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Paul E. Brown, born September 7, 1908 in Norwalk, Ohio, and raised in Massillon, is a member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame and was one of the greatest coaches in the history of football at all levels. From 1932 until 1940, he led Massillon High School to a record of 80-8-2. He coached Ohio State to the 1942 national collegiate championship, and joined the professional football ranks in 1946 as coach of the new franchise in Cleveland. He coached his namesake Cleveland Browns to seven league championships in 17 seasons.
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Cedar Point became a popular beach resort in the late 1870s, when visitors traveled to the peninsula by steamboat from Sandusky. The Grand Pavilion (1888), the oldest building in the park, dates from this era. Promoter George Boeckling formed the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company in 1897 and vastly expanded the resort’s attractions. During the first decade of the 1900s, he built the lagoons, an amusement circle, and several hotels, including the landmark Breakers in 1905. The Coliseum, opened in 1906, became the centerpiece of the park and hosted many of the famous big bands through the Depression and World War II years. In the late 1950s, Cedar Point began its transformation into a modern amusement park.
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From east to west, the Chagrin Falls and Eastern Interurban Railway crossed the Muggleton Farm (now South Russell Village Park) at this location and connected the Chagrin Valley with Hiram, Garrettsville, and Middlefield. Its sister interurban, the Cleveland and Chagrin Falls Electric Railway served points west. Soon after their formation, the Everett-Moore Syndicate merged the two lines into the extensive interurban rail network, The Eastern Ohio Traction Company. The EOTC and its predecessors operated from 1899-1925, mainly moving mail, farm goods, and passengers. In 1914, the more rural line from Chagrin Falls traveling eastward became the first major interurban in the United States to cease operations. It is believed that declining use, insufficient power for the railway, and a failed line extension to Youngstown were likely factors contributing to the line’s demise.(Continued on other side)
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Known as the “Halfway House,” the Gooding House and Tavern was built by George B. Gooding halfway between the towns of Worthington and Delaware in 1827. Its location was influenced by construction of the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike that was chartered by the State of Ohio the year before. Also known as the “Mud Pike,” the turnpike was slow and difficult for travelers and could take nearly a day to travel 10 miles. The Gooding House was the perfect place for stagecoach drivers to change teams of horses and for travelers to rest and have refreshments. George Gooding also prospered as a farmer with over 1,000 acres of land. This stately brick farmstead remained in the Gooding family for 175 years with each succeeding generation adding its imprint on the property. The Gooding House and Tavern was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and restored in 2007.
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Poland Academy, an elite private school, was established on this site in 1830 and in 1859 graduated its most notable student William McKinley, who became the 25th president of the United States. In 1862, the school changed its name to Poland Seminary and was one of the first schools in northeast Ohio to admit girls on an equal basis. Ida Tarbell, who became a prominent national journalist and author was Preceptress of the Seminary from 1880-1882. William Calhoun graduated from the Seminary and became the U.S. Ambassador to China from 1910-1913. The school became a public institution in 1909 when it became the Poland Seminary High School. In 1972 it was the site of Poland Junior High School and Poland Middle School in 1985.
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Dunham Tavern is the oldest building still standing on its original site in the City of Cleveland. Once a stagecoach stop on the old Buffalo-Cleveland-Detroit road (modern Euclid Avenue), the tavern dates from 1824. The structure was built by Rufus and Jane Pratt Dunham, who journeyed to the Western Reserve from Mansfield, Massachusetts. The Dunhams sold the tavern in 1853. However, it continued to serve the public until 1857, when it was converted to a private residence. It remained a home until the nineteen thirties, when commercial development threatened the former tavern’s existence. The historic structure was dedicated in 1936 as a museum depicting the life of an early Cleveland pioneer family. Dunham Tavern is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated Cleveland Landmark building.
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Joseph Carter Corbin’s work in the Reconstruction-era south after the Civil War created many educational opportunities for African Americans. Corbin (1833-1911) was a professor, administrator, journalist, linguist, and musician. Born in Chillicothe, Ohio to free African American parents, he earned his bachelor’s degree and two masters’ degrees from Ohio University, in 1853, 1856, and 1889, respectively. In 1872, Corbin and his wife Mary moved to Arkansas where he served as the state superintendent of public education. In 1875, Corbin was appointed principal of Branch Normal College, which became the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In 1898, he co-founded and became president of the Arkansas Teachers Association. He was also a leader in the Prince Hall Masons, an African American Masonic order. He served as a secretary and Grand Master of the lodge’s Arkansas chapter.
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The foundation for the first Welsh settlement in Ohio was laid on June 29, 1801, when William and Morgan Gwilym purchased land in what is now Morgan Township at the Cincinnati Land Office. The Welsh, who settled in Pennsylvania beginning in the late eighteenth century, moved westward and settled here in 1802. This area was also the major terminus for the 1818 migration from Montgomeryshire and Cardiganshire in Wales. In 1803 a Congregational Church was organized and services were held in members’ homes or outdoors. A brick Meetinghouse, complete with a Welsh death door leading to the cemetery, was constructed in 1824. The building now serves as the Community House. The present brick church was built in 1854. For many years, the library, formed in 1852, was housed in the New London Special School District building that stood on this site. (Continued on other side)