This MAPS beats any GPS...

Tucked away on the corner of the tarmac at the Akron-Canton Airport is a gem of history. The Military Aircraft Preservation Society (MAPS) Air Museum (web, map) is a museum/restoration organization (see left, click to enlarge) that while tiny compared to the gargantuan big brother in Dayton (Wright Patterson Air Force Base) has its own neat little niche that brings visitors back periodically.

Originally housed in a small, almost workshop type, building, MAPS appeared to primarily be a restoration organization (see right, click to enlarge). On one visit I parked near a ditch next to a hulking fuselage of a World War II TBF Avenger torpedo/bomber (similar to the one President George H.W. Bush was shot down in), minus its wings, awaiting restoration. On the MAPS website you can follow the restoration process of several planes, including the work on a World War II B-26 Marauder.

Over the years MAPS has sponsored various activities, including for a few years an air show at the Akron-Fulton Municipal Airport (read past news release). In the first decade of the 21st Century, MAPS obtained a hangar across from the small building that has tarmac access which made it easier for the public to view the planes on display and integrate fly-ins with the museum.

While only a fraction of the planes that can be found four hours down the highway in Dayton at the National Museum of the Air Force, there is a unique flair to the collection. One of the more recent additions, a Sopwith Triplane of World War I vintage, was built from scratch by Akron-area pilot Bill Woodall over about 20 years. (see left, click to enlarge)

The gondola from the Goodyear blimp Spirit of Akron (see right, click to enlarge) is on display and one can climb aboard and sit in a seat day-dreaming, as many Akron area residents do, that perhaps someday they will get the opportunity to soar in the blimp over the city. A well placed display of dirigibles and depression-era blimps accompanies the gondola.

Smartly, MAPS was able to borrow from the McKinley Museum (past entry, museum web) a 1908 Martin Glider (see left, click to enlarge), which hangs, almost beckoning, from rafters of the hangar. Having been to the McKinley Museum on several occasions over the past decade, I have never seen nor even a hinting that there was such a craft in their archives. A letter from the mayor of Canton and a few choice photos, including one showing the glider being towed by 1900’s automobile, accompany the display.

A room off the hangar, titled Gallery of Heroes offers static displays of historic artifacts and models of the aviation history with a focus on Northeast Ohio. A tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen features a Cleveland native member of the squad (see left, click to enlarge). One display of World War II bombers includes the paperwork and historic photos of an area airman. Another larger display pays tribute to soldiers from Northeast Ohio who have fallen during our recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (see above right, click to enlarge)

But what has made MAPS a unique destination over the years are the special fly-ins they promote. For the past several years the Collings Bombers have spent a short week at the museum, offering walk-throughs and (expensive) public flights. It is one thing to walk around a B-17 bomber at Wright-Pat, but it is quite another to walk through one at MAPS, including a perilous tightrope across the bomb bay doors (see left, click to enlarge). Even with the bomb bay doors open, walking a mere 3 feet above the tarmac, it is an anxious shuffling along a floor barely wider than your foot! Inside the Gallery of Heroes one can find a display on bomber artifacts. (see above right, click to enlarge)

On this particular visit, a Ford Tri-Motor airliner (see left and also first photo in this essay, click to enlarge), originally built in 1929, spent a few days in town (video of flight at another location). Offering a reasonable flight experience ($60 compared to a World War II bomber flight experience costing over four times as much) but also the chance to get up close and personal, the Ford Tri-Motor was fresh off time with Hollywood as part of the filming for the summer blockbuster Public Enemies.

This particular bird, operated by Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), is the only one still flying, with less than 10 others in various states of flight-worthiness across the country. Lovingly restored after a windstorm had broken it into three sections in 1973, the Tri-motor conjures up memories for some Ohioans, as flight service from Put-in-Bay to the mainland used a Ford Tri-motor until a crash in the early 1970s. In its day, albeit 80 years ago, the “Tin Goose” was state of the art in comfort and class for air travel. (see above right, click to enlarge)

Thanks to MAPS, the history of flight is not just on display in hangars, but comes alive on the tarmac of a regional airport in the heart of the state where two brothers dreams took wing.

- J.

An Ancient Culture still at risk

2000 years of history are in danger of disappearing, much like the native tribes who inhabited Ohio around 100 B.C. The museum and grounds of the Fort Ancient people (see right, click to enlarge), located near Lebanon, Ohio, are part of the Ohio Historical Society that has seen tremendous budget cutbacks from the Ohio General Assembly. After June 30th, 2009, the site may no longer be open to the public, but is undergoing discussions with area sponsors in hopes of becoming an independent entity.

The Hopewell people first built a series of earthwork mounds between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D. The earthworks still exist (see left, click to enlarge) and are easily viewed throughout the grounds, but nature has taken its toll and trees, shrubs and other flora and fauna have grown along the mounds. Over the 1000 years of native inhabitants, the cultures of natives changed and different names have been given to those who lived in the area throughout that time. Fort Ancient was one of the later groups and it is their name which adorns the site.

The grounds holds a small, but excellent museum showing the adaptations the natives of the area underwent over time (see right & below left, click to enlarge). In such a small area, 2000 years of history unfolds between life-size dioramas, graphics, reproductions and actual artifacts. Unlike many museums where one can wander and not get a sense of time, the corridors wind you through the changes in a logical fashion.

There is on-going archaeological work happening at the site and hopefully it will continue regardless of the status of funding for the museum.






Outside the museum, as part of the exhibits, is a small native garden with plants (see below, click to enlarge) known to be grown by the various cultures that lived at the site and a small reproduction native hut (see right, click to enlarge). There is a sizable room used for outreach and education for local school field trips.

Much like the Serpent Mounds, not far from the Fort Ancient site, history can be confusing. The Serpent Mounds were thought to have been built by the Adena people (800 B.C. to 100 A.D.) with some adaptations by the Fort Ancient people (1000 - 1500), but recent research, including work by those from Fort Ancient site, points to use and adaptations by all the native cultures that inhabited the area.

Unfortunately, many children in Ohio learn of our native cultures through informal, and sometimes incorrect, textbooks. It leads to the misconception that a series of native cultures existed and disappeared throughout Ohio's history, when in truth the cultures transformed as new inhabitants joined the existing culture.

