" You Might Be From Haunted Lake County If..." Part III

 Lake County be Ohio’s smallest county but it has the most history, some of which rivals the best Jack-tales.  Test your County Ghostly I. Q. with these ten Wayward Spirit teasers… Remember none of these facts will be found on the bottom of your Snapple Tea bottle caps.

1.  What was the name of the female specter who many claim still resides at her former 1890s River Farm Estate?

2. This First Lady is said to haunt the upstairs of their NHS home.  Can you name her?

3.  This haunting tale led to the demise of the Medical College in Willoughby in the mid-1840s.  What future Ohio medical institutions rose from this tragic tale?

4.  Although not specific to our county or state, what is the common name of this Ohio Cryptid?

5.  Can you name any of the six haunted buildings on this Lake County campus?

6.  What is the name of the veiled lady of Kirtland’s Historic North Cemetery?

7.  What is the name of the young boy who haunts Fairport’s sentinel?

8.  Spirits are said to frequent this 1870 Victorian Home in Painesville that once belonged to a Civil War General who married a founding member of the suffrage movement.  Name the home!

9.  This 1847 Ohio Cottage is said to be haunted.  Name the community or street location of this multi-use historic facility?

10.  Whose name appears on the solitary gravesite located on Hart Road?

Bonus:  In 1960 a Twilight Zone episode featured this city and event.  Do you know the place or story?

answers-  1. Rebecca  2.  Lucretia Garfield  3.  CWRU & OSU  4.  Melonheads  5.  College Hall, Morley, Kilcawley, Fine Arts, Fowler  6.  Hattie Martindale  7.  Robbie Babcock  8. Casement  9. Middle Ridge in Madison  10.  Levi Smith  Bonus - Little Girl in Blue / Willoughby

  

" You Might Be From Lake County If..." Part II - Famous County Women

Lake County's famous women are known throughout the annals of our country and some of these notables garner world-wide name recognition.  How well do you know these women of our community's history?  Let's test your mettle!

1.  Known as 'Gramma G' to many, a 65 acre park is named after Mentor's only female mayor.  Name this pioneering lady.

2.  She was not only a female doctor (1920) but the passage of the 19th Amendment (1919) allowed her to become Ohio's first woman mayor.  She was elected Mayor of Fairport in 1921.  Name her.

3.  She was a graduate of Thomas Harvey High School in Painesville, taught at Champion JHS, became a WASP in 1942, barnstormer after WWII and female racing aviatrix.  Do you know 'Marge' by her given name?

4.  She met her husband in the 1850s when his railroad work caused him to seek right-of-way access thru her family homestead.  She was also a leading member of the women's suffrage movement.  What is her name?

5.  Oz's Wicked Witch was born in Cleveland and was an educator in Painesville and other places during her long and storied career.  What is Miss Gulch's real name?

6.  She grew up in Perry and in 1952 became the personal secretary to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Can you name her?

7.  In 1932 she became the head of the Disney Studio Animation Paint Department.  Do you know this Willoughby animation pioneer?

8.  She grew up in an aviation environment in Willoughby as a young girl.  Shortly after WWII she was the country's first certified woman master mechanic in the aviation field.  Name her.

9.  She was a student, teacher and later a resident at this 1840 one-room schoolhouse site in Concord Township.  What is her name?

10.  She graduated from Thomas Harvey High School, Ohio Wesleyan University and Lake Erie College.  This reknown aviatrix and Airpark owner from Concord Township is a Ohio 2016 Senior HOF inductee as well as a HOF member at  the International Women's Aviation and Space Museum.  Name this notable township resident and current trustee.

answers-  1. Eleanor B. Garfield  2.  Dr. Amy Kaukonen  3.  Margaret Hurlburt  4.  Frances Jennings Casement  5.  Margaret Hamilton  6.  Ann C. Whitman  7.  Grace Bailey  8.  Pat Hange  9.  Elga Pomeroy  10.  Connie Luhta

" You Might Be From Lake County If..."

Every county, community, structure or location has its facts, local lore, foibles and such.  Today's families are much more transient in their lifetime and being anchored in community is not what it once was.  Today we challenge your general 'County IQ' in the first of a series entitled "You Might Be From Lake County If..."

