Remarkable Ohio

Results for: geauga
121 South Street
Chardon

, OH

Listed on the National register of Historic Places in 1974, this building was the post office from 1940 through 1986. It is an example of the Colonial Revival style common in the 1930s and 1940s. The exterior brick work, large Palladian window, and simple design were common in the building plans for era post offices. This simplicity enabled unskilled workers to be employed in public works projects. The building’s interior still has the original portico, wood and marble-paneled walls, terrazzo floors, and mailing lobby. (Continued on other side)

Welton Cemetery, 13970 Goodwin Ave
Burton

, OH

Welton Cemetery was known as Roselawn Cemetery until the early 1900s. Early settlers to the Burton area donated the land. Welton Cemetery is the burial place for veterans of the nation’s wars and for several state officials. Judge Peter Hitchcock (1781-1853) served in the War of 1812. From 1810-1852, he was elected to both houses of Ohio’s General Assembly and one term in the U.S. House of Representatives and served on the state’s Supreme Court. He was Chief Justice from 1831-1833 and 1849-1851. In 1850, he was a member of Ohio’s constitutional convention. (Continued on other side)

Washington Street
Chagrin Falls (South Russell)

, OH

From east to west, the Chagrin Falls and Eastern Interurban Railway crossed the Muggleton Farm (now South Russell Village Park) at this location and connected the Chagrin Valley with Hiram, Garrettsville, and Middlefield. Its sister interurban, the Cleveland and Chagrin Falls Electric Railway served points west. Soon after their formation, the Everett-Moore Syndicate merged the two lines into the extensive interurban rail network, The Eastern Ohio Traction Company. The EOTC and its predecessors operated from 1899-1925, mainly moving mail, farm goods, and passengers. In 1914, the more rural line from Chagrin Falls traveling eastward became the first major interurban in the United States to cease operations. It is believed that declining use, insufficient power for the railway, and a failed line extension to Youngstown were likely factors contributing to the line’s demise.(Continued on other side)

Park Avenue
Chardon

, OH

Near this location on May 15, 1823, the first murder trial in Geauga County concluded with the public execution of Benjamin Wright, Jr. On February 1, 1823, Wright stabbed Zophar Warner over a financial dispute, wounding him mortally. The following month, a jury found Wright guilty of murder and ordered that “he be hung by the neck until he be dead.” At the time, executions in Ohio were carried out locally and public hangings were seen by some as social events. The “hanging bee” drew more than 4,000 people, some of whom traveled from upwards of 50 miles to witness the spectacle. One witness wrote, “I felt that he deserved to be hung…but it was an awful site I hope to never the like see again.” Wright’s body was taken to nearby LeRoy for burial and the gallows was dismantled.