Brief Portals in Time -- The Shore Club

Purchased in 1897 a property lying centrally east and west about 300 feet back of the lake bank began its brief history.  Known as 'The Shore Club', it comprised 150 acres and was formerly the L.L. Lanthrop and Charles Smart Family Farms.  The Club was located at the intersection of the former Huntington Road and Fairport-Nursery Roads.  The idea was to develop an area of summer homes on the bluffs.  Thus the Lake Erie Land Company was formed in 1898 and  an arched stone pillar with ironworks sign 'Shorelands' affixed, signaled the start of the dream.

It was a dream meant not to be.  Rock, salt water, ice hummock and other issues plagued its progress.  Insufficient  financial backing and lack of individual club memberships hampered its growth.  Construction did start in 1899 and by 1900 two cottages were in place, the Scott and Harper lots.  In year three, some other families joined the club.  They were the Merrills, Grants, Averys, Harrisons, Barnes, and Mrs. Winsor.  Membership did not grow much after this but the 'core' remained active in ensuing summers.

1910 signaled the beginning of the end as the Diamond Alkali Company bought the large tract of land about a mile west of their club.  Controversy arose right from the start.  While no one was disagreeable at first to the company's arrival, its rapid growth, odors, and vegetation effects soon were felt.  Cleveland's rise to industrial center and the nostalgic idealism of the Lake County cottage communities were at the crossroads.  The early New England Village flavor was waning.  Industrialization, immigration, and the mechanized future guaranteed 'The Shore Club' would soon become a footnote in history.  Friday's Lady Day, Thimble Parties, Saturday Night Dances, tennis, croquet, and stables faded from memory and 'The Shore Club' footprint disappeared in the ensuing two decades.

Source -  Percy Kendall Smith article, August 1967, FHHS archives

Lake County Mini-Profiles - Painesville's Robert Manchester and the Utopia Theater

As personalities and institutions go, Robert Manchester (Bobby) was as pronounced as they could come.  In Lake County and Painesville specifically the name resonates today.  Aaron Mills was born in New York in 1853.  His widowed mom moved the family to Painesville to open a glove store.  Aaron may have initially been best remembered for his Fourth of July fireworks spectaculars, just east of his Cemetery Hill home.  The valley along State and Bank Street would be lined with residents awaiting his efforts.  However, it was his gift of music that consumed his entire lifetime. 

At the age of nine he joined a theatrical company.  Billed as 'Little Bobby Manchester' Aaron performed song and dance.  By the age of 19 he was touring the country.  In time he bought into the Columbus Amusement Company, a company whose holdings numbered 36 theaters throughout the U.S.  Bobby owned and managed three shows, Masqueraders, Vanity Fair and The Crackerjacks.  His main and for  most of the time his only business was 'The Crackerjacks.'  The show was a traveling burlesque troupe which performed in downtown Cleveland at the Star Theater on Euclid Avenue and Ninth.  His annual visit to Cleveland was widely anticipated by his Painesville neighbors.  Bobby obliged and left seats on a block basis for them.  He even secured special cars on the C.P. & E. to transport his friends downtown.

Bobby's affinity for his hometown reached its zenith when he constructed the Utopia Theater in Painesville.  Its scale and scope were unsurpassed in the county.  Opened in 1914, it cost nearly $75, 000.  Bobby Manchester  appeared regularly and his theater thrived and survived until the Lake Theater replaced it decades later.


Source: The Historical Society Quarterly, May 1969 & LCHS newsletter 2013.

Lake County Mini-Profiles : Charles Wallace Heard -L.C.'s other famous Architect

Charles Wallace Heard (1806-1876) arrived in Painesville as a youngster from Onondaga, New York.  Apprenticed at age sixteen to architect Jonathan Goldsmith, he resided with the Goldsmith family in the 'Old Homestead' on Mentor Avenue.  The Goldsmith residence was an old Greek Revival style dwelling and stood on the current Lake County Fair site until it burned down in 1875.  Charles wed in 1830 to Goldsmith's daughter Caroline.  A brick home in the Federal style was built by Goldsmith for the couple and still stands at 9647 Mentor Avenue.