1. Where were these two Lake Shore Resorts located?  Linden Beach, Shore Club

2.  What town was the site of the Griffith Disaster (June 16, 1850) and do you know the story?  A historical marker shares the tale at the site.

3.  Have you visited the Old Stone School (1840) and do you know the name of the lady who was a student,  a teacher and a homeowner there during her lifetime?  This one-room schoolhouse is located on Ravenna Road in Concord Township.

4.  Where is Arcole Furnance?  What two famous county residents from the 1800s were the owners of this important business?  A historical marker is located on the site.

5.  Wickliffe is known as the City of Millionaires.  Do you know the names of at least four of these men who lived on Millionaire's Mile?

6.  Girdled Road has a storied history dating back to the Western Reserve Era.  Do you know the history?

7.  The Burroughs Club began in 1916.  Foundling members hailed from this county city?

8.  'Stop 47' and 'Stop 61' were daily occurrences from 1896-1926 if you traveled on this line?

9.  The 'Johnnycake Story' is part of this famous stagecoach stop history located at the corner of Rt. 84 & 44.  Do you know the tavern or story?

10.  Archibald Willard's famous painting 'The Spirit of '76' used these two local men as images for the fifer and drummer.  Do you know their names or home communities?

Whatever Happened to Camp Klein?

The title question is simply enough - What ever happened to Camp Klein?, which today has been repurposed into Lake Metroparks’ Environmental Learning Center.  Let’s look back at the history of Camp Klein  prior to its 1997 closing - before the 2001 purchase of the property by Lake Metroparks – and before the 2015-2016 final preservation assured its place in our county history annals.  This is its story.

Before Camp Klein, there were other camps.  In fact, the first fresh air camps appeared in the summer of 1896.  George A. Bellamy of Cleveland and Hiram House fame was its first champion.  These camps were part of a movement to emphasize social and educational development of a population that at the time was mostly immigrant in composition and definitely urban dwellers.  Early camp locations were in Brecksville at the farmhouse of Florence Oakes and the two properties secured by Harley Barnes from Painesville / Concord Township.  By 1904, Barnes had acquired an area in Concord known as Fays Mills.  The Epworth Fresh Air Camp was a reality.  The camp fell under the auspices of the Epworth League of Cleveland and soon thereafter a four-decade partnership with the Methodist Youth Fellowship.The annual camps flourished and the 250 plus children who attended were exposed to religious as well as all- natural experiences.  They were housed in dormitories and their outdoor education supervised by mothers and staff alike.

Despite some lean times resulting from the Great Depression and WWII, a brief suspension of the camp paved the way for the 1945-1952 hunt for a new campsite that would mirror the population move to the Cleveland suburbs.  Dr. John Flynn, Dr. Clarence LaRue and George Klein of the George R. Klein News Company led this search.  1952 saw the purchase of 157 acres in Concord Township and the ensuing three years saw the formation of a camp named after its key investor.  Mr. Klein was not only the founder of the camp but was also the lead chairman for many of the key committees of the Methodist Church that sponsored the site. The camp’s first guests arrived in the summer of 1955.  Cabins, a swimming pool, and additional out buildings supplemented the main structure.  The ‘Camp Klein Years’ encompassed the decade of the 60s and expansion marked the early part of the 70s decade.  Unfortunately for the many  outdoor church camps of this era, their popularity and attendance waned.  Operating at only 50% capacity led to deficits and maintaining these sites became a burden to the church communities who footed the bills.  A church study in 1987 forecast the demise of Camp Klein and others of its kind.  Within ten years warm nostalgia met financial cold hard facts.  Camp was over.

Lake Metroparks formed in the late 50s had an interest in the Camp Klein properties since day one.  In 1994 the park system even applied for federal monies should the site become available.  1998 saw the Camp sold to the Slovene Home.  Rancor and legal wranglings resulted between the interested parties.  By 2001 a remedy was brokered and LMP assumed ownership of the property.  A careful land and resource study was not completed until 2008.  The site was to be repurposed as an Environmental Learning Center.  Renovations, tear-downs and new construction lasted thru early 2015.  Today the property is open to the public with miles of hiking trails, creek access and an educational program building that is the envy to outdoor educators everywhere.  Visit lakemetropark.com for more information about this site.

• information gleened from the research of M. Sondey