Up, Up and Away... Canton, Ohio

At the end of July each summer, Canton, Ohio plays host to a week-long festival of events surrounding the induction of new professional football players to the Professional Football Hall of Fame (HOF).

One of our favorites are the balloon launches and fly-overs and the twilight Balloon Glow at Kent State/Stark Tech in Jackson Township (Belden Village area). (see left, click to enlarge)





The Glow brings an entire infield of
balloons together and are inflated
but do not lift off. As dusk falls, the
propane flames filling the balloons
casts off a wonderful hue, hence the
"glow" label. Choreographed (well,
sorta) to music, it's a great event
that's attended by hundreds. (see right,
click to enlarge)





Those who live in northern Stark County were treated to the balloons drifting into Lake Township after dinner time, with many of them landing near the same area.

At one point the sky was pock-marked with dozens of balloons. As they began to drift downward you can only imagine the startled neighbors hearing the sudden burst of propane and the excited chattering of children looking skyward. (see left, click to enlarge)

Even the cows have to wonder what's up with the balloons... (see below, click to enlarge)


Balloons are quite the stealth vehicle.
One morning walking from my door
to the mailbox to fetch the paper
at 6 in the morning, I was startled
to a near coronary when a balloonist
blasted a shot of propane into his
balloon while drifting over my house.

In the picture to the left, I like how
the crew is lit by the flame and how
the logo of the Mayflower Balloon
seems to glow aflame itself.

I also found it oddly comic that as the Glow came to an end and the balloons began to deflate, that the truck-shaped balloon sponsored by United Van Lines appeared to be crashing headfirst into the Mayflower (also a moving company) balloon (see right, click to enlarge). And just where is the Nationwide or Progressive balloon to assess the damage (is there even one)?

The Balloon Classic at the HOF Festival is a favorite and one of many great food and fun aspects to a summer of festivals around Ohio.

-J

First Ladies' Library - Canton

Nestled in downtown Canton is the First Ladies' Library. This is the first, and only, museum complex dedicated to the Presidential wives and their contributions to America, dedicated in 2003 with an address by Laura Bush. There are two parts of the complex, the first is the Ida Saxton House (see left, click to enlarge) and the second the education center and library located one block north.


Ida Saxton was the wife of President McKinley and it is their home (known as the Saxton McKinley House) that is the museum part of the complex. Real gas lighting (see right, click to enlarge) and an array of potted floral arrangements along the sidewalks, which extend towards the library building.

Ida's father was John Saxton, the founder of the Canton Repository newspaper. The Repository still functions today in the tough market of Northeastern Ohio, dominated by the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal. The Repository is now owned by Gatehouse Media.

The property is open for tours (see historical marker to left, click to enlarge) and is a finely restored Victorian mansion worth the time and money. Parking is tricky to find on-site, but plenty abound on the street or in decks around it. The properties are one block south of the downtown business district of Canton and across the street from the McKinley Grand Hotel.



The library and education center is also open to the public and hosts programs and offers research opportunities. There are many different programs run by the museum that rotate over time as all museums do. December 2008 showcases first ladies red dresses.

From the walkway (see left, click to enlarge) to the library right up to the front door (see right, click to enlarge), this is a grand display of our country's grandest ladies.




Downtown Canton is working hard to revitalize itself, but is another of those Ohio towns that had its heyday decades ago. But it is just this sort of landmark and development that give hope to a sustainable future for an historic region.

- J.

Presidential one nighters at The Golden Lamb

Nestled just north of Cincinnati is Ohio's oldest operating Inn, the Golden Lamb (see left and below right, click to enlarge). Located in Lebanon, Ohio (map, government), the Golden Lamb has been a continuous operating business since 1803, the same year Ohio entered the Union as the 17th state.

Lebanon has a picturesque downtown and it is easy to wonder how Lebanon came to be so historic. As with much of Ohio, its growth has its roots in transportation.

The Warren County canal and several roads connecting Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. A major rail line passed within four miles of the city as well. The era of the Stagecoach was perhaps when the Golden Lamb was bustling more than ever.



As Ohio was a the place to be in the mid 1800s, so can you see the famous visitors to the Inn. Walking in the front entrance you are greeted with its famous lodgers . The list includes Presidents Grant, John Quincy Adams, McKinley, Garfield, both Harrisons (William and Benjamin), Van Buren, Hayes, Taft and modern presidents Reagan and George W. Bush. Other notables include Henry Clay, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles Dickens. Their web site boasts of Mark Twain, but he didn't make the signage when you walk in the door (see right, click to enlarge). The inn's website offers a virtual tour of each of the famous rooms.

The lobby creaks with history as you can gather waiting to be seated in the restaurant or seek lodgings for the night (see left, click to enlarge). You can spend the night in one of the famous rooms inhabited by the aforementioned guests of honor, but know that it is a six month or longer waiting list for a room.

The top floor has several rooms that have been sealed off and offer a museum of some of the various furniture that have been used in the rooms (see right, click to enlarge). Each room has a look of a different era. What makes the building unique is that it is not a standard house or building. Each hallway is unique and the twists and turns of the building give it character. Even the placement of restrooms doesn't fit the typical layout.

While Lebanon may have seen its peak as the Victorian age came to a close, the Golden Lamb continues on. It is evident that preservation is a priority here and hopefully there will be future presidents who will dine and lodge under its roof.

- J. ** View follow up blog posting **

Adena, home of Thomas Worthington

Thomas Worthington was one of Ohio's founding fathers. His sprawling estate in Chillicothe, named Adena, has been meticulously preserved. It is one of those rare finds in history where it has not been much outside the hands of the original family (see right, click to enlarge).

