141-18 Parma Heights Cemetery

141-18 Parma Heights Cemetery 00

The cemetery has been the final resting place of area residents since the 1820s. Settlers from New York and New England migrated here in the 1810s and 1820s. First called “Greenbrier,” the area took the name Parma after the township was organized in 1826. A log building at the cemetery’s north end stood from 1826 […]

140-18 St. Christopher’s by the River Episcopal Church

140-18 St Christophers by the River Episcopal Church 00

Described as “one of the region’s great examples of Greek Revival church architecture,” the building was erected in 1853. Holsey Gates, founder of Gates Mills in 1826, financed most of the construction of the church, which served Methodist Episcopal congregants until 1926. With the decline in that denomination’s attendance, an Episcopal mission acquired the building […]

139-18 The Green Heart of North Royalton

139-18 The Green Heart of North Royalton 00

Bounded by Ridge, Royalton, and Bennett Roads, the Green has been the heart of North Royalton even before it was incorporated. Once part of Brecksville Township, Royalton became its own township in 1818. Local lore says that settlers David and Knight Sprague paid a gallon of whiskey to name the community after their hometown of […]

138-18 Forest Hill Estate / Forest Hill Park

138-18 Forest Hill Estate  Forest Hill Park 00

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 […]

137-18 Lakewood Women Get The Vote

137-18 Lakewood Women Get The Vote 00

Women’s suffrage–the right for women to vote–was part of the women’s rights movement in the United States from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. In 1912 and 1914, women’s suffrage was on the state ballot in Ohio. Both times, the issue failed statewide but passed in Lakewood. Led by Bernice Pyke, Lakewood women participated in […]

136-18 Greenwood Farm

136-18 Greenwood Farm 00

Greenwood Farm straddles the East Branch of Euclid Creek where a waterfall and gorge expose outcroppings of Euclid bluestone. George and Maude Maynard Phypers acquired the property in 1908. Four generations of the Phypers family lived here until the City of Richmond Heights purchased it in 2004. Called Cleveland’s “Insurance Dean” for his leadership in […]

135-18 Dover Lake Shore Methodist Episcopal Church

135-18 Dover Lake Shore Methodist Episcopal Church 00

Elizabeth Tyron Sadler started the Methodist Episcopal Church in North Dover Township in June 1827, on land owned by her father-in-law Christopher Sadler. Charter members were the Rev. Eliphalet and Mrs. Margaret Johnson and their daughter Rebecca, along with niece Catherine Porter Foote. Elizabeth and William Sadler donated the land and much of the material […]

114-18 The Templin-Bradley Company Penny Packet Seeds

114-18 The Templin-Bradley Company Penny Packet Seeds 00

In 1907, the Templin-Bradley Company’s Children’s Flower Mission was developed in response to the Cleveland Public Schools Horticulture Program, supplying seed packets for 1 cent each–commonly referred to as Penny Packet Seeds. This earned the company a reputation for being the nation’s largest distributor of seeds for school garden programs. Although only nine varieties of […]

113-18 Clague Family Homestead

113-18 Clague Family Homestead 00

The Clague House and barn serve the community as a museum, history library, and a community theater. It is also a reminder of the area’s agrarian past and is a memorial to the philanthropic generosity of the Clagues. Robert Clague first came to Dover Township from the Isle of Man in 1829. Clague briefly returned […]

112-18 East Cleveland Public Library

112-18 East Cleveland Public Library 00

On November 12, 1913, the Board of the East Cleveland Public Library met in the office of the East Cleveland Board of Education, plans for a new Library were underway. The Carnegie Corporation of New York contributed $35,000 towards the cost of a new building. John D. Rockefeller contributed $3,600 to buy land for future […]