Spring in Cleveland
Spring time has officially arrived in Cleveland! Normally that doesn’t mean much because it’s still 40 degrees outside along with clouds and rain. This year however is different because it has been absolutely beautiful outside with record setting temperatures. Make sure to go outside and enjoy the weather and the flowers.
Today’s Quote: “Earth laughs in flowers”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today’s photo is of a winter scene near Peninsula, Ohio in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Here is some info from the National Park Foundation’s website: “Though a short distance from the urban environments of Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga Valley National Park seems worlds away. The winding Cuyahoga—the “crooked river” as named by American Indians—gives way to deep forests, rolling hills, and open farmlands. The park is a refuge for flora and fauna, gives a sense of times past, and provides recreation and solitude for Ohio’s residents and visitors. The park has a rich cultural legacy as well. Remains of the Ohio & Erie Canal, which traveled through the valley in the 19th and early 20th centuries, offer a glimpse into the past”.
For more info: http://www.nationalparks.org/discover-parks/index.cfm?fa=viewPark&pid=CUVA
Today’s Quote: “Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finished product”. – Edward Steichen
Today’s Photo: The Cleveland Masonic Temple
From the Cleveland Historical site:
“The Masonic Temple and Performing Arts Center at 3615 Euclid Avenue was completed in 1921. The original plans for a high-rise office building addition to the temple, however, were never implemented. The Masonic Auditorium was home to the Cleveland Orchestra for ten years prior to the opening of Severance Hall in 1931, and it continued to be used as the setting for most of the orchestra’s recordings long thereafter as a result of its fine acoustics. The building also is home to the Cleveland Masonic Library and Museum, as well as budding arts groups like: Dancing Wheels (a wheelchair ballet group), RED: An Orchestra (an avant-garde ensemble) and The Singing
Angels (a youth choir)”.
For more info: http://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/9
The history of the Cleveland Metroparks from clemetparks website:
“The oldest park district in Ohio, the Cleveland Metropolitan Park District was born in 1917, the initiative of a young, self-taught engineer who had conceived the idea of an outer chain of parks with connecting boulevards some 12 years earlier. William Stinchcomb’s genius was to anticipate the future need for open space at a time when Cuyahoga County outside of Cleveland was still largely rural. From a few scattered donations of land in the Rocky River Valley, the Park District grew to embrace some of the most scenic areas of Greater Cleveland.
Stinchcomb first suggested his idea in 1905 and repeated his plea in 1909. Cleveland, which was then the nation’s sixth largest city, finally formed a park board in 1912 following an act by the Ohio Senate. In April 1912, West Side brewer Leonard Schlather offered to donate approximately three acres of bottom land in the Rocky River Valley.
But, there was a problem. Although the park board had the power to receive gifts of land and property, it had no money of its own and no authority to raise money by bonds or taxation. The park board remained basically dormant for several years.
State law changed in 1915, allowing the Cuyahoga County Commissioners to appropriate money to the park board and in 1916 the first funds were received. Stinchcomb, who had been elected Cuyahoga County engineer, stayed involved in the project as a consulting engineer and developed the “Proposed Cuyahoga County Park and Boulevard System.” The plan showed a continuous parkway encircling Cuyahoga County, threading its way through the Rocky River, Big Creek, Chippewa Creek, Tinkers Creek, Chagrin River and Euclid Creek valleys, and connecting, in two places, with the existing city of Cleveland park system.
In March 1917, the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill providing for “the conservation of natural resources by the creation, development and improvement of park districts.” On June 30, 1917, the Board of Trustees of Euclid Township petitioned the Probate Judge of Cuyahoga County for the creation of the Cleveland Metropolitan Park District. In July, a new park board was appointed and then met for the first time on July 30, 1917. Stinchcomb stayed on as a consultant without compensation.
From its inception through the 1920s, the Cleveland Metropolitan Park Board concentrated its efforts on assembling parkland. The Park District materially took shape during its first decade. In 1920, the Park District held title to just 109 acres of land in Rocky River and Big Creek; by 1930, it had acquired at a cost of $3.9 million, 9,000 acres in nine large, unconnected reservations: Rocky River, Huntington, Big Creek, Hinckley, Brecksville, Bedford, South Chagrin, North Chagrin and Euclid Creek.
The next step, connecting the reservations, would be tackled in years to come.”
For more info: http://www.clemetparks.com/index.asp
Today’s Quote: “All art is but imitation of nature”. -Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Here is some info from the Cleveland Cultural Gardens website: “Dedicated in 1935, the Czech Garden was designed by landscape architects B. Ashburton Tripp and Maurice Cornell. At the center of a circular lawn, flanked by an Eagle Pylon and a Lion Pylon, is a sculptured frieze depicting the history of the migration of Czechs to the United States. Atop the frieze and facing the lawn are busts of Bedrich Smetana, a composer, Dr. Miroslav Tyrs, an educator and organizer of Sokol gymnastic societies, Jan E. Purkyne, a physiologist, and Bozena Nemcova, a novelist. The garden also contains busts celebrating Frantisek Palacky, a historian and statesman, Anton Dvorak, the composer of the well-known “New World Symphony,” the Reverend Jendrich Simon Baar, a priest and novelist, Karl Havlicek, a journalist imprisoned because of his political views, and Thomas Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. Most of these statues, as well as the frieze, were the work of Frank L. Jirouch, a Cleveland-born sculptor of Czech descent who sculpted many of the busts in the garden.
On April 1, 1939, the President of Czechoslovakia planted two linden trees from Bohemia in the garden. In 1949, the Czech delegation added the Tyrs, Nemcova, and Purkyne bust, and in June 1962, Masaryk’s statue was added. At the dedication ceremony, United States Senator Frank Lausche lauded the choice of Masaryk, giving the dedication political resonance in the broader context of the raging Cold War. Lausche stated, that The love of liberty lives strong in the hearts of the Czechoslovakian people in America. … Our government will not make any pact for the degradation of Czechoslovak liberty.”
For more information on the Czech Garden: http://culturalgardens.org/gardenDetail.aspx?gardenID=7
Today’s quote is one of my favorites and comes from the garden itself: This Garden is dedicated, to our beloved Czech parents who by their teachings and by precept and example have established for us a high ideal of American citizenship.
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:
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 is of frozen Edgewater Park on Lake Erie shoreline. Mother Nature can create some pretty amazing ice sculptures. This photo reminds me of something you might see in a Chronicles of Narnia movie.
Check out more of my photos and purchase prints – Brent Durken Print Sales
http://brent-durken.pixels.com/
Today’s Quote: “There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” – Robert Kennedy
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:
Today’s Quote: “A picture is a poem without words”. – Horace
Check out today’s photo of the Cuyahoga River. Cuyahoga means “crooked river” in the Iroquois language and it’s easy to see why.
Today’s Quote: ” I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them”. – Pablo Picasso
Can you guess what this photo is? This photo was taken backstage at the historic Ohio Theater in Playhouse Square. These ropes are stretching toward a light at the top of the theater. The ropes control some of the curtains and effects in the theater. I just thought it was kind of a cool angle and now you can say you know all the ropes when it comes to the theater.
http://www.playhousesquare.org/
Today’s Quote: “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world”. – Oscar Wilde