Sun Feb 12 2012
by Ken Lahmers, Aurora Advocate editor
Pioneer villages are plentiful throughout the United States. I've visited a couple in Ohio and plan to check out more, but the one I visited in July is probably the granddaddy of them all.
Like Century Village in Burton -- another impressive old-time village -- it's just a stone's throw away from Aurora. It's Hale Farm and Village in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
I made my first visit ever there as part of an 88-mile drive -- and some trail walking along the way, too -- from the southern to northern ends of the park.
The former Hale property, which is operated by the Western Reserve Historical Society, is divided into two sections -- the side where the original buildings were erected and the village across the road where old structures from elsewhere have been moved.
Jonathan Hale of Connecticut migrated to the valley in 1810 after buying 500 acres. He built a three-story red brick house in 1825 using materials from the property. When completed, it was one of two brick houses in the Cuyahoga Valley.
Three generations of the family lived there and farmed the property. A descendant of Hale gave the property to the WRHS, and the farm opened to the public in 1958. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Visitors start their tour at the gatehouse, where some historical exhibits are housed. It also features a log cabin with hands-on activities for children, a cafe and a general store selling books, hand-crafted products made at Hale and Ohio-made gifts.
Nearby in a large barn are housed nine carriages from the late 1800s/early 1900s.
Other structures on the Hale house side of the road include a sugar house, sawmill, pioneer house, smokehouse, blacksmith shop, sheep barn, carriage barn and summer cottage.
In those areas, the arts of broom making, blacksmithing, candle and basket making, spinning and weaving are demonstrated by docents in period costumes.
Docents also are stationed in Wheatfield Village across Old Mill Road. They portray characters such as an old-time doctor and schoolteacher, and provide information about the structures.
Each season the years rotate between 1861 and 1865. This year, the first-person interpreters focus on 1865. Next year they will revert to 1861.
Among the structures are a meetinghouse (old church), log schoolhouse, saltbox house, land office, law office, doctor's home and some other old homes.
The meetinghouse once served as a Baptist Church at Routes 14 and 43 in Streetsboro. The beautiful country church was built in 1852. In 1950, its steeple blew off in a storm and was replaced. It was relocated to Hale in the early 1970s.
The Jonathan Herrick stone house once sat along Darrow Road in the current southern industrial section of Twinsburg. The Jonathan Goldsmith house was moved from Willoughby.
All of the structures in the village were in danger of being razed in their original locations, and were preserved and moved by the WRHS.
Demonstrations of pottery/brick making and glassblowing take place in the village. The pottery works includes a large brick kiln similar to the bottle kilns in the East Liverpool-Wellsville area, but a little fatter.
Other structures on the north side of the road are the Wetmore barn, Lambert greenhouse, Aten log barn, glassblowing barn and Stow and Jagger houses.
The residential structures are situated around the peaceful Village Green, with a memorial garden at one end. Percheron draft horses, Tunis sheep and shorthorn cattle reside nearby.
In the quiet rural setting, visitors can easily hear the horn of a Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad locomotive as it approaches a crossing a couple of miles away.
Many special events take place at Hale each year, including pioneer, maple sugar and harvest festivals, Civil War re-enactments, Victorian and farmhouse suppers and holiday lantern tours.
CVNP's Frazee House
Visitors to Cuyahoga Valley National Park also can visit another historic former farmhouse along Canal Road in the northern end.
The two-story federal-style brick Frazee House, featuring handmade bricks and hand-hewn beams, is similar to the Hale house, but lacks a third story.
The house was the centerpiece of a 190-acre farm bought in 1816 by Steven and Mehitable Frazee, who previously lived in Poland near Youngstown.
The brick home was built in 1825 after the Frazees lived for several years in a log house on the farm. It boasted a large kitchen and spacious rooms for the couple's seven children.
After Mehitable's death in 1861, the family sold the farm to John and Elizabeth Hynton for $3,500. It was acquired by the Valley View Historical Society and incorporated into the CVNP.
Although the house is closed this summer for structural repairs, it normally features exhibits about the Frazee family, frontier life in the mid-1800s and how the home was built.
I definitely plan to return when the structure is open.
Other park farmsteads
The Hunt Farm at Bolanz and Riverview roads, just north of the road leading to Hale Farm, is a working farm typical of the small family farms that dotted the Cuyahoga Valley in the late 19th century.
Located along the Towpath Trail, it serves as a visitor information center and features exhibits about the area's agricultural history, plus refreshments.
Another site in the valley is the Conrad Botzum Farmstead, which is available for wedding receptions, reunions, birthday parties, corporate gatherings and other special events, and also hosts a summer concert series from June to August.
Conrad Botzum was a descendant of a German family which migrated to Northeast Ohio in the 1830s. He took over the family property in 1884 -- it contained a house built in 1835 -- and built a large bank barn in 1898.
The farm eventually
became part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, was leased to the Winkelman family in 1998, and weddings first took place in the barn in 2001.
Margaret Winkelman is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Botzum. Her husband, George, is an architect.
Since the CVNP began the Countryside Initiative program in 1999, re-establishment of small family farms in the Cuyahoga Valley has gained momentum.
The initiative strives to preserve and protect the agricultural resources of the valley -- the farmsteads and their associated houses, barns and outbuildings, as well as the fields.
Several farms are actively involved in the program. They are in various stages of development; some began as early as 2002.
The initiative plays a big role in the food movement of Northeast Ohio, as participants are required to farm according to National Park Service guidelines and use only sustainable production practices.
Leases are available for those considering giving up their hectic lifestyles for a more leisurely approach in the country, but close to suburban conveniences.
One of the agricultural activities offered in CVNP is the Countryside Farmers Market on Saturdays from mid-May to late October at Howe Meadow. It operates from 9 a.m. to noon.
E-mail: klahmers@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
Hudsonhubtimes.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Record Publishing Co, LLC. 1995-2011. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications