Local History

If you have driven past the Clague House Museum or Lilly Weston House at night, you have probably noticed the candles in the windows. Placing a burning candle in one's window is a common tradition that dates back to colonial times.

The candle was often placed in the window when a member of the family was away. The lit candle was also placed in the window as a sign of good news or as a beacon to weary travelers. To keep this historic tradition alive, the Westlake Historical Society has, for the last several years, placed electric candles in the windows of the Clague House Museum and Lilly-Weston House.

In 2016, the historical society set a goal to replace all of our incandescent light bulbs with the newer, energy efficient LED lighting. This included all indoor and outdoor lighting, as well as our electric candles in the windows.

Passing by the Plank Road Tavern at 16719 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood, you might wonder about the unusual name but you certainly wouldn’t connect its name with today’s city of Westlake in any way. But these two places on our changing earth are connected. They are connected, of course, today by Detroit Avenue which extends westward from Lakewood into Rocky River and Westlake (becoming Detroit Road when it crosses the bridge over the Rocky River). The cities also once were connected by a road made of planks of wood which followed this right-of-way. This was during an era when Westlake was known as Dover Township and today’s Detroit Road was known as North Ridge Road in Dover Township.

The Plank Road Tavern prides itself on Midwestern craft beers and contemporary rustic fare. That is a description not too different from the refreshments offered by the taverns that had sprung up along the plank road to serve the Dover and Rockport farmers returning home after a day at the market.

The holiday season is upon us and the Westlake Historical Society continues to stay busy.

It is our pleasure to welcome visitors to The Clague House Museum throughout the year. Those wishing to set up an appointment to see the museum should call us at 216-848-0680. Our museum store has several stocking stuffers and hostess gifts for the holidays.

Many years ago members of the Westlake Historical Society began placing wreaths on the graves of founding and pioneer citizens of early Dover (now Westlake) buried in Evergreen and Maple Ridge cemeteries. Individuals, groups, families and  companies can sponsor a holiday wreath this year in memory of anyone buried in Westlake, not just a founder or pioneer.

Bustling with energy, the Fall Festival at Westlake’s Recreational Center on Oct. 15 entertained children of all ages with its pony rides, pumpkin hunt, bouncy houses, hay rides and many other fun activities. This year, a new activity was added. The Westlake Historical Society mixed fun with local history in an event themed around the Lilly Weston House. But why is the Lilly Weston House so important? And why exactly is it being showcased at an event geared toward children and their families?

Built around 1844 in what was then Dover Township, the Lilly Weston House is a sandstone and brick home that is an important relic of Westlake’s agricultural past. It is located next to the entrance to the Westlake Recreational Center on Center Ridge Road, where it originated as the farmhouse for what was once a 100-acre farm. As the house passed through at least 17 owners, the acreage got smaller and smaller, until it was eventually donated to the community for use as a museum on its one-acre lot.

On Thursday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m., the Westlake Historical Society will be holding a program in Community Room A of the Westlake Recreation Center. All are invited! The program is titled “Fifty Years of Planning in Westlake.” It is titled this because the two speakers that evening have a combined total of 50 years of direct involvement in the planning for the City of Westlake.

Ken Crandall’s first association with the City of Westlake was in 1957 when Westlake was experiencing its first wave of transformation from agricultural community to suburban city, and his various roles in planning for the city continued for 24 years, until 1981.

Robert Parry was Planning Director for 26 years, from 1987 until 2013, during the years that Westlake was the fastest growing community in Cuyahoga County.

This article is a follow-up to the excellent article about Caleb Eddy Jr. and his home that was written by Kay Laughlin in the Aug. 2 issue of the Observer. I too have been fascinated by the Eddy family, who like the Crocker family of Westlake, had family members living in both Euclid Township (a portion of which later became East Cleveland) and Dover Township at the same time. What else do we know about Caleb Eddy Jr.?

Life in Euclid Township

According to a history of East Cleveland written by Ellen Loughry Price, Caleb was 14 years old when he moved with his parents to Euclid Township in 1806. The Eddy family joined other Euro-American families that had begun settling on Dugway Creek where it crossed the Buffalo Road in 1803. The hamlet was named “Nine Mile Creek.” Buffalo Road later became Euclid Avenue on the East Side and Detroit Road on the West Side. Loughry Price says that the journey to Euclid Township was so slow that the Eddy children begged to be allowed to walk. Finally, against her better judgement, their mother, Nancy, consented. They proved her fears right, as they soon became lost. A passing horseman recovered them and took them to the nearest cabin where they were found by their parents.

