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At 2:30 p.m. on Friday, October 20, 1944, an above ground storage tank that held liquefied natural gas in the East Ohio Gas Company’s tank farm began to emit vapor from a seam on the side of the tank that dropped into nearby sewer lines. It mixed with air and sewer gas and ignited, resulting in explosions and fires that brought damage to nearly one square mile of Cleveland neighborhoods. With 79 homes and two factories destroyed, nearly 700 people were left homeless, 131 killed, and 225 injured. The East Ohio Gas Company took responsibility for this tragedy to aid those in need through direct financial assistance and by rebuilding the community. The disaster also led to a movement by public utilities and communities across America to store natural gas below ground without tanks.
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Daniel Drake, M.D.. Daniel Drake (1785-1852) was an influential figure in 19th century American medicine, gaining fame as physician, scientist, author, educator, and ardent champion for the City of Cincinnati. In 1819, Drake was the founding president of the Medical College of Ohio, which eventually became the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine, and a founder of Cincinnati College. Among Drake’s contributions, he argued for raising standards of medical education by having students study at patient bedsides and work in hospitals. A history of medicine from 1921 hailed Drake’s Practical Essays on Medical Education in the United States (1832) as one of “the most important contributions ever made to the subject in this country.”
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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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Miranda Boulden Parker lived at 2644 Marsh Avenue from 1907 to 1915. She moved into the four-family rental home with her daughters Bianca and Portia, who both worked as teachers. Miranda Parker was the widow of John P. Parker, Ripley’s Underground Railroad hero, born into slavery who famously helped more than 400 fugitives escape to freedom. In March 1914, after several vacant apartments in their Marsh Avenue home were repeatedly vandalized, daughter Bianca assumed the role as building caretaker. When she appealed to the police for help against vandals breaking windowpanes, shutters, and transoms, the police made no effort to arrest the offenders. Instead, the Health Department issued a 24-hour eviction notice. Bianca Parker sued Norwood’s Health Officer and Chief of Police unsuccessfully. The Parker family left Norwood for the more welcoming and integrated Madisonville neighborhood.
Miranda Boulden Parker lived in a home on this site from 1907(1) to 1915(2). She was the widow of Underground Railroad hero John P. Parker, who had been born into slavery. They lived in Ripley, Ohio, where John P. Parker helped more than 400 fugitives escape to freedom.(3) After his death in 1900, Miranda and their daughters Bianca and Portia, both teachers, came to Norwood. Here they rented an apartment in a four-family dwelling where Bianca became the caretaker.(4) From 1913-‘14, vandals broke over 63 windowpanes, shutters, and transoms. Bianca appealed to the police for help. Instead, the police notified the Health Department, who gave the Parkers a 24-hour eviction notice. The Parkers moved out of Norwood after unsuccessfully suing the city. (123 words)
City of Norwood, Ohio
Norwood Historical Society
The Ohio History Connection
This park was established by the City of Norwood in 1923(5) for the purpose of preventing Black Americans from owning homes here.(6) From 1907(7) to 1922(8), a four-family house on this site was rented by Black families.(9) George and Sarah Hirst lived in one of those units. On July 5, 1922, the Hirsts purchased a vacant lot next door(10) to the four-family dwelling and hired a Black contractor to build them a home.(11) White neighbors, fearing that a “Negro colony” might be developing, petitioned(12) Norwood City Council to take action.(13)(14) The Council used the right of eminent domain to seize the vacant lot from George and Sarah Hirst.(15) The Council also seized several other adjacent lots and demolished the four-family dwelling, creating Marsh Park.(16) (125 words)
City of Norwood, Ohio
Norwood Historical Society
The Ohio History Connection
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On April 29, 1879, using arc carbons from the forerunner of The National Carbon Company, the City of Cleveland was illuminated by the world’s first practical electric street lamp. The National Carbon Company was established in Cleveland, Ohio in 1886 by Brush Electric Company executive W.H. Lawrence in association with future Ohio Governor Myron T. Herrick, James Parmelee, and Webb Hayes, son of United States President Rutherford B. Hayes. Well known for its batteries, The National Carbon Company also earned recognition for breakthrough research and products, including lifesaving carbon-filtered gas masks used by soldiers in World War I and reentry parts on the spacecraft that captivated the nation in the 1960s.
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Market Square, home to the Pearl Street Market, was located on the corner of Pearl and Lorain Streets (now West 25th St. and Lorain Ave.) in what was then known as the City of Ohio. The land that Market Square occupies was donated by local businessmen Josiah Barber and Richard Lord in 1840 for the public’s use. Farmers and food vendors gathered to sell their wares after a public market moved here in 1859. In 1868, an enclosed wood-framed Pearl Street Market building was erected.
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For more than 120 years, the natural amphitheater of Brookside Stadium has been a place of recreation for visitors to enjoy community events, festivals, and even a concert by John Philip Sousa. Engineered by William Stinchcomb, chief architect of the Cleveland Metroparks, Brookside Stadium officially opened as a premier space for sandlot baseball in May 1909. As amateur baseball found increased esteem, both locally and nationally, Brookside Stadium regularly became popular with thousands of spectators. On Sunday, October 10, 1915, it was host to the National Inter-City Amateur Championship, during which a crowd of an estimated 115,000 people witnessed the White Autos beat the Omaha Luxus 11 to 6. Although there was no formal ticketing system to verify the exact attendance, photographs taken that day strongly suggest that Brookside Stadium hosted the largest crowd in amateur baseball history.
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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.