Geneva Lake with the nearby town of Geneva, Illinois, the city was renamed "Lake Geneva"; later the lake was renamed "Geneva Lake". Lakeshore attractions include Big Foot Beach State Park, Lake Geneva Yacht Club, the George Williams College campus of Aurora University, and Yerkes Observatory. The observatory is owned by the University of Chicago, which has established a study group to plan a regional center for science education at the observatory. Public access to the lake is allowed as the result of a decision by early European settlers that "20 feet of land leading up to the shoreline should be public domain."
Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio State Park continued to grow through 1974 to include cabins, campgrounds, and a swimming beach. Geneva-on-the-Lake's central attraction is "the Strip", a section of State Route 531 which is lined with parks, restaurants, and arcades, and has been a tourist attraction for decades. Eddie's Grill, an icon of "the Strip" has been catering to visitors since 1950 when it started as a Richardson Root Beer and hotdog stand. Through the years, it has grown into a patio, Dairy Queen, pizza parlor, and arcade serving patrons in a classic 1950s-style environment. In 2004, the Lodge and Conference Center at Geneva State