In preparation for Westlake’s Bicentennial in 2011 we began tracking buildings that would have their 100-year birthdays that year. There were 184 buildings determined to meet that criteria. Several were torn down before the Bicentennial even arrived and in the five short years since the Bicentennial, nine have been torn down, one re-muddled, three restored and three have seen significant incremental re-investment.  

The high rate of demolition is primarily because many are homes that are on major streets in commercial or multi-family zoned districts. Now that Westlake is almost built out with less available vacant land, there is more interest in re-developing properties.

As a Bay High student in the 1970s about the only claim of distinction I could muster was that of being an AV geek. That, and while I can neither confirm or deny it, the possibility I may have been one of relatively few kids at Bay High at the time who enjoyed occupying their study halls perusing the pages of “Hot Rod Magazine.”

Not surprisingly, then, reading the story in the June 7 issue of the Observer about the new Bay High video studio generated a flood of memories for me.

Much of the school’s earliest instructional video recording and playback equipment had been in use during my stint as a volunteer in Bay High’s AV department. While our gear 40-plus years ago was no doubt quite primitive in comparison with that described in the June 7 story, I still very much remember it.

On a recent visit to the Special Collections area of the Main Branch of the Cleveland Public Library I re-acquainted myself with a book I had first discovered as a 14-year-old boy. It is called “Beautiful Homes of Cleveland” and was published by The Cleveland Topics Company in 1917. The focus of the book is a selection of substantial homes built within the city of Cleveland and inner ring of suburbs from about 1890 to 1915.

The book also includes one home in today’s Bay Village, the Lawrence Mansion, which is now part of Cashelmara, and one home in today’s Westlake. The home in Westlake is listed as the “Home of Mr. W.H. Becker, West Dover, Ohio.” It is odd that it is included in the book since it is not very architecturally noteworthy and in today’s terminology we would call it “re-muddled.” I was not initially familiar with the home and proceeded to do some research on it.

In April 1934, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War began promoting the idea of designating U.S. Route 6 as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway to honor Union forces that served during the war between the states. This notion was originally spurred by U.S. Army Major William L. Anderson as a means of honoring Civil War-era Union fighting personnel.

The Grand Army of the Republic was, in its time, a very influential veterans group formed by members of Union forces who had served in the Civil War after the end of the conflict. The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is a successor to that group, consisting of those who can directly trace a blood relative as one who had served in the Union forces.

As they are actually responsible for the roadway, each state that U.S. Route 6 runs through had to individually approve the additional naming of the highway. Beginning with Massachusetts in 1937, each state traversed by U.S. Route 6 eventually cleared the way for the for the honorary naming, and a formal dedication of the Grand Army of the Republic Highway took place on May 3, 1953, in Long Beach, California.

The Clague House is turning 140 years old this year and, as a part of our yearlong celebration, the Westlake Historical Society is honoring Sophronia Clague’s love for artistic expression by holding an Ice Cream Social and non-juried Community Art Show beginning on June 10.

All Westlake residents or members of the Westlake Historical Society are invited to submit up to two items for display and/or sale. We ask that all submissions be ready for hanging and suitable for public display to families in a museum.

The show is open to all types of art including drawings, paintings and photographs. Each submission must be your original work.

The Village Bicycle Cooperative and the Bay Village Historical Society teamed up with the Dwyer Memorial Senior Center on April 28 to present a 14-mile historical tour through the memories of Bay Village.

The event was to help publicize the cooperative’s upcoming “History Mystery Tour” bicycle ride through the city, scheduled for Saturday, May 7.

Local citizens boarded the community’s 14-passenger “covered wagon” to learn about the city’s rich history, spanning from 1810 to the present.“The mystery wave,” Sam Sheppard, Eliott Ness and Cahoon family stories were just four of many discussed that day.

It is no secret that my husband, Dave Pfister, and I love history. As members of the Westlake Historical Society, we spend a lot of time sharing Westlake's rich history. We have even been called history geeks.

Another way we enjoy taking part in history is by serving as History Day judges, both on the regional and state level. History Day is a nationwide student competition that actually began in Cleveland on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in 1974.

The Westlake Historical Society offers you the opportunity to dedicate the flying of the American flag at the Clague House Museum, in honor or memory of a special individual or group. The flag will be flown for one month and is a special way to remember someone significant in your life.

Do you have a particular month in mind? You may request a specific month for the flag to be flown, but please remember we only do one per month.

