Cleveland in HDR – The 6th City Collection

Today’s Photo: Inside the Clock Tower

Most Clevelanders have heard of the Old Stone Church. It is a historic Presbyterian church located in downtown Cleveland, and is the oldest building on Public Square. I know that most people know what the church looks like from the outside but I figure few know what the inside of the bell tower looks like. I thought I would show you. This church is an incredible place and I have many more photos of it to share with you.

Today’s Quote:

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today’s Photo: The Greenbrier Suite

This is a photo of the 2 story Great Hall of the Greenbrier Suite. The Greenbrier Suite was secret residence of the Van Sweringen Brothers and it is located inside the Terminal Tower. That’s right, it is located on the 12th, 13th, and 14th floors of the Terminal Tower in downtown Cleveland.
This stunning home was built to rival the mansions located on Euclid Ave. It was built in English Gothic style with oak paneling and marble fireplaces.

Who are the Van Sweringen Brothers you ask?  Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen were two Clevelanders who created a $3 billion, 30,000-mi.
railroad and real estate empire. They also were the builders of the Terminal Tower and the real-estate developers of Shaker Hts.

For more information:

http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=VSOP

Today’s Quote:

“We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams.”  – Jeremy Irons

Today’s Photo: Lanterman’s Mill

This is a great place to take the family to learn about history. There is a historic mill and an awesome covered bridge. Here is the history of the mill from the Metroparks website:

“At the end of the 18th century the land surrounding a beautiful, natural waterfall, now known as Lanterman’s Falls, belonged to John Young, founder of Youngstown. In August 1797 Young’s surveyors, Isaac Powers and Phineas Hill, set out to explore the then unnamed Mill Creek.

Coming upon the Falls, the two men immediately recognized the potential of the site for a mill. Hill offered to purchase the 300 acres  surrounding the Falls. Young stipulated, as a condition of the sale, that Hill must build a saw- and gristmill on the site within eighteen months of the purchase. Hill agreed and contracted with fellow explorer Isaac Powers to construct the mill.

The first mill was built of logs from the site. Millstones were cut from granite boulders found in the area of what is now Fifth Avenue at Rayen  avenue. This mill operated from 1799 to 1822. In 1823 the original mill was replaced by a second mill. Built by Eli Baldwin, this frame structure served only as a gristmill. Baldwin’s mill operated until 1843 when a flood washed it away. A grinding stone from this mill can still be seen resting in the creekbed 500 feet downstream of the Falls.

The current frame structure was built in 1845-46 by German Lanterman and his brother-in-law Samuel Kimberly. German and his wife Sally Ann owned a large tract of land around the Falls. Lanterman’s Mill was the third mill constructed at the Falls and was used solely as a gristmill. It is believed that this mill was originally powered by an overshot wheel, the type presently being used, but was later converted to turbines prior to its closing in 1888. Lanterman’s Mill was a highly successful operation, utilizing three sets of grinding stones. Historians speculate that its downfall was due to the advent of roller mills which were much more efficient and less costly to run. After closing, the Mill stood in a state of disrepair until purchased by the Park in 1892. As an early Park facility, the building held a ballroom, a concession stand, and bathhouse for swimmers. Swimming continued in the Pool of Shadows until 1917. The upper floors were used for boat storage during the winter.

In 1933 the first floor was converted into a nature museum, then into the Park’s historical museum in 1972. Lanterman’s Mill was entered in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior in 1976. During the years that the Mill served as a nature museum, generations of area residents spent countless hours viewing the hundreds of mounted birds, mammals, and other natural history exhibits. Thousands of civic and school groups toured the Mill, while captivated Park visitors made it the subject of poems, songs, photographs, and paintings.

The renovation of Lanterman’s Mill was no small feat. Many obstacles had to be overcome during the costly and painstaking renovation which began in 1982. Historical records and original blueprints depicting the operation of Lanterman’s Mill were nonexistent. An archeological dig was organized by Dr. John White, professor of anthropology at Youngstown State University, yielding valuable artifacts and the location of the original raceway, proving the existence of an earlier water wheel.

As research continued, the Park searched for an expert gristmill renovator to tackle the complicated project. Lorin Cameron and his sons from Damascus, Ohio, were commissioned after the Park learned of their superior restorations of Gaston’s Mill in Beaver Creek State Park and Garretts Mill in Garrettsville, Ohio.

With research and expert talents in hand the Park now only lacked funding for the project. The Florence and Ward Beecher Foundations made the restoration a reality with a $600,000 grant to the Mill Creek Park Foundation. The work could now begin.

Work commenced in the Camerons’ Damascus workshop. Although much of the needed antique machinery was purchased, the Camerons had to craft by hand many of the fittings, elevator shafts, and housings–not to mention the massive four-ton water wheel. While the Camerons worked on the machinery, the mill underwent a complete structural facelift. Footers and beams were replaced; connections were reinforced; a new roof was installed; and new windows, doors, and siding completed the transformation. Now the Camerons could transport the components of the inner workings to the mill. The wheel, marked piece by piece and disassembled, was rebuilt in its present location.

Exterior improvements included a new observation deck and walkways. An additional course was placed upon the existing log dam, ensuring an adequate supply of water to the Mill. More than a century after its closing, Lanterman’s Mill runs again. Cross the Mill’s threshold, and transport yourself into a bygone era, rich with the remarkable legacy of early settlers.”

