Cleveland in HDR – The 6th City Collection

The Old Stone Church on Public Square is one of my favorite buildings to photograph. The staff at the church was kind enough to take me on a tour of the building and I was able to learn a lot about one of Cleveland’s coolest landmarks. (see http://brentdurken.com/inside-the-tower) Here is some more information about the Church from their website:

“The Old Stone Church, long a downtown Cleveland landmark, has a congregation dating back to 1820. Officially known as The First Presbyterian Society, it was founded at a time when Cleveland was just a village of a few hundred people. As Cleveland has grown in size and importance, The Old Stone Church has kept pace, becoming a symbol of spiritual leadership, community involvement and stability in the heart of the city.

The sixteen Christian men and women who met on September 19, 1820, to sign the charter formally establishing the First Presbyterian Church were members of a Bible class which had met for a year under the direction of Elisha Taylor. Among them was Rebecca Carter who with her husband, Lorenzo, had been the first permanent white settlers in Cleveland. A variety of sites, including a one-room schoolhouse and the log courthouse, served as meeting places for the fledgling church. Finally, in 1827, The First Presbyterian Society was incorporated, with the primary purpose of building a permanent home for the congregation.

The first church building was dedicated on February 26, 1834, on the northwest corner of Public Square, the historical center of downtown Cleveland. The building, of Tuscan-style architecture, was built of gray sandstone. It was the first stone church in Cleveland and was known as “The Stone Church.” Later, as the sandstone darkened, the name became The Old Stone Church.

Dedicating the Church was the Rev. John Keep, the last of six home missionaries recruited by the Connecticut Missionary Service for “frontier service” to Congregational and Presbyterian groups. The year following the dedication, the first Pastor, Samuel Aiken, was called. He served more than 25 years, establishing a precedent for exceptionally long pastoral tenure throughout the history of The Old Stone Church.

In 1853, reflecting the rapid growth of Cleveland, the congregation was outgrowing the sanctuary which had been erected just 20 years earlier. A new church, built on the site of the original structure, was dedicated on August 12, 1855. The massive foundation and walls were constructed of sandstone, lined with brick, at a cost of $60,000.

Nineteen months later, on March 7, 1857, a disastrous fire hit The Old Stone Church and spread from the roof to the 250-ft. steeple, which swayed and crashed across Ontario Street. Amasa Stone led the successful struggle to rebuild on the original property, and the renovated church was dedicated on January 17, 1858. Later, galleries and another graceful spire were completed.

During the following twenty-five years many social service organizations were formed by Old Stone members, directed toward moral and social problems. These included the YMCA, the YWCA, Children’s Aid Society, Western Seamen’s Society, Lakeside Hospital, The Goodrich Society, and the first Cleveland medical school.

A Service of Thanksgiving was held at the end of the Civil War, and a new Peace Bell raised in the belfry. As Abraham Lincoln’s funeral cortege stopped at Public Square, people were called to his memorial service at the church by the tolling of the massive bell (now installed in front of the church, facing Public Square).

Old Stone is the only remaining building to have been in existence during the lighting of Public Square with Charles Brush’s arc light in 1879.

The building was struck by another severe fire on January 5, 1884. John Foote, Samuel E. Williamson and Col. John Hay convinced the congregation that the historic site was worth preserving. Work began immediately, with architect Charles Schweinfurth employed to guide the restoration. Mr. Schweinfurth was new to Cleveland and Old Stone’s renovation was the first of many important commercial architectural contributions he was to make to the city.

While Old Stone’s walls required few repairs, the interior needed to be completely reconstructed. The steeple was declared unsafe and removed. The restored church, dedicated on October 19, 1884, is essentially the church you see today. A recent capital campaign resulted in cleaning and repairing the church, re-landscaping, and restoring the steeple. The Sanctuary was also renovated”.

http://www.oldstonechurch.org/

Today’s quote: “On the recollection of so many and great favours and blessings, I now, with a high sense of gratitude, presume to offer up my sincere thanks to the Almighty, the Creator and Preserver”. – William Bartram

The Cleveland Skyline – Cleveland got the nickname “The 6^th City” during the early 1900’s when its population made it the 6^th largest city in the country. Cleveland had the sixth largest population in the 1910, 1930 and 1940 U.S. Federal census.  As of the 2010 Census, the city proper had a total population of 396,815.  That makes Cleveland the 45th largest city in the United States. That being said Cleveland is part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which in 2000 had a population of 2,945,831,  and ranked as the country’s 14th largest.