Beautifully built in stone, the home has two levels and two sides to it. Worthington had it built between 1806 and 1807 on 2000 acres on high ground overlooking Chillicothe, Ohio.

As many up and coming, young wealthy Virginians would do, southern Ohio became the destination where vast tracts of land could be attained, purchased or even horn-swaggled. A great deal of what is today Ross County (history, government) was under the control of Worthington in the early 1800s.

A wonderful little museum welcomes you to the grounds before taking off on a tour of the mansion house. A large display (see left, click to enlarge) shows the vast acreage of what could be called a plantation in Ohio, just minus the slave labor.

The main entrance that greets the visitor has many furniture pieces crafted on site for the Worthington family. The vibrant floor is a painted cloth that has been waxed over many times to give the appearance of what today would be vinyl flooring (see left, click to enlarge). The use of bright colors throughout the home would be a definitive sign of wealth in the early 1800s.

One of the very unique features of this house are windows where the bottoms swing out like a door. With the window up and the bottom swung out, it created a doorway to other areas. The servants room (right) shows this feature. Perhaps the creativity of these windows is more about the bottom line than architectural curiosity. Taxes were levied in houses at the time on the number of doors a house contained. The argument would be that these were windows and not doors, thus lowering the overall tax burden. (see right, click to enlarge)




Unusual at the time was a kitchen built in or on to the house (see left, click to enlarge). With cooking over an open hearth, it was quite easy to start a fire inside the house and burn the property to the ground. Benjamin Latrobe, the famous architect who would go on to design the U.S. Capitol, built Worthington's house and designed this kitchen off-set, but adjoined to the house with a brick walls separating it from the main house. A unique way to lessen the danger of fire.

One of the creative ways to create a canopy
bed was on display in one of the girl's bedrooms.
Rather than a four-poster canopy, a change was
hung from the middle of the room to create the
similar effect. Recall that in the 1800s "air-conditioning"
was opening the window. Screening not yet in fashion,
the canopy that would be spread about the bed would
be useful way to minimize bugs. (see left, click to enlarge)




But perhaps one of Adena's most impressive displays is the garden works (see left, click to enlarge). Nearly attached to the house, Worthington's personal study would look out over the grounds. A contemporary, and admirer, of Thomas Jefferson, Worthington looked to emulate him in many ways. The garden has been very well tended and through the old, leaded glass of the mansion house it is easy to imagine a different time and place while touring the house.

It is also from the grounds that you can wander to the edge of the plateau and look out over the Paint Creek and Scioto River towards the distant hills, steep and wooded. A historical marker notes the location where it is said that Worthington, et al, looked towards Mount Logan just over the Scioto River and it was the inspiration for the Great Seal of Ohio. Standing at this spot, I took a picture of the marker, the view of Mount Logan today (2008) and superimposed, then faded the Great Seal of Ohio atop it for comparison. (see above/right, click to enlarge)

There is much to do in Central Ohio, making Adena a worthwhile stop of an hour or two along your journey through the state. Consider an over-nighter in Chillicothe during the summer to take in the historical drama, Tecumseh! at the outdoor amphitheater on the outskirts of town. While a little fast and loose with the actual history, the drama is realistic and the outdoor setting fabulous.

- J.

Ripley, Believe it or not!

Ripley, Ohio is not just another river town nestled along the winding Ohio River. Reverend John Rankin made his home (National Park website, Ohio Historical website) high atop the hill overlooking the river and Kentucky during the 1850s and it was his house that served as a beacon and a hideout for fugitive slaves escaping that "peculiar institution" in Kentucky and points south. With or without the history, the panoramic view atop the hill is stunning (panoramic picture below, click to enlarge).

But then, imagine a fugitive slave hiding precariously in the wood line across the river, waiting for the time, the opportunity to cross a tricky river and to climb the hill to the Reverend's home, hoping for safe hiding and passage to the next stop along the Underground Railroad. Perhaps stopping at John Parker's house, a free black, who helped countless fugitives pass through the region.

It is said the Reverend Rankin had the hill cleared of trees so that he could see his enemies coming well before they reached him. Today there are stone and wood stairs and those who are stout enough can march up the steps from the base of the "hill." (see left, click to enlarge)





The town of Ripley (map, historical website) is snuggled against the river and while atop the hill the modern economy of the river was at hand as a tow-barge tugged up river with a load of coal (see right, click to enlarge), oblivious that a gaggle of history teachers perched atop the crest having just been immersed in the world of slavery at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center just an hour's drive or so along the river back west in Cincinnati.

The charter bus I rode to the top of the hill to the Rankin House had difficulty making two turns and had to navigate low-hanging branches. The hill would be impossible to drive up in wintry weather.

The house is quite small and the outlaying buildings no longer exist, including the barn used to hide many runaways over night. Save for a story or three from the ranger stationed at the house, there is not much to learn as you poke around the house and grounds (see below and right, click to enlarge).






The Reverend and his sons were very active in moving runaways in and out of town. To walk inside the house defies the logic of their success, but, unlike many other Underground Railroad stations, their efforts were well documented.


An incredible chapter of our history happened here and standing alone atop the hill looking at the lay of the land to the south and then again to the north, it is daunting to think of escaping one hell and navigating another in hopes of a better life free from bondage.

And yes, this happened in the town of Ripley, believe it... or not. (view from the Rankin House towards Kentucky with Reverend Rankin quote below, click to enlarge)

- J.