Valentine's Day dates back to Roman times, however it wasn't until 1840 that Richard Cadbury designed and illustrated the first decorative Valentine candy boxes. Please join the Westlake Historical Society on Feb. 13 to learn more about the history of Valentine's Day as we celebrate with our annual old-fashioned Valentine's Day party.

The Clague family home, located at 1371 Clague Road, will be your destination to enjoy an afternoon of crafts, sweet treats and museum tours. There is no charge for the event, but donations are gratefully accepted. Members of the historical society will conduct guided tours of the museum.

The Westlake Historical Society will host a "Hearts & Flowers Romantic Predictions Tea" with medium Susan Averre. The event will take place on Friday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Clague House Museum, 1371 Clague Road.

Join us for all your traditional tea favorites. Enjoy the ambiance that the Clague House Museum offers as we enjoy conversation and predictions from the medium.

In the last issue we discussed the Henry and Marie Hagedorn House at 600 Bassett Road, circa 1908. Now we will discuss Henry’s grandparents' house that still exists across the street from it at 603 Bassett Road. It is another gable-and-wing structure of a little over 1,300 square feet that sits close to the east side of the road as you pass over the railroad tracks from Westlake to Bay Village. It is currently painted a mustard brown color with light blue shutters.

It is known as the "Hagedorn Homestead" and is one of only 25 homes in Bay Village that were called “Historic Homes of Bay Village” in the City of Bay Village Architectural Design Review Standards Workbook prepared for the city by Metro One Design Group in 1994. Since that time three of these elite 25 have been torn down and one “re-muddled.”

I have not written about 603 Bassett Road until now because there has been a lot of confusion about when it was actually constructed. The county auditor lists its year of construction as 1833. Some other sources say 1857. There is also confusion about both first and last names of the original owners. This is probably why it has been known simply as the “Hagedorn Homestead.” It has been quite an enigma until now!

Should a resident of Bay Village or Westlake desire driving directions to Boston, Massachusetts, they would be quite straightforward: Simply enter Interstate 90 eastbound from the nearest access point in Westlake and follow that route all the way to the historic New England metropolis.

What if the above-mentioned resident wished to motor their way to Seattle, Washington, instead? The directions would be similarly direct (although encompassing much more mileage): Again enter I-90 from one of the two Westlake interchanges that permit westbound access to the highway and keep heading west until reaching the Pacific Northwest hub of technology.

Interstate 90, sometimes piggybacking along with other interstate routes, runs roughly 3,120 miles, completely traversing the northern United States with its western terminus being in Seattle and eastern terminus finding itself in Boston.

CWRU History Associates will host a dinner at the Cleveland Skating Club, 2500 Kemper Road, Shaker Heights, on Jan. 27 followed by a lecture entitled “LTV’s Bankruptcy and De-industrialization of the Steel Industry in Northern Ohio.” Bay Village resident Susan Murnane will deliver the lecture. 

Murnane’s talk will discuss Northern Ohio’s development as an international center of steel manufacturing at the end of the 19th century, and its subsequent decline at the end of the 20th century, as seen through the prism of LTV’s bankruptcy. While many factors contributed to the restructuring of the steel industry, including foreign competition, technological change, troubled labor relations, and the rise of private equity, Murnane argues that the distribution of gains and losses from the restructuring in northern Ohio was profoundly shaped by the 1978 bankruptcy reform that introduced Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

It seems fitting to be discussing the home of some very devout family oriented Lutheran Christians in an issue of the Observer covering the period of the Christmas holiday. Lutherans not only introduced the custom of using an evergreen in their celebration of Christ’s birth, they shaped the early Dover (Bay Village and Westlake) community.

According to "Bay Village: A Way of Life," and a family history generously provided to the Bay Village Historical Society by Hagedorn descendent Janet Marie Toensing, the first Hagedorns to come to Dover were Henry, Katherine and their five children who came from Hanover, Germany, to America around 1852. They bought 30 acres of land at 603 Bassett Road and began farming.

Santa Paws will return to the Clague Museum on Saturday, Dec. 19! Santa is excited to visit with his well-behaved pet friends and is available for photos from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The requested donation is $10; please make a reservation for your pet in advance by calling 216-848-0680.

The museum will host an Elf Overnight on Friday, Dec. 18. Check-in for the elves is from 6-8 p.m. While there, you and your elf can decorate holiday cookies. You can also decorate a personalized ornament and hang it on the tree. Enjoy a traditional reading of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" by the tree. Your elf will spend the night at the museum. The next morning, you can pick up your elf at 9 a.m.

