Remarkable Ohio

Results for: cuyahoga
323 E. Bagley Road
Berea

, OH

A fine example of the district school building common to Ohio in the early years of the twentieth century, this two-room, red-brick schoolhouse was completed in 1913. Accommodating elementary school children in east Berea and adjacent areas of Middleburg Township, the Berea “Little Red Schoolhouse” replaced an original wood-frame, one-room school built in the late nineteenth century on the same site. No longer active as a school, the building was used by the Berea Fine Arts Club from 1935 to 1980, and subsequently by the Berea Jaycees for meetings and community projects. This historic structure has been carefully restored and opened to public gatherings by the Berea Little Red Schoolhouse Foundation, Inc. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Wade Oval Drive
Cleveland

, OH

Named for the streetcar turnaround once located at Euclid Avenue and East 107th Street, University Circle is a 600-acre district that is home to many of Cleveland’s major cultural, educational, medical, and service institutions. The area was first settled in 1799 by tavernkeeper Nathaniel Doan and became known as Doan’s Corners. In 1882, Western Reserve College moved here from Hudson, followed in 1885 by the Case School of Applied Science from downtown Cleveland. These two colleges federated in 1967 to become Case Western Reserve University. (continued on other side)

E. Bridge Street
Berea

, OH

The Triangle, one of the most historic places in Berea, has been the center of the city’s civic life since the mid-19th century. Just beneath lie the solid layers of the famous Berea Sandstone that brought prosperity to Berea during its early years. Quarry owner and Berea Seminary founder John Baldwin obtained much of what is now Berea from Gideon Granger, Postmaster General under President Thomas Jefferson and original owner of Township 6, Range 14 (later Middleburg Township) of the Western Reserve. When the seminary trustees transferred the Triangle tract to the people of Berea in 1847, they designated it by deed as a public promenade. This farsighted stipulation preserved it from commercial development during the 20th century. (continued on other side)

Just E of 33775 Hiram Trail
Moreland Hills

, OH

Hiram House was Ohio’s first settlement house and among the earliest in the nation, opening in October 1896 in Cleveland’s Whiskey Island neighborhood. Representing the ideals of a late-1800s urban progressive movement, settlement houses provided–through “service, not charity” –health, recreational, and self-development opportunities that were not widely available in this era. Founded by Hiram College divinity graduate George A. Bellamy (1872-1960), Hiram House administered a wide range of social services for people of different ethnic and economic backgrounds. Bellamy established the “Fresh Air Camp” circa 1900; Cleveland industrialist Samuel Mather donated this tract of land in 1903. In continuous operation since its founding, Hiram House has provided outdoor experiences and educational programs for thousands of Ohio children.

6975 Ridge Road
Parma

, OH

This 48-acre farm is the last remnant of an agricultural way of life that characterized Parma Township well into the 20th century. The farmhouse, built circa 1855 by Western Reserve settler Lyman Stearns, is representative of the Greek Revival style of architecture popular in this region prior to the Civil War. The “Yankee” style barn predates the house. Suburban development following World War II engulfed virtually all of this area by the 1950s. The Stearns Homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. (continued on other side)

50 Seminary Street
Berea

, OH

On this site the Lyceum Village and the Berea Seminary were established in 1837 by John Baldwin, James Gilruth, Henry O. Sheldon, and Josiah Holbrook. Their vision was to create the first in a connected series of Lyceum Villages. The Villages were designed especially to assist in the education of teachers, promote “scientific” exchanges over the world and thus encourage the study of the works and word of God, and cultivate the spirit of “peace on earth and good will to men.” The community, however, declined and in 1842, John Baldwin assumed the indebtedness of $15,000. James Wallace acquired the area. It was owned by the Methodist Children’s Home in the 1860s and then sold to German Wallace College in 1866, becoming the original German Wallace College campus.

W. 210th Street
Fairview Park

, OH

Envisioned by Fairview Village Mayor, David R. Bain, this community center was originally completed in 1937 as a project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era work relief program initiated by the Federal Government in 1935. A fire destroyed the original log cabin on December 14, 1937, just four days before the planned dedication. With the support of the community, Mayor Bain turned again to the WPA for funding and labor to rebuild the structure. This cabin, constructed of bricks on the original foundation, features an 8’x12′ mural painted by artists of the WPA’s Federal Art Project and which depicts Fairview’s history through the 1930s. The new cabin was dedicated on January 15, 1940, and was named in honor of Mayor Bain in 1957, four years after his death.

7580 Old Mill Road
Gates Mills

, 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.