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Sylvania was once the headquarters for the Toledo and Western Railway, an electric interurban line that provided service between Toledo and Pioneer with a branch line to Adrian, Michigan. Construction began here in 1900 with planning and specifications set to steam railroad standards. With completion of rails, a powerhouse, maintenance facilities, and offices, the Toledo and Western Railway Company was soon in the business of providing freight and passenger service and was especially competitive as it owned more freight engines than most interurban lines. Operating an electric interurban line also meant that the company had the ability to provide electricity to people living in Sylvania and to other communities and property owners living along the line’s right-of-way. Besides freight, passengers, and electricity, Toledo and Western also provided postal service, one of the first interurban lines to do so. [continued on other side]
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Toledo State Hospital opened in January 1888 as the Toledo Asylum for the Insane. Originally located immediately south of this cemetery, the hospital was designed to function as a self-contained community for 650 people. Patients lived in large cottages, surrounded by a post office, church, library, male and female hospital, strong wards, bakery, and dining hall. People were admitted with mild to severe forms of mental illness, and a variety of other disabling conditions, including developmental, medical or neurological, as well as for addictions, injuries, and old age. Work became a form of treatment, with patients involved in construction, farming, laundry, and other jobs to help maintain the hospital. Patients could also participate in recreational activities from gardening to playing in the hospital band. The State Hospital became home for many, as hospitalization could last a lifetime, often spanning decades. (continued on other side)
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The Brewery District contains the majority of Cincinnati’s remaining breweries and associated structures such as icehouses, bottling buildings, offices, and stables. With the first brewery north of Liberty Street founded in1829, German immigrants fueled the growth of the brewing industry; by 1891, Cincinnati breweries produced over four barrels of beer per resident annually, almost twice as much as any other city in the nation. The brick breweries were typically designed in the Romanesque Revival style, and larger complexes often covered multiple city blocks. To produce the lager style beer common by 1860, typically very deep basements were dug or tunnels were cut into hillsides for the lagering process. At the height of production, 18 of the 36 breweries in greater Cincinnati were operating in Over-the-Rhine and the West End. Prohibition in 1919 closed most of the breweries permanently.
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One of five Civil War military posts in Columbus, Tod Barracks, named in honor of Governor David Tod, was built in 1863 as the headquarters for military administration in central Ohio. Necessitated by Lincoln’s call for 300,000 new troops, the post was constructed in two months with United States Engineer, Captain John Tod, as supervisor. Carpenters of the 88th Ohio Volunteer Infantry from Camp Chase, three miles west, built it. Tod Barracks served as a recruiting depot, a rendezvous point for new recruits, and place where soldiers mustered-out after the war. Located adjacent to Columbus’ Union Station, the post also served as a transfer point for soldiers and officers traveling through Ohio. (continued on other side)
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Known as the “Village Cemetery,” this was Berea’s main burial ground from 1834 to the 1880s. However, in 1886, the Cleveland Stone Co. purchased quarries adjacent to the cemetery, where Coe Lake is today. Quarrying had already caused flooding and landslides in the area. Local stories say that the company operated too near to the edge of cemetery, causing a landslide in the northwest corner that exposed some graves. Worried families moved their loved ones’ remains to other cemeteries, including those of five Civil War veterans. Pioneering families, 16 Civil War veterans, 3 mayors of Berea, several quarry owners, and many ordinary people still rest here. Of the original 589 burials, 40% were children. (Continued on other side)
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The North Olmsted Historical Society was founded in 1953 and became incorporated as a non-profit association in 1961. A year later, Frostville Museum opened in the Prechtel House. The society took on the challenge of preserving the history of the entire original township and became the Olmsted Historical Society in 1969. The Frostville Museum has grown from one house to a small village. Volunteers are dedicated to preserving the past and the present for the future. In August 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama designated the society as a Preserve America Steward. Frostville is an affiliate of the Cleveland Metroparks.
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Chestnut Street Cemetery is the first Jewish cemetery in Ohio and the earliest west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was established in 1821 when Nicholas Longworth sold land to Joseph Jonas, David I. Johnson, Morris Moses, Moses Nathan, Abraham Jonas, and Solomon Moses for $75 as a “burying ground.” Benjamin Lape (or Leib) was the first buried there with Jewish rites. The purchase of the original plot marks the beginning of an organized Jewish community in the Queen City. Chestnut Street Cemetery, although enlarged by adjacent purchases, closed in 1849 when cholera ravaged the city and filled available space. In all, there are approximately 100 interments on the site. Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati maintains Chestnut Street Cemetery as well as many other Jewish cemeteries in the region.
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The changing use of this land, now Lakewood Park, reflects the development of Lakewood, Ohio from a small agricultural community to a thriving modern suburb. Early settler John Honam’s property stretched north from Detroit Avenue to Lake Erie, between Belle and Cook Avenues. His 1834 home was restored by the Lakewood Historical Society and now serves as the Oldest Stone House Museum. Later, the property was the site of the lavish Robert Russell Rhodes estate, “The Hickories.” As the population grew, so did the need for civic amenities. In 1919, the City of Lakewood purchased the estate, using the land for Lakewood Park and the mansion as a hospital annex during the Flu Epidemic and then as City Hall until 1959. Only one piece of “The Hickories” remains; the original stone wall engraved with the estate name.