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Born in Cincinnati in 1850, Dan Beard was a nationally known illustrator and artist. Early years and summers spent here strongly influenced his career. Beard’s American Boy’s Handy-Book (1882), a manual of woodcraft and nature lore, was one of his twenty youth-oriented outdoors books. He founded the Sons of Daniel Boone circa 1906, a boys’ organization that he promoted as editor of Recreation magazine. After Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts in England in 1908-based partly upon Beard’s writings-“Uncle Dan” helped establish the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1910. Since then, Scouting has promoted the development of character, citizenship, physical fitness, and environmental awareness for millions of boys. Beard served as the BSA’s first commissioner and participated actively until his death in 1941. The uniform design and the BSA emblem are among his many contributions to Scouting.
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For over 200 years, the Mentor Lagoons have had a major impact on northeastern Ohio and its people. Located on the site of a large estuary where the Grand River once flowed into Lake Erie, the area evolved into a large marsh. It was here in 1797 that Charles Parker, a member of Moses Cleaveland’s survey party, platted lands for the Connecticut Land Company and established the “Marsh Settlement,” the first in what later became Lake County. Throughout the twentieth century, attempts were made to commercially develop this natural treasure, the most recent occurring in 1996. The proposed destruction of the Mentor Lagoons’ pristine lakefront, upland forest and riverine marsh prompted Mentor voters to call for its preservation. For the first time in Ohio’s history, voters affirmed eminent domain action to protect open space. This led to the city’s acquisition of the 450-acre tract, now known as the Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve & Marina.
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Rufus P. Stone, grandson of General Rufus Putnam, settled on this 1,000 acre farm and built a wooden farmhouse here in 1818. In 1855, John E. Thomas purchased the original farmhouse and 600 acres from the heirs of Rufus P. Stone. Thomas enlarged the farmhouse into the present manor house with a large sandstone addition in 1857. The farm was known for its extensive orchards and fine livestock, including cattle, sheep, and high quality saddle horses. Thomas, dressed in silk hat, frock coat, and all the finery of the day, rode one of his fine saddle horses around the estate supervising farm laborers. He developed an enclosed nature preserve on the farm for breeding and raising deer that were nearly extinct in Ohio in the 1850s. Thomas later acquired 200 more acres of the original acres for a total of 800 acres.
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Old Woman Creek is one of the few naturally functioning estuary environments – places where chemically-distinct bodies of water meet and mix – left in the western basin of Lake Erie. This ecosystem features diverse habitats of marshlands, sand beaches, and upland forests, supporting plants and animals unique to natural coastal communities. Nearly 300 bird species (including bald eagles), 40 fish species, and hundreds of native plants have been recorded in this area. Old Woman Creek is Ohio’s only national estuarine sanctuary and became a state nature preserve in 1980.
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In 1955, at the age of 67, Emma Rowena “Grandma” Gatewood became the first woman to hike the 2,050 mile Appalachian Trail alone and in one season. The Gallia County, Ohio resident hiked the Appalachian Trail again in 1957 and 1964, becoming the first to walk its length three times. In 1959, she hiked the Oregan Trail, from Independence, Missouri to Portland, Oregon. She was a founder of the Buckeye Trail and life member of the Buckeye Trail Association, which named part of the trail after her. Grandma Gatewood was born in 1887 on a farm near Mercerville, one of 15 children, and died in 1973 at the age of 85, the mother of 11 and “grandma” to many more. SHe was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Civic organizations played pivotal roles in the development of the residential community of Hazelwood, founded as a subdivision of Blue Ash in 1888. The Hazelwood Civic Association, initially established as the Brothers Civic Society in 1941, addressed community needs by working for public improvements and promoting civic relations through social events and educational programs. Efforts by the HCA led to the construction of a new civic center and the introduction of the Boy and Girl Scouts and other programs that were previously unavailable to African-American children. Hazelwood’s deterioration and the threat of encroaching industrial development led to the formation of the Hazelwood Improvement Corporation in 1968. The HIC, acting as an agent of the city of Blue Ash, helped to upgrade housing, pave roads, build new homes to ensure a residential nature, install water and sewage systems, and erect streetlights. In 1997, the Hazelwood Community Association was organized to assist residents during Hazelwood’s transition to a racially integrated community.
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Founded in 1876 by a group of Toledo businessmen, Woodlawn Cemetery was designed in the tradition of the country’s “rural cemetery” movement, which was first popularized in Europe in the 1830s. This movement reflects the change in American burial practices in the nineteenth century as attitudes of death changed from grim to sentimental. The cemetery’s landscape emphasizes nature and art. Besides being a burial place, the cemetery is an arboretum, bird sanctuary, outdoor museum, and historical archive. Woodlawn also became a fashionable park for Toledo’s residents to escape the commotion of the city. The cemetery chronicles the growth of Toledo and northwest Ohio, and is an important cultural and historic landmark in regards to community planning and development, and landscape and building architecture. Historic Woodlawn Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
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Ice Age glaciers formed the distinct landscape of the Oak Openings Region, which is dominated by rolling sand dunes and wet prairies interrupted by clusters of oak trees. Although the sandy soil did not support agriculture well, the early settlers of Springfield Township and the Village of Holland raised cranberries and other fruits. Encompassing nearly 130 square miles, the Oak Openings Region was designated as one of America’s “Last Great Places” by The Nature Conservancy and is home to over 180 rare and endangered species. Local legend holds that prior to the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, Miami Chief Little Turtle and Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket passed through the Oak Openings and met at a council with Wyandot chiefs on the hill near the Springfield Township Cemetery.
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