In 2012, Kingsville, Ontario, became a Sister City with Westlake through the common legacy of one John Thomas Miner, better known as Jack Miner. Born in 1865 near the present-day intersection of Dover Center Road and Westown Blvd., Jack moved with his family to Kingsville when he was 13. His early roots instilled in him a love of nature and wildlife and he studied migratory birds until his death in 1944, becoming known as the Father of Conservation. The August premiere of “An Evening with Jack Miner” at the Clague Playhouse generated an invitation for me to reprise the role at Jack’s migratory bird sanctuary in Kingsville.

On Oct. 16, with passport in hand, I crossed the border to not only attend but participate in the 46th Annual Migration Festival. This year’s festival was a little different as its theme included the 150th birthday of Jack. The festival celebrates Kingsville’s place in history as the home of the man who changed the migration routes of the fowls of the air. I arrived Friday afternoon in time to attend the festival’s opening ceremonies with a wine and cheese reception that was held in Kingsville’s Carnegie Visitors Center. Jack himself (or a very convincing American re-enactor) made an appearance and read from his autobiography, "Wild Goose Jack," setting a celebratory tone for the remainder of the weekend.

Part five of a five-part series.

In part 3 and part 4 of this series, we introduced you to the oldest two sons of George and Rhoda Weston, Asa L. and Arthur E. Weston. In this article we will introduce you to their youngest son, Frank, who received the southern portion of their 100-acre farm on Columbia Road in the late 1800s. George, Rhoda and their sons had earlier occupied, and Frank was born in, the currently city owned Lilly-Weston house at 27946 Center Ridge Road, next to the Westlake Recreation Center.

Based on a 1920s plat book it appears that Frank built a home, most likely at 2535 Columbia Road. While it no longer stands, in the 1930s it appears to have been split into two units, with the lower unit occupied by his grown son Wells Weston and his family in 1940, as per the U.S. Census that year. The same 1940 Census shows that the Weston name was still strong on Columbia Road with May E. Weston, her brother George I. Weston and his wife, Mida, and three adult children occupying 2283 Columbia (still standing), which was built by their father Asa L.; Burton Weston and his wife occupying 2363 Columbia (still standing), which was built by his father Arthur E.; Burton’s brother Charles M. Weston, his wife, Esther, and children (including Doris) occupying the house Charles built next door at 2391 Columbia (destroyed). It is no wonder that May, Charles and Doris loved and felt connected to Dover/Westlake – their neighbors and their family were one and the same!

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump … That staccato and determined thumping seemed to go on and on until the helicopter producing it would fly overhead, after which the sound would all but disappear.

In the 1970s and early '80s that bit of drama would repeat itself rather regularly right over, or nearly so, my Westlake residence. The helicopter creating it at any given time would be one of six Bell UH-1H Iroquois models that called Cleveland Hopkins Airport home, heading back to its base of operation in the southwest sector of that aerodrome.

First ordered for the U.S. military in 1960, all model variants of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois are more commonly known as Hueys, most likely due to their original type designation being HU-1 (until 1962) and GIs informally assigning the aircraft its familiar nickname derived from that designation. The very pronounced thump, thump, thump sound as they approach is a characteristic trait of Huey helicopters in flight.

Most people know that the city of Westlake began as Dover township, founded as such in 1811 and possibly named for a then-known landmark, Dover Point, along the shores of Lake Erie. Dover was a popular name for communities back then – there were 17 of them according to the 1850 federal census, five of which were in Ohio.

Eventually, there were only two remaining in Ohio at the beginning of the 20th century – Dover Village (having been incorporated from the township in 1911) in Cuyahoga County, and Dover in Tuscawaras County. Even so, it created confusion for delivery purposes. Mail, and even a fire engine ordered for Dover Village, was sometimes delivered to the Dover in Tuscawaras County. As early as 1915, the United States Post Office requested that Dover Village change its name to differentiate it from the other Dover, Ohio.

Part four of a five-part series.

In part 3 of this series in the Oct. 6 issue, we introduced you to the oldest son of George and Rhoda Weston, Asa L. Weston. In this article we will introduce you to their middle son, Arthur E., who received the center portion of their 100-acre farm on Columbia Road in the late 1800s. George, Rhoda and their sons had earlier occupied the currently city-owned Lilly-Weston house at 27946 Center Ridge, next to the Westlake Recreation Center.

