, OH
Marion A. Harrison established M.A. Harrison Memorial Airfield, formerly Harrison Airport, in 1946 on land encompassing 80 acres. This facility served to promote aviation activities in the Birmingham community with flight charters, flight instruction, and rides. Birmingham Metal Products was located here during World War II producing fighter aircraft fuel parts, and the airfield was used to train civilian pilots. Today, it remains dedicated to flight.
, OH
Dayton natives Hermene (1902-1986) and Josephine Schwarz (1908-2004) were pioneers of dance who founded one of the first regional ballet companies in the country. In 1927, they opened the Schwarz School of Dance, which eventually became the Dayton Ballet in 1978. Josephine’s choreography blended classical ballet traditions and contemporary dance, creating a fusion of styles that through her students and other companies shaped the development of dance in the United States. The sisters are credited with introducing organized dance to African-American and underserved children in the Dayton area. As part of the sisters’ legacy, Josephine created a fund at the Dayton Foundation in memory of Hermene to support Dayton arts and artists.
, OH
The Alpine Alpa restaurant in Wilmot, Ohio commissioned clockmaker Karl Schleutermann to build the world’s largest cuckoo clock in 1963. Twelve years and $50,000 later, the enormous outdoor clock was finished. It was featured on the cover of the “Guinness Book of World Records” in 1978. After exposure to Ohio’s weather for 30 years, Hampton Hotel’s “Save-A-Landmark” program helped to restore the cuckoo clock to operating condition in 2007. The restaurant closed two years later, and the owner of the local store Walnut Creek Cheese purchased the clock and donated it to the Village of Sugarcreek. The clock was moved to its new home in May 2012. Village leaders and community members returned the clock to working condition and placed it on display for all to enjoy.
, OH
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.
, OH
The village of Gates Mills derives its name from its founder, Holsey Gates, and from the importance of mills in the agricultural community. In 1826, the year of Gates Mills’ founding, a sawmill was constructed to increase the lumber supply and attract new settlers. In the following year, a rake factory was established, and by 1829 a gristmill was in operation. The Chagrin River was dammed to create a millrace that regulated the flow of water to the wheels that powered the mills. Shops and houses encircled the mills, which were the center of industry in Gates Mills.
, OH
Prior to the Civil War, Ohio was a leading state for enslaved Americans of African decent traveling the Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada. For these fugitives, their final stop in Ohio was a Lake Erie port community in the north. One such port was at the mouth of the Black River in Lorain that came to be identified as Lorain Station 100, named because it was thought to be one of the last stops or stations before the fugitive slaves reached freedom in Canada. Many arrived here in a wagon driven by Robbins Burrell who owned a farm five miles up the Black River. Concealed by vegetables, grains, or hay, the slaves were smuggled into schooners, some of which belonged to Burrell’s cousin Captain Aaron Root. From Lorain Station 100, the determined travelers were transported across Lake Erie, completing the final leg of their long journey to freedom.
, OH
At this site the Lake Shore Electric Railway crossed a bridge that spanned the Vermilion River. The western abutment of the former bridge is plainly visible just below along the river bank. Widely known as the “Greatest Electric Railway in the United States,” the flaming orange trolley cars of the Lake Shore Electric Railway transported people and freight for thirty-seven years (1901-1938) along the southern Lake Erie shores from Cleveland to Toledo often reaching speeds of sixty miles per hour. The interurban line played a primary role in the development of the western Cleveland suburbs and also carried throngs of summer visitors to Lake Erie recreation facilities at Avon Beach Park, Linwood Park, Crystal Beach, Mitiwanga, Ruggles Grove, Rye Beach, and Cedar Point. The power lines still standing along the system’s right-of-way attest to the fact that it also assisted in bringing electric power to the entire region.
, OH
In 1942, Charity Adams Earley (1918-2002) became the first African American woman to receive a commission in what became the Women’s Army Corps (WACs). She rose through the ranks to command the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in Europe, the only unit of African American women to serve overseas in World War II. Upon leaving the service in 1946, she was the WAC’s highest-ranking African American officer, a lieutenant colonel. Raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Earley moved to Ohio to attend Wilberforce University and later The Ohio State University. She married Stanley Earley, Jr., M.D. in 1949 and they later moved to Dayton. She became active in civic affairs, including serving on the Sinclair Community College Board of Trustees.
614.297.2300
Contact Us
