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Henry Hanford Wakeman (1840-1879) of New York came to Waterville and became a successful businessman. He conceived the idea of a local Masonic Lodge, which became Wakeman Lodge No. 522 Free and Accepted Masons in 1879, and bequeathed $1,000 toward the construction of a meeting place. In 1880, a cornerstone was laid and this building was dedicated on October 21, 1881. For over 100 years, the Masons held their meetings upstairs while the lower floor was often rented out to a succession of businesses or used for public gatherings. Rising maintenance expenses and lower membership numbers caused the Masons to put Wakeman Hall up for sale in 1995. The Waterville Historical Society purchased the building in 1997 and spent several years rehabilitating it to serve as a local history archive and the Historical Society’s meeting place.
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In 1822, Ralph Russell, a Connecticut pioneer who had settled in Warrensville Township ten years earlier, founded the North Union Shaker Community. The Shakers created Horseshoe Lake in 1852 when they built a dam across Doan Brook and harnessed its waterpower to operate a woolen mill near Lee Road and South Park Boulevard. The community disbanded in 1889; its 1,366 acres were eventually sold to a real estate syndicate from Buffalo, New York, the Shaker Heights Land Company. In 1896, this group deeded the Shaker Lakes Parklands to the City of Cleveland to preserve the green space in perpetuity. Ten years later, the Van Sweringen Company began to develop Shaker Heights Village as a Garden City suburb where William J. Van Aken served as mayor from 1915 until 1950. In the 1960s local residents successfully fought the proposed Clark Freeway, saving Horseshoe Lake and the Parklands from destruction.
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In 1962, Asian Indian students of Case Western Reserve University started India Association of Cleveland (IAC). In 1967, IAC started a newspaper “LOTUS,” regarded as the first such Asian Indian community newspapers in the United States. In 1978, IAC started a community center to be owned and managed by a new organization: India Community Center (ICC), the first such facility established by Asian Indians in Ohio. In 1980, IAC and ICC merged and formed the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA). Other associations representing the various states and interests in India became Federation members.
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Organized in 1823 as Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Paul A.M.E. Church is the oldest congregation of African descent in Columbus. The church, founded by Moses Freeman and 13 other members from the Town Street Church, was originally located on the east side of Lazelle Street. Several buildings were erected to meet the needs of the growing congregation. The present edifice, located at 639 E. Long Street, was completed in 1906. St. Paul has several outreach ministries, including The Prison Ministry, Alzheimer Ministry, Karen’s House, Community Development Corporation, Health Concerns Committee, St. Paul Tutorial and Enrichment Program (STEP), St. Paul Scholarship Program, St. Paul Drama Ministry, Jam’N Jefferson Park Festival, and Church Without Walls.
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Founded in 1924 and incorporated in 1925, the German Central Organization was established to serve all people of German descent and was the central meeting place for immigrants of various ethnic groups following both world wars. During the difficult years of the Great Depression, the German Central Organization distributed money to needy German-Americans and helped thousands to find jobs by providing free employment service. Anti-German sentiment during World War II culminated in a vandal attack on the German Central Organization farm in 1942. Despite damage to the property and decreased membership, the German Central Organization rebounded and remains a solid pillar of the community.
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In 1801, the Springdale Presbyterian Church acquired these two and a half acres to construct a church and cemetery. Although the church moved to a new location in 1833, the cemetery remained and continued to receive regular internments until the mid 1950s. Because of a continued decline in church membership, the Presbyterian Church was eventually unable to care for the cemetery. The church felt it was in the best interest of the community to turn ownership over to the City of Springdale. In 1987, the city received ownership of the cemetery and immediately began a maintenance and restoration project. Many forgotten graves were uncovered and broken gravestones were restored and reset. The cemetery contains seven hundred and thirty nine graves and is the final resting place for nine Revolutionary War veterans, thirteen veterans of the Civil War, and one each from the War of 1812 and World War I.
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The Union and League of Romanian Societies, Incorporated was formed in 1928 from a unification of two separate fraternal organizations, the Union and the League. The Union, founded on July 4, 1906, was originally organized for the purpose of promoting the general welfare of its members through life insurance policies obtained through individual societies located in the United States and Canada. The societies of the Union and League offer social interaction within their local lodges and through the strength of the larger parent organization. The purpose of the current Union and League is to maintain and encourage Romanian cultural heritage by promoting interest in Romanian ethnic values through cultural activities and to sustain loyalty to the United States and Canada among its respective members.
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The West Park African American community began in 1809 with the first black settler and one of the earliest residents of the area, inventor and farmer George Peake. With the growth of the railroad industry, African Americans were encouraged to move into the area to work at the New York Central Round House and Train Station located in Linndale. First among these, in 1912, were Beary Frierson and Henry Sharp. As more and more African Americans came, African American institutions followed. In 1919, Reverend Thomas Evans and the families of Herndon Anderson and Joseph Williams founded St. Paul A.M.E. Church, the first black congregation on Cleveland’s West Side. Reverend D.R. Shaw, the Ebb Strowder family and Iler Burrow established the Second Calvary Baptist Church in 1923. Both became pillars of the community.
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