Arthur built a home in 1888 which still survives at 2363 Columbia Road. He was a skilled carpenter and built seven homes in the West Hedgewood/Hall Road area. Both he and his wife, Clara Brown, taught briefly in the schools. Together they had three children – Lucy, Burton and Charles. From 1904 to 1909, Arthur was clerk of Dover Township and was a member of the Dover Village Council in 1914 and 1915. In the 1920s he became the clerk for the Dover Village School Board.

October is a very busy month for the Westlake Historical Society and the historic Clague House Museum!

Our fall Teddy Bear Sleepover is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Oct. 24. Children are invited to drop off their teddy bear to spend the night at the Clague House Museum. Check-in for the teddy bears is at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening and check-out time is Sunday at 1 p.m. Children and their bears are invited to stay for our Fall Open House and Kids Sunday. The open house will run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Part three of a five-part series.

In part 2 of this series in the Sept. 1 issue, we introduced you to the three sons of George and Rhoda Weston who all had farmland cut from their parents' 100-acre farm on Columbia Road in the late 1800s and early 1900s. George and Rhoda had earlier occupied the Lilly-Weston house at 27946 Center Ridge, next to the Westlake Recreation Center.

The initial division of land on Columbia had Asa L. receiving the northerly portion, on which he built a home in 1883 which still survives at 2283 Columbia Rd. Another trace left on his land is a street named Weston Avenue which now serves as the entrance driveway into Cuyahoga Community College’s Corporate College. This is very fitting because a number of Weston descendants served the community as teachers or in other capacities which supported education in Dover, Westlake and the Greater Cleveland area.

Part two of a two-part series.

In the first installment of this series in the Sept. 1 issue, I attempted to follow the path of the Bay Village Police Department's communication technology. In the mid-20th Century officers on patrol would respond to a call for service via a red light attached to the Community House; by 1959 they had adopted the use of two-way VHF radio. The department recently modernized its communication equipment to a high-tech digital radio network to accomplish the task.

In my previous article I mentioned that Bay Village Police Department Chief Mark A. Spaetzel had been kind enough to meet with me and provide any information he could relating to this story.

Chief Spaetzel confirmed my finding of his department’s long term utilization of the VHF radio frequency mentioned in my previous article, and also confirmed my personal observation that through the years on that frequency his department would periodically need to update its radio equipment in order to communicate effectively. Even so, operation on the VHF frequency had been prone to marginal coverage in some areas of Bay Village, and, overall the radio system had been showing its age.

On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Westlake Historical Society dedicated an Ohio Historical Marker to George L. Cooley. 

This marker honors one of Westlake's own. Affectionately known to many as "Uncle George," he has myriad credits to his name – teacher, contractor, road builder, insurance executive and organizer of county and state farmers.

George was born in 1861 and raised on a farm at what is now the corner of Dover Center Road and Hilliard Boulevard. After attending Ohio Northern University, he taught at the Osborn School, located in the part of Dover Township that is now Bay Village, then taught at the old Red Brick School on Dover Center Road.

Probably anyone who lives in the west end of Bay Village has noticed some dramatic changes that have occurred in the southernmost block of Bassett Road, just north of the railroad tracks in the last couple years. Several small cottages have been replaced by substantial new homes on the east side of the street, while on the west side of the street, just north of Crossroads Church, a century home has received lots of investment.

The house looked kind of forlorn for a number of years until it was purchased by new owners. Improvements include a large attached garage, painted red with a gambrel roof that looks like a barn. It is a nice addition to the house which looks like a typical gable/wing vernacular farmhouse.

Part one of a two-part series.

What do a red light attached to the Bay Village Community House and a high tech digital radio communication system have in common? Separated by a number of decades, they were and are both devices used to notify police officers patrolling the streets of Bay Village their assistance is needed somewhere in the city.

Subsequent to well-respected former Bay Village Police Chief Fred Drenkhan’s passing earlier this year, a passage in his April 19, 2015, Plain Dealer obituary stated that, when Chief Drenkhan was a new patrol officer, “the village’s two patrol cars did not have two-way radios. Officers making rounds would periodically check for a signal from the red light atop the Community House.”

Part two of a five-part series.

In part 1 of this series (printed last May in Issue 7.10), we introduced you to “Deacon” Asa Weston, who had moved from Massachusetts to Ohio in 1817 after marrying his wife, Thankful Robbins. They settled in Euclid Township. George Weston was born to them there. 