Today’s Quote: “I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature”. – John D. Rockefeller

Northeast Ohio’s beautiful rolling landscape and changing seasons make for some great and challenging golf courses. Make sure that you get out and enjoy all that our area has to offer.

Check out this link for a list of local courses:

http://www.golfmax.com/Golf-Courses/Cleveland-Ohio-Golf-Courses.shtml

Today’s Quote:

If you watch a game, it’s fun. If you play it, it’s recreation. If you work at it, it’s golf. –
Bob Hope

Today’s photo is of the main staircase in the Cleveland Trust Company rotunda.The Cleveland Trust Company was established in 1894. In 1903 Cleveland Trust merged with the Western Reserve Trust Co. and in 1908 it built a new headquarters bldg. at E. 9th and Euclid. This building is still there today but it is now called the Ameritrust Building. By 1977 The Cleveland Trust Company had 120 branches, $5 billion in assets and it managed $7 billion in trust funds for its clients. CleveTrust changed its name to the AmeriTrust Corp. in 1979 and became part of Society Bank in 1991. Three years later Society merged with KeyCorp making it the nation’s 11th largest bank.

For more information about the Cleveland Trust Company please visit: http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=A8

Today’s Quote: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” – Alexis de Tocqueville

Today’s photo is of the Center Rd. swing bridge. Built in 1901 by the King Bridge Co., this is the last remaining swing bridge in Cleveland. For more info on this important landmark please visit:

http://www.historicbridges.org/ohio/center/

Today’s Quote: “A politician is a man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it”. -Oscar Levant

It’s Buzzard Day! Every year on March 15^th the world-famous buzzards return to the Buzzard Roost in Hinckley Reservation.

From the Metroparks website: “March 15th is known as the ‘Ides of March,’ but is also internationally-known as the day the buzzards return to their summer roost at Hinckley Reservation’s Buzzard Roost. Grab the binoculars and search the skies with Cleveland Metroparks Official Buzzard Spotter, Bob Hinkle, and Cleveland Metroparks Chief of Outdoor Education as he searches the early morning sky for the first turkey vultures to return for the year. The search begins at 7 a.m. and continues until the first buzzard returns to the roost.”

For more info: http://www.clemetparks.com/events/buzzards.asp

Today’s Quote: “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books”. – John Lubbock

Today’s photo is of the detail in the woodwork at Cleveland Public Hall. This photo was taken from the stage floor looking upward at the proscenium arch of the stage opening. From Wikipedia: “Public Auditorium (sometimes called Public Hall) is located in Cleveland, Ohio. Since it was opened in 1922, it has served as a concert hall, sports arena and convention center. Although it was planned and funded prior to World War I, construction did not begin until 1920. Designed by city architect J. Harold McDowell and Frank Walker of Walker and Weeks in a neoclassical style matching the other Group Plan buildings, it was the largest of its kind when opened, seating 11,500. The auditorium cornerstone was laid on Oct. 20, 1920, and the completed building was dedicated on April 15, 1922. Smith & Oby was one local company involved in the project, at the time the largest convention hall in the United States. In 1927, the Music Hall was added at the south end of the auditorium. The main arena floor is 300 ft. long, 215 ft. wide, 80 ft. high. No columns were used in its construction. The main stage is 140 ft. by 60 ft., with a 72- by 42-ft. proscenium arch.”

“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe”. – Voltaire

Mill Creek Park 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

Today’s Quote: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase”. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today’s photo was taken in the formal dining room of the famous Greenbrier Suite. Located inside the Terminal Tower, the Greenbrier Suite was the Van Sweringen brother’s private mansion. What impressed me about this room was the beautiful hand painted wall paper.

For more info: http://blog.cleveland.com/pdmultimedia/2011/08/take_a_tour_of_secret_terminal.html

Today’s Quote: “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody”. – Bill Cosby

The picturesque village of Chagrin falls has grown around a natural waterfall on the Chagrin River. The town is known for its restaurants, historic architecture, shopping, and its arts community. For more information on Chagrin Falls:

http://www.chagrin-falls.org/

Today’s Quote: “A picture is a poem without words”. – Horace