven’t. They’re just traditions. But what I remember most and look back at fondly is just being with family or friends. It’s a good outdoor place to be and it doesn’t involve a lot of stress.”

Dickinson said Lake Winnie has thrived in the community for a century because of two simple reasons.

“Fun and smiles,” she said. “What I’ve seen over the years is that with each screaming breath, troubles slip away out of (visitors’) minds and they let in cheer. With that, a sort of healing takes place in ways science has yet to understand. That’s why we’re here. A hundred years, and we’re still counting.”