At 24, George moved to Medina County where he met and married Rhoda Allis. Their son Asa Lemuel was born there in 1853.

In 1852 Thankful died and in 1853 “Deacon” Asa remarried. In about 1855 Asa Sr. and his second wife, Mary, as well as George, Rhoda, and Asa L. moved to Dover Township. In 1862 Arthur E. was born to George and Rhoda when they lived in a house near Bradley and Center Ridge.

 The Westlake Historical Society is "paws-ing" for the past with our annual Cutest Pet in Westlake contest. If you have the cutest pet in Westlake, please enter him or her in the contest by sending a photo to Cutest Pet Contest, c/o Westlake Historical Society, P.O. Box 45064, Westlake, OH 44145. Dogs, cats, hamsters, turtles, birds, fish and even the family ferret can enter. New this year: We will have a separate puppy division for pets under one year old.

We request a $5 dollar donation for each photo submitted. Photos must be received by 5 p.m. on Sept. 8. Photos can be black & white, or color. High resolution photos, please. Limit of two photos per pet. Westlake residents only. Do you need someone to take a photo for you? The historical society has photo volunteers for no charge.

Cahoon Park is one of Bay Village’s most valued pieces of land. Scratch that, it’s one of Ohio's most valued pieces of land. Some would even consider it to be the most valuable property between New York and Chicago.

The park serves as both the historical and recreational center of the city. The west end of the park has Rose Hill Museum, Bay Skate and Bike Park, and massive soccer fields, while the east end boasts the $2.9 million aquatic center, as well as various courts and fields that many residents enjoy throughout the year

And enjoy they do – with one set of stipulations.

Part two of a multi-part series about century homes on Bassett Road in Bay Village.

The home at 427 Bassett Road is a tall, substantial home located just south of the Bay High School driveway that exits onto Bassett Road. An expansive porch, several bay windows, and an assortment of other window shapes and sizes give the front façade a warm, welcoming, cozy feel. It has a touch of the Queen Anne Style in its asymmetry and the use of shingles on the façade. Previous sources have given the date of construction as circa 1890 but tax records clearly indicate that it was constructed in 1905.

In 1904 the one acre of land that the home was constructed on was carved off of a 13-acre parcel owned by Henry Frederick and Louisa M. E. Albers. The property transferred on Jan, 30, 1904, and work may have begun on the home the following spring but the tax value did not increase until the second half of 1905.

His-story? Why not her-story? Just for today we will call it herstory, the story of much lauded historian of Bay Village, Sally Price.

I first learned of Ms. Price through the book she wrote with Virginia Peterson, "Images of America: Bay Village." 

“Thanks to Ginnie and Sally we have a wonderful history of Bay Village," says fellow Bay Village Historical Society member, Evelyn Allen. “Sally provided a unique and personal perspective of life here since 1810. The photographs she provided and the captions she helped write give us all a precious history of our town.”

Part one of a multi-part series.

First there was Deacon Asa Weston. He was born in 1793 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the hometown of a number of the original pioneers of Dover Township. He immigrated to Ohio in 1816 and settled in Euclid Township, east of Cleveland.

His first glimpse of Dover was when he was hired by a man who owned land near Toledo to deliver the taxes owed, in person. In order to save money, Deacon Asa walked from Euclid to Toledo and back.

Who was Lilly Weston?

She sounds like she could have been the childhood friend of Annie Oakley or Calamity Jane. Actually there was no Lilly Weston. But there is a Lilly-Weston, as in the historical house in Westlake. No, that is not a modern family, hyphenated last name. It is two surnames: Lilly and Weston.

The Lilly-Weston house is located at 27946 Center Ridge Road, just east of the Westlake Recreation Center entrance drive. “Lilly” represents the last name of the family who built the stone portion of the house in about 1844 and added the brick portion in about 1855. “Weston” represents the last name of an early Dover/Westlake family whose ancestor, George Weston, purchased the home from the Lillys in 1866 and owned it until 1872.

One of the best places to learn about the people of a particular town is in the local cemetery. You can learn about when they lived, died, and who made up their family tree.

When the founders first arrived in our area, then known as Western Reserve Range 15, in 1810, it was found to be a wild and new place covered by trees as well as bears, deer and other inhabitants.

On May 16, noon to 3 p.m., you will have the opportunity to learn more about our history when members of the Westlake Historical Society and their friends re-enact the roles of some of Westlake's noteworthy residents. This yearly tour of Evergreen Cemetery, 29535 Center Ridge Road, is always a favorite way to experience history.