For more info:

http://www.millcreekmetroparks.com/ParksFacilities/nbspnbspnbspnbspLantermansMill/tabid/1522/Default.aspx

Quote of the day:

“I have not failed.  I’vejust found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison

Today’s Photo: The Hanna

If you have never seen a play at the Hanna Theater in Playhouse Square you are missing out. The atmosphere is great and everything is modern.  The Hanna Theatre opened March 28, 1921, and would go on to host such stage and film luminaries as Al Jolson, Katherine Hepburn, Henry
Fonda, Ethel Barrymore, Ginger Rogers, Helen Hayes, Mary Martin and Yul Brynner. In 2008, the Hanna underwent a renovation to add a thrust stage, re-work its seating to 550 and become the main performance base for Playhouse Square’s long-time constituent, Great Lakes Theater. Few people know that the famous Tom Hanks got his first acting job right here in Cleveland with the Great Lakes Theater Festival.  He worked 3 summers with Great Lakes making $45 per week.  Playhouse Square is the second largest performing arts center in the country, behind only
New York City.

For more info: http://www.playhousesquare.org/default.asp?playhousesquare=62&objId=2

Quote of the day:

Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards – the things we live by and teach our children are preserved or diminished by how
freely we exchange ideas and feelings.- Walt Disney

Today’s Photo: Fall moves in.

This photo was taken at a small pond in Medina County. It’s getting colder out but the colors are amazing!

Today’s Quote:

All art is but imitation of nature -Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Today’s Photo: In Bloom

This photo was taken in early spring near Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. To me it looks like the trees are reaching for the sun.

Today’s Quote:

At present, I am mainly observing the physical motion of mountains, water, trees and flowers. One is everywhere reminded of similar movements in the human body, of similar impulses of joy and suffering in plants – Egon Schiele

Today’s
Photo: What are you looking at?

In addition to this monkey the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is home to more than 3,000 animals representing 600 species, including the largest collection of primate species in North America. Open all year (closed Dec. 25 & Jan. 1), 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. with extended summer weekend hours. For more info:

http://www.clemetzoo.com/

Quote of the day:

Our patience will achieve more than our force. – Edmund Burke

The Detroit–Superior Bridge, also known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge is a 3,112 long through arch bridge over the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. The bridge was completed in 1918, at a cost of $5.4 million. It was the first fixed high level bridge in Cleveland and its completion, the bridge was the largest steel and concrete reinforced bridge in the world. While the bridge’s upper level is for road traffic, the lower level was intended for streetcars. It was built with four sets of these tracks. Each end of the bridge has underground streetcar stations for the trams. While the steetcars no longer run some of the old tracks and streetcars remain. To walk under this
bridge is to step into the past.

Today the lower level of the bridge is used for “Ingenuity,” a large-scale, weekend-long performance event. It is my hope that his space can be transformed into something that can be used by Clevelanders year round.

Purchase this photo: Brent Durken Print Sales

http://brent-durken.pixels.com/

For more info:

http://www.facebook.com/ingenuityfest

http://www.facebook.com/#!/cleveland.bridge?sk=info

Quote of the day:

We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work. – John F. Kennedy

Today’s Photo:  Trinity Cathedral

This is an amazing church located in downtown Cleveland. When I first walked inside it reminded me a lot of Westminster Abbey in London.  It is an absolutely beautiful church and I will have some more photos of it in future blogs. Here is a history of the church from its website: “On November 9, 1816, a group of Episcopalians met in the home of Phineas Shepard on the West side of what now is greater Cleveland, to organize what was to become Trinity Parish. When in 1825 Trinity parish moved to the east bank of the Cuyahoga River, worship services were held in the upper story of the log house on Public Square, which also served as the public courthouse and jail. In 1829, the congregation’s first church building was consecrated by Bishop Philander Chase. It was the first church building within the Cleveland village limits. In 1855 the parish moved into a new, larger stone building of gothic design, which served the congregation’s needs until 1902. At the end of the nineteenth century, Trinity was the strongest parish in the diocese numerically and financially and was also rich in traditions of strong pastoral leadership and in service to the community and the larger church. In 1890, Trinity Church was offered to Bishop William A. Leonard as a cathedral to be maintained by the parish. At the same time, a new building site was sought in a more central but less commercial section of the city. Plans were begun for a building at Euclid Avenue and East 22nd Street, with Charles F. Schweinfurth of Cleveland as the architect. His plan eventually evolved into the present English perpendicular Gothic structure, begun in 1901 and consecrated September 24, 1907. From its early days, the Cathedral has served as an anchor in the Quadrangle neighborhood and in downtown Cleveland. However, near the century’s end, Trinity’s leaders realized that the original cathedral could no longer accommodate its growing congregation’s
needs. In 2000, renovation and expansion work began. The result was Trinity Commons, opened in 2002.”

For more information:

http://trinitycleveland.org/

Quote of the day:

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.- George Washington

Today’s Photo:  Mapleside Farms

It is easy to see why Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, Ohio was recently voted the most beautiful farm in America. This photo was taken shortly after a storm passed over the farm. The purplish tint
to the photo is really how it looked that evening. Families, including my own have been coming to this farm for generations to enjoy the food and the view. Here is a history of the farm from their website:

“The land where Mapleside Farms sits was first settled by the Tillotson family from Massachusetts. They were drawn there in 1817 by the area’s fertile soil. Elmer and Clara Eyssen bought the farm from the Tillotson family in 1927 and moved
their family from Lakewood way out into the country. At that time the land consisted of the current property plus many acres across Pearl Road as well as some property on Center Road/Rte. 303. In the earlier years of this beautiful farm, a large stand of maple trees on the side of the hill were used for maple syrup production and became Elmer and Clara’s inspiration for naming their land, Mapleside Farms.”

The farm was recently purchased by Greg and Kelly Clement who are both lifelong Brunswick residents and grew up with Mapleside as an important part of their lives. They have made many wonderful improvements while still keeping the original feel of the farm. I have no doubt that Mapleside will be enjoyed for many more generations.

For more information please visit their website:

http://www.mapleside.com/

Quote of the day:

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and flowers, and clouds, and stars.- Martin Luther