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Formed by erosion of Cleveland shale and cascading 48 feet, making it the tallest waterfall in the county, the Cataract Falls of Mill Creek powered the gristmill and sawmill built by William Wheeler Williams and Major Wyatt in 1799. The mills, commissioned by the Connecticut Land Company to encourage settlement of the Western Reserve, attracted people to Newburgh. Cleveland finally outgrew bustling Newburgh by 1830 and eventually annexed most of it. The founding of the Cleveland Rolling Mill in Newburgh, beginning with the firm of Chisholm, Jones, & Company in 1857, precipitated the growth of the steel industry in Cleveland. By 1868, under the management of Henry Chisholm, it became one of the first in the nation to produce steel using the Bessemer process. The Rolling Mill, later the American Steel and Wire Company (a subsidiary of U.S. Steel), purchased the millworks at the falls in 1872.
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The discovery in the mid-19th century of iron-rich black band ore in this region helped revitalize Mahoning Valley’s iron industry. The land now called Mineral Ridge was primarily a farming community before the 1850s. In the 1830s, coal was discovered and mining began on a small scale. For years, it was believed that the coal seam sat on top of a layer of slate, which was considered to be of little worth. In the mid-1850s, however, John Lewis, superintendent of the Mineral Ridge Coal Mines, identified what was previously thought to be slate as valuable black band ore instead. (Continued on other side)
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William Graves Sharp lived at this location before and after his tenure as Ambassador to France during World War I. He was born to George Sharp and Mahala Graves Sharp in Mount Gilead, Ohio, on March 14, 1859. As children, Sharp and his twin brother George moved to Elyria with their mother and grandparents, William and Ephra Graves. An Elyria High School graduate, Sharp earned a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1881. He was a journalist, lawyer, industrialist, and Lorain County Prosecutor. Serving three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sharp introduced the first legislation providing for airmail service. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson named Sharp as ambassador to France. He served from December 4, 1914, to April 14, 1919. (Continued on other side)
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The land on which Coventry Township is situated was ceded in 1785 to the United States by the Delaware, Chippewa, Ottawa, and Wyandot tribes under the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. The area was a choice location for Native Americans, settlers, and fur traders due to the abundant bodies of water and proximity to the Portage Path, a land connection between the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga rivers and Lake Erie. In 1788, Coventry Township was initially part of Washington County, the first county formed in the Ohio Territory. After Moses Warren finished a survey in 1797, a succession of county splits located Coventry Township in Jefferson County, Trumbull County, Portage County, and, finally, Summit County in 1840. The township originally encompassed Summit Lake and the lands south to the southern line of the Western Reserve (Green-New Franklin lines). Daniel Haines was the first resident to settle in Coventry Township in 1806.
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The Village of Glenwillow was developed and has survived over the last century as a rural enclave whose character has been shaped by the Austin Powder Company. Glenwillow began as a company town of the Austin Powder Company, which relocated its explosives factory from Cleveland in 1892. The Falls Junction Depot was originally built in 1883 and located approximately 1/4 mile to the north at the junction of the existing Wheeling and Lake Erie track and a rail line that connected to Chagrin Falls. The Depot was moved to its present location when Austin Powder Company relocated to Glenwillow. Passenger trains on the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway provided Glenwillow residents access to the larger cities of Cleveland, Kent, and Akron, and provided a route for Austin Powder to ship its explosives to mines in southeast Ohio. The Depot, which operated until 1974, is now an important component to the revitalization of the Glenwillow Town Center.
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Steel-frame skyscrapers and retail buildings replaced wood-frame residences as the downtown evolved into a commercial district. A small public library branch occupied the north side of the square from 1923 to 1954. The Keith-Albee Theater (later the Palace) in the northeast corner of the square from 1926 to 1964, featured vaudeville performances and movies. Streetcar tracks around the square were removed for scrap during World War II. With expansion of suburban shopping malls, downtown theaters and department stores gradually closed. In 1973-74 Central Square was converted to a pedestrian Federal Plaza by closing off traffic on Federal Street one block east and west of Market Street. Central Square reopened in 2004 with a new traffic pattern, planting beds, and street furniture. Marker for “Central Square (1798-1899)” across the street.
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Elm Court, designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw of Illinois, was built in 1912 for Arthur Hudson Marks. The original mansion exemplifies the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Elm Court included the mansion, barn, stables, carriage house, pond, and a variety of trees, especially elms, on 33 acres. Arthur Marks was the inventive genius in chemistry and business who revolutionized the rubber industry in Akron. He was best known for inventing the alkaline-recovery vulcanization process in 1899, the cord tire, the chemical research laboratory system, and placing rubber research on a scientific basis. In World War I he served as director of chemical warfare services. Marks served as vice-president of B.F. Goodrich Company and Curtis Airplane and Engine Company and president of other rubber companies and the Aeolian Skinner Organ Company.
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Born at Richford, New York, John D. Rockefeller moved to the Cleveland area with his family at age 14. He began his business career as a bookkeeper in 1855. From modest beginnings he became one of the richest men of his era by developing the world’s largest oil corporation, the Standard Oil Company, which was founded here in the Flats of Cleveland. Rockefeller moved to New York City in 1884 but maintained two homes in Cleveland, returning often with his wife Laura (1839-1915). Although he was a controversial businessman, Rockefeller donated millions of dollars to Cleveland charities and institutions, and land for Rockefeller and Forest Hills parks. John and Laura Rockefeller are interred in Lake View Cemetery.
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