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The Cuyahoga County Fair, first known as the West Cuyahoga County Fair, has been held at this site since 1895. Agricultural fairs, exhibiting the best techniques for producing better crops and livestock, have been part of Cuyahoga County’s history from its early years. As Cleveland became an industrial center, fairs moved from the city to more rural areas of the county. By 1928, with the closure of fairs in Chagrin Falls and Dover, Berea hosted the only fair in the county. Although the Fair was not held during the Great Depression in 1932 or in the World War II years of 1942 and 1943, the Fair has thrived to reach proportions rivaling the Ohio State Fair. The goal of the Cuyahoga County Fair remains to exhibit, to educate, and to demonstrate agribusiness products and techniques from the past, present, and future in a festive atmosphere for all generations.
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Joseph Cahoon brought his family from Vergennes, Vermont, to Dover Township in 1810, and they established themselves as the first permanent settlers in what would become Bay Village, Ohio. The Cahoon house, called Rose Hill, was built in 1818 and replaced the log cabin the family built upon their arrival. Granddaughter Ida Maria Cahoon bequeathed her family’s 115-acre homestead as the Cahoon Memorial Park to the citizens of Bay Village in 1917. In accordance with the family’s wish, Rose Hill serves the community as a museum and library. The Reuben Osborn House (1815), thought to be the oldest frame house between Cleveland and Lorain, and the Community House (1882), formerly the Cahoon barn, join Rose Hill on the grounds of the memorial park. Providing a variety of recreational and educational activities, Cahoon Memorial Park is the center of community activity in Bay Village.
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Joseph Cahoon brought his family from Vergennes, Vermont, to Dover Township in 1810, and they established themselves as the first permanent settlers in what would become Bay Village, Ohio. The Cahoon house, called Rose Hill, was built in 1818 and replaced the log cabin the family built upon their arrival. Granddaughter Ida Maria Cahoon bequeathed her family’s 115-acre homestead as the Cahoon Memorial Park to the citizens of Bay Village in 1917. In accordance with the family’s wish, Rose Hill serves the community as a museum and library. The Reuben Osborn House (1815), thought to be the oldest frame house between Cleveland and Lorain, and the Community House (1882), formerly the Cahoon barn, join Rose Hill on the grounds of the memorial park. Providing a variety of recreational and educational activities, Cahoon Memorial Park is the center of community activity in Bay Village.
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Electric lighting became practical after Thomas Edison patented his light bulb in 1880. In Dover, a privately-owned company provided power to the downtown’s electric streetlamps. Community leaders believed that they were being charged excessively, however, and in 1898 voters passed a bond levy for $15,000 to build a municipal power plant. The Tuscarawas County Electric Light & Power Company challenged Dover’s efforts in court and after years of litigation, a second bond issue was passed in 1907 for $35,000. After more legal challenges and an anti-light plant publicity campaign, Dover built its facility on the southern bank of the Tuscarawas River near Bank Lane and East Broadway Streets. The plant began service in 1910 and, with the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Company, supplied electricity to Dover.
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Born in Jefferson, Ohio, Theodore E. Burton graduated from Oberlin College and became a prominent Cleveland attorney. He was elected to Congress in 1888 and served from 1889-91, 1895-1909, and 1921-28. He was elected U.S. Senator in 1908 and 1928 and was a leading contender for the U.S. Presidency in 1916. Due to his work in saving Niagara Falls from development and his opposition to wasteful waterways projects, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Burton chairman of the Inland Waterways Commission in 1907 and the National Waterways Commission in 1909. Burton is credited with pushing legislation through Congress that authorized the construction of the Panama Canal and negotiating agreements to ensure its neutrality. He lobbied to fight wasteful spending and influence of big business and sponsored the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. As president of the American Peace Society, Burton hosted the First World Conference on International Justice in Cleveland in 1928, attended by 13,000, including world leaders.
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This rare sandstone house was built for Austin (c. 1788-1848) and Roxanna (Sears) Lilly (c. 1793-1868). They came to Dover Township (now Westlake) in 1832 from Ashfield, Massachusetts, an area from which many Dover settlers originated. This lot had been owned by Ozias and Hiram Smith. The Lillys erected this house in about 1844 and lived here until 1867. It is made with sandstone blocks two feet thick, finely tooled and dressed in the front and less elaborately on the sides and rear. The basement is constructed with massive rectangular stone blocks. Thick hewn timbers support the massive roof structure. A brick wing was attached to the east side in about 1850. After 1867, the lot and house had several owners, including George Weston, James Beardsley, and August Trudel. Eventually, Alice (Mrs. Dezso) Ladanyi, the great granddaughter of George Weston, deeded the house to the city of Westlake for use as a museum.
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Born in Connecticut in 1794, Leverett Johnson came to Dover Township with his brother-in-law and sister, Asahel and Rebecca Johnson Porter on October 10, 1810. In 1811 at the age of 16, he began clearing land in what is now Westlake. In 1814 he built a log house at Porter and Center Ridge roads for his bride Abigail Cahoon. They raised nine children and lived here the rest of their lives. Johnson was a prominent citizen of Dover Township, serving as a justice of the peace, a township treasurer and trustee, a Cuyahoga County commissioner and a five-term Ohio state legislator, and as the first director of Dover Academy, a local school. Leverett died on April 19, 1856 at home. He donated part of his land for Evergreen Cemetery, where he, Abigail, and many of the pioneers of Westlake are buried.
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The Clague House and barn serve the community as a museum, history library, and a community theater. It is also a reminder of the area’s agrarian past and is a memorial to the philanthropic generosity of the Clagues. Robert Clague first came to Dover Township from the Isle of Man in 1829. Clague briefly returned to his native land; in 1837 he arrived back in Dover with his wife and infant. The couple raised nine children on the 78 acre farm. The Italianate structure, built in 1876, is the third home constructed on the Clague property. In 1926, surviving children Walter and Sophronia donated the farm to Dover Township for the creation of Clague Memorial Park.
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