, OH
The Cozad-Bates House is one of the oldest remaining structures in Cleveland’s University Circle. The original section, built circa 1853, is the only pre-Civil War residential structure left in the neighborhood. Built by Samuel and Jane Cozad’s son, Andrew Cozad, the first section used locally made brick to form a simple two-story, one-room-deep, vernacular English-I house. The family owned a large portion of the land which is now occupied by University Circle. Justus Cozad, Andrew’s son, returning from the west where he worked as a railroad superintendent and civil engineer, built the later section on Mayfield Road for his larger family in 1872. It is a rare surviving example of Italianate-influenced residential architecture, including a hipped roof, curved bay windows, paired eave brackets, and prominent belvedere. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated as a Cleveland Landmark in 2006.
, OH
Howard Daniels, who lived from 1815-1863, was a noted architect and landscape gardener. Over the course of his life, he designed six Ohio and New York cemeteries, including Woodland that began in 1852 when he laid out 20 of its 60 acres into fashionable “rural cemetery” style. Later acreage in the cemetery adapted his curvilinear design. “As beautifully prepared for a burial place as fancy and taste could desire,” Woodland was dedicated on June 14, 1853, and became Cleveland’s primary cemetery. An ornate gatehouse, chapel, and fountains came later. Generations of Clevelanders, pioneering and prominent, as well as veterans onward from the War of 1812, are buried here. For more than a century, Woodland, in its original and newly platted sections, has embraced people from every race, the rich and poor, natives and immigrants, and the famous and obscure. It has truly become a community cemetery. [continued on other side]
, OH
Built in 1894, the original eight-room Southwood Elementary School cost $16,000 to construct on this site purchased from a local family for $3,000. The school originally had five teachers and a teacher-pupil ratio of 50-1. Mary Esper was the school’s first principal and German language instructor, staying until her retirement in 1923. Children attended grades one through eight and special biweekly classes in carpentry and cooking. The school had its first graduation ceremony in 1896, with six boys and seven girls being promoted to high school. By 1912, the school had grown to 17 rooms with 16 teachers and 735 students. A Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was formed in 1917, raising money for school supplies and equipment, food and clothing for needy Great Depression families, trees for the school grounds, cookies and candies for service men in World War II, scholarships, a new library, and much more. [continued on other side]
, OH
In 1795, the Connecticut Land Company auctioned twenty-five square miles of land known as Plum Creek Township. Aaron Olmsted, a sea captain, purchased almost half of the property. Although Olmsted died before ever seeing his land, in 1829, his son Charles offered to donate books to the area in exchange for changing the settlement’s name from Lenox to Olmsted. In 1815, shoemaker James Geer and his family became the first permanent American residents to settle in the southern end of the area. Geer’s farm was on what is now Columbia Road.
, OH
Isaac Souder (1809-1889), in 1835 at the age of 26, purchased 225 acres in Jefferson Township for $674. Jefferson Township, in the eastern portion of Franklin County, was part of the U.S. military lands that offered fertile farmland and abundant water. Souder’s farm prospered and he built a house there 1837 using bricks made on-site and creating a pond excavating needed clay. He and his wife, Anna Maria Elizabeth Minehart (1825-1878), raised 4 children there. Over time Souder sold portions of his land to other family members, who also farmed successfully. In 1874 he built a sawmill that became one of two permanent mills in the township. The Souder house and farm remained in the family for 114 years as visible reminders of the rich agricultural and rural heritage of early Jefferson Township.
, OH
On November 19, 1968, the Columbus Metropolitan Library dedicated the first public library in the nation named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After King’s assassination on April 4, 1968, the East Side Community Council requested that the new library being planned for the King-Lincoln Bronzeville community bear his name. The King family had both family and civic ties to Columbus and were honored by the tribute. More than 1,000 people gathered outside 1600 E. Long Street to hear Martin Luther King Sr. deliver the November dedication speech. Continuing the King family tradition, Martin Luther King III cut the ribbon to open a new branch building at 1487 E. Long Street on October 18, 2018. The Martin Luther King Branch was the first Columbus public library to bear an individual’s name.
, OH
Beginning in 1873, oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller purchased 700 acres of land in East Cleveland Township, now located in East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights. A failed hotel built in 1874-1875 served as the family’s summer home until it was destroyed by fire in 1917, although Rockefeller’s son, John, Jr., continued to visit the grounds. The Rockefellers spent much of their time outdoors, where they built on the land’s natural beauty and carefully designed and built carriage, foot and bridle paths, scenic views, lakes, a lily pond, stone bridges, a horse track and a gold course. John, Jr. purhcased all of his father’s Forest Hill property in 1923 and continued to buy adjacent land.
, OH
Hugh Grant Sr. (1769-1806) owned a gristmill and land in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the 1790s. He married Catharine Barr Grant (unknown-1836) and they had 6 children: Alexander, Jacob, Isabella, Nancy, Mary, and Hugh Grant Jr. (born posthumously). In 1804 Grant purchased 450 acres of federal land at the Chillicothe land office. In 1805 he and his family moved to Jackson Township, Ohio. Uncertain of the location of his tracts, he settled his family in a log structure along the Scioto River. During the winter of 1806-1807, Grant died in a freak accident climbing a honeybee tree. Catharine Barr Grant realized they were on the wrong land and moved her family to the right property holdings where the Grant Homestead remains. She died August 17, 1836, and is buried in Union Methodist Cemetery.
614.297.2300
Contact Us
