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Greenwood Farm straddles the East Branch of Euclid Creek where a waterfall and gorge expose outcroppings of Euclid bluestone. George and Maude Maynard Phypers acquired the property in 1908. Four generations of the Phypers family lived here until the City of Richmond Heights purchased it in 2004. Called Cleveland’s “Insurance Dean” for his leadership in the field, George (1873-1972) was a businessman and civic leader. He served on the Richmond Heights Village Council from 1921 to 1953. Maude (1872-1965) was the first woman to serve on the local school board (1931). The 17-acre farm includes a 19th century post-and-beam English barn and a 1917 Colonial Revival brick house. A powerhouse supplied electricity to the farm and a nearby school prior to rural electrification in the 1930s. Greenwood Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
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Women’s suffrage–the right for women to vote–was part of the women’s rights movement in the United States from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. In 1912 and 1914, women’s suffrage was on the state ballot in Ohio. Both times, the issue failed statewide but passed in Lakewood. Led by Bernice Pyke, Lakewood women participated in the Suffrage Party of Greater Cleveland and gained support for their cause. Lakewood’s City Council put the suffrage issue on the local ballot in 1917. The male voters of Lakewood passed it, allowing women to vote in municipal elections. In 1919, Ohio ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, which was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1920 and granted women the right to vote in all elections. The Lakewood League of Women Voters was chartered in 1922 and remains active a century later.
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Beginning in 1873, oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller purchased 700 acres of land in East Cleveland Township, now located in East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights. A failed hotel built in 1874-1875 served as the family’s summer home until it was destroyed by fire in 1917, although Rockefeller’s son, John, Jr., continued to visit the grounds. The Rockefellers spent much of their time outdoors, where they built on the land’s natural beauty and carefully designed and built carriage, foot and bridle paths, scenic views, lakes, a lily pond, stone bridges, a horse track and a gold course. John, Jr. purhcased all of his father’s Forest Hill property in 1923 and continued to buy adjacent land.
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Bounded by Ridge, Royalton, and Bennett Roads, the Green has been the heart of North Royalton even before it was incorporated. Once part of Brecksville Township, Royalton became its own township in 1818. Local lore says that settlers David and Knight Sprague paid a gallon of whiskey to name the community after their hometown of Royalton, Vermont. In 1825, John Watkins sold five acres to create this Green, so that the township could have a cemetery, a public square, and a place for public buildings. In 1885, “North” was added to “Royalton” to distinguish it from another Royalton in Ohio. Formerly a small agricultural community known for milk and cheese production, as well as nurseries, North Royalton became a Cleveland suburb following World War II. North Royalton incorporated as a village in 1927 and became city in 1961. (Continued on other side)
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Described as “one of the region’s great examples of Greek Revival church architecture,” the building was erected in 1853. Holsey Gates, founder of Gates Mills in 1826, financed most of the construction of the church, which served Methodist Episcopal congregants until 1926. With the decline in that denomination’s attendance, an Episcopal mission acquired the building in 1927 and renamed it St. Christopher’s by the River. Church trustee and eminent Cleveland architect Frank Walker made historically sensitive renovations to the building soon after. More were made in 1953-1954, 1965, and 1984. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
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The cemetery has been the final resting place of area residents since the 1820s. Settlers from New York and New England migrated here in the 1810s and 1820s. First called “Greenbrier,” the area took the name Parma after the township was organized in 1826. A log building at the cemetery’s north end stood from 1826 to 1841 and served as a township school, public meeting place, and church. The cemetery’s small sandstone vault was erected in 1892. After voters established Parma Heights village in 1911, the Parma Heights Cemetery Improvement Association formed to care for the grounds. (Continued on other side)
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City architect Frederic H. Betz designed the St. Clair Avenue Public Bath House and it was constructed in 1919-1920 at a cost of $320,000. The facility included a large gymnasium, swimming pool, and laundry, in addition to showers. City Council dedicated the newly completed building to the late, beloved Cleveland Indians shortstop Raymond Chapman in 1920. The St. Clair Recreation Center, as it was later known, was in the impact zone and survived the East Ohio Gas Company disaster on October 20, 1944. The facility was remodeled in 1949 and subsequent renovations demonstrate the utility of the building. Edward J. Kovacic (1910-1974) was the superintendent of the bathhouse from 1933-1934 and served on the City Council from 1940-1953. In 1977, the facility was renamed to honor Kovacic’s contributions to the citizens of the St. Clair neighborhood and to the city. (Continued on other side)
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Here in 1963 congregants of Beth Israel-The West Temple, led by Louis Rosenblum, Herb Caron, and Rabbi Daniel Litt, founded the Cleveland Committee (later Council) on Soviet Anti-Semitism, the first American organization created to advocate for freedom for Soviet Jews. In 1970 this work led to the formation of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) under the leadership of Louis Rosenblum. The UCSJ, whose national office was located here 1970-1973, became the largest independent Soviet Jewry organization in the world. By the turn of the 21st century, the efforts begun here helped 1.6 million Jews leave the former Soviet Union. (Continued on other side)
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