Opportunity presented itself in 1833 in Cleveland.  Heard became a journeymen for Sherlock J. Anderson and in time a father of eight.  Heard was commissioned to build the Giddings House on Public Square at Ontario Street.  The home was in the Greek Revival style.  1849 saw Heard build a Gothic style home for Henry B. Payne on Euclid Avenue.  Heard partnered with Simeon C. Porter and their firm built the three downtown churches that once stood on Public Square. Two were Gothic in design, the other Romanesque.  St. Paul's, Second Presbyterian and the Old Stone Church were their names.  One remains today- the Old Stone Church.  The Hinman Barrett Hurlbut estate was another Euclid Avenue mansion designed by Heard.

Heard assisted in the construction of the Lake Erie Female Seminary in Painesville (Lake Erie College) and laid the cornerstone in 1857.  Heard and new partner Walter Blythe completed Lake County's St. James Episcopal Church in 1866.  The St. Clair Street School followed. Next came the Eagle Street School and the Jennings Place on Casement Avenue in Painesville.

Now at the age of 66, Heard concluded his storied career with three final efforts.  They were the Euclid Avenue Opera House (1875), Ohio Building (1875), and Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, completed just before his passing in 1876.

Source- Elizabeth G. Hitchcock 1967 article for the Historical Society Quarterly

The Western Reserve and Mentor Township

September 14, 1786 was the date that brought about an end to a land claim debate that had begun as early as 1776 and festered into 1781.  At the heart of the dispute lay Connecticut's claim to a tract of land that became known as the Western Reserve.  The Western Reserve now awaited the emigration of New Englanders.  Early Lake County history was in the making.  Moses Cleaveland came west by 1796.  Long established Indian lands were purchased at little cost and by 1805 their territories lost to the annals of history.  The Indian stories are left for another day.  Mentor Township's early pioneers were soon to arrive.

1796 marked the arrival of John Milton Holley who surveyed what in time would become the Mentor Township.  In 1797 Charles Parker settled near Lake Shore and Hopkins Road in what was known as the Marsh Settlement.  Ebenezer Merry arrived that same year and located nearby in the Headlands area..  Tract 14 near Corduroy Road was given to Caleb Atwater, Oliver Phelps and Gideon Granger in 1803.  Other families to arrive in that same era were  Jesse Phelps, Jared Ward and Moses Park.  By 1810 the Mentor Marsh settlement was growing.  Other early settlers to arrive were John Miller, Jonathan Russell, Clark Parker, Joseph Sawyer, Warren Corning and the Hopkins Brothers.  Ben and Daniel Hopkins bought nearly 500 acres and their lake shore acreage was known as Hopkins Point.  J. Rider's Tavern became a stagecoach stop, soon thereafter making the area a viable hub of the time.  Pioneer John Walworth of Painesville had Mentor Township claims.

Mentor Township was organized in 1815.  Grandison Newell arrived in the township in 1819.  Newell and Chester Hart purchased the 'Farm' and began manufacturing plows.  A saw mill and chair factory followed.  Capitalism was underway in earnest.  Newell achieved even more notariety for his battles with the Mormons and for 'blacklisting' Joseph Smith.  The Munson Family arrived in 1820 via covered wagons.

Munson and Hopkins are two street names known by any Mentor motorist.  Parker is another name steeped in Mentor history.  The Corning House still stands.  Newell, the 'Mormon Persecutor' is also well known in county history.  It seems that Mentor Township, 1815 is a county shoreline that runs through time and history.


Source-  June 4, 1975 bicentennial speech by Harry F. Lupold.

New Market, Ohio 1806-1809

Located at the corner of what is now known as Skinner Avenue and North State Street, on the east side of the Grand River was our first settlement.  It was known as Tract 4 of the Western Reserve and soon became  New Market.  Purchased by Revolutionary Soldiers, Capt. Abraham Skinner and Col. Eleazer Paine, the 3200 plus acres embraced the current villages of Fairport Harbor, Grand River and NW Painesville.  Laid out in 1803 on the former site of an old Indian Village formerly referred to as NEMAW WETAW.

Paine died just months after arriving.  Capt. Skinner and John Walworth, whose cabin was to the northeast of New Market were the earliest residents in our future county.  New Market was part of Trumball County  until March 1806 when Geauga County became the seat of government and New Market its epicenter.  Court sessions were held in Skinner's barn.  Deliberations were held in the nearby woods.  A jail was soon constructed and court moved into the log structure's second story.  Growth was inevitable.  Three warehouses, two stores, a tavern, distillery, and residences marked New Market's zenith.  A hollow tree even served as the official mailstop for postman McIllvaine.  By 1804 a school was formed at the Walworth homestead and Abram Tappan served as schoolmaster.

Gen. Edward Paine's home to the North became a key to the future.  In 1807 a bridge spanned the Grand River and settlement migrated to Oak Openings (Painesville).  New Market declined in importance and in time served as a footnote in history but for three years the initial pioneers efforts encouraged future land purchasers to consider this hub of the Western Reserve.

Source- The Historical Society Quarterly, Fall 1959

LCHS -- Seventy-five and Counting

The year was 1938.  The man was Laurence H. Norton.  Norton's idea was to create a Lake County chapter of the Western Reserve Historical Society in order to preserve the James A. Garfield presidential homestead.  Joined by a group of Lake County citizens, Norton founded the Lake County Historical Society that same year.  The Garfield home, donated in 1936 to the Western Reserve Historical Society had been in state of disrepair and lacking in local management.  Both concerns were now remedied.  The home had a caretaker, public viewing was now a reality, and a future vision was taking shape.  Dr. Eric Cardinal assumed the leadership mantel in the early years.  An 1813 pioneer cabin was moved onto the property and the collection of important county papers and archives was undertaken.  1953 saw the LCHS become autonomous and the society remained on the Garfield estate until 1983 when the National Park Service assumed operations of the presidential property.

From 1983-2008 Shadybrook became the home of the LCHS.  Shadybrook is located in Kirtland Hills on the Mentor border and was the name of the summer century home of Arthur D. Baldwin.  The property is owned by the Holden Arboretum.  The log cabin was relocated.  Native American exhibits and Pioneer School became signature programs for the society.  The Little Mountain Folk Festival had a long run on the site.  Historical research and archival collecting remained a key mission.

A final move became necessary by late 2007 as the space at Shadybrook proved to be insufficient for the ever expanding collection.  Coupled with only well water and fire prevention strains, a move to the former County Home was arranged.  The County Home, built in 1876, was being used by Painesville Township and the  Riverside Local School District.  A sale was arranged and the 30,000 sq. foot home became the new LCHS home in January 2008.  Interior improvements have been made, new exhibits created, old exhibits moved and reassembled and a new legacy is unfolding.  The research library continues to gather and share history with the public.  With public assistance, the LCHS has attained sustainability.  Lake County's past history is being preserved for future generations.

The Lake County Historical Society is located at 415 Riverside Drive in Painesville Township.  Open to the public, they are a member of the Historic Lake County Alliance.  For information - call 440-639-2945 or visit www.lakehistory.org

Perry Village Celebrating 100 Years

Perry Village's Lee Lydic Park will be the site of a 100th birthday celebration on July 21, 2013.  While family activities, fun and food for all are on the schedule, Perry's place in Lake County is also of note.  Perry Village is part of the three Perry's; Perry Village, Perry Township and North Perry Village.  A two mile square portion of the village in close proximity to the railroads of the day allowed a business and trade area to develop.  The year was 1913 and this downtown area became known officially as the "Village of Perry".  "Preserving the Sands of Time" since 1992 is the Perry Historical Society.  The Perry Historical Museum occupies the former Old Town Hall located on the corner of Center and Main Street.  The Historical Society workroom is at 4261 Manchester Street at the village school.  While Sunday's activities begin at 2pm, one can visit the historical society museum on weekends and experience the still evolving history of this community.  A visit to the society website or a call (440-259-4541) is all it takes.

Some Perry Trivia-

• An Ohio Historical Marker honors Hugh Mosher.  Born in Perry, Mosher was the fifer portrayed in the famous painting of the "Spirit of '76".
• Perry took its name from Commodore O.H. Perry after his famous naval victory in September 1813 on Lake Erie.
• Perry had its own inter-urban stop in the 20th century.
• Watchmen stopped vehicle traffic at the Main Street Railroad Crossing.
• An early school - Schoolhouse # 9 was located on Lane Road.
• The Perry Consolidated Schools was located on Narrows Road.
• Paul and Dick Thompson were part of the Champion Nursery Horse Team.
• Martin's Nursery has been in Perry since 1934.  It is still family owned and operated.
• Perry's location along the shorelines of Lake Erie has made it an ideal location for vineyards and the nursery business over the past two centuries (see nursery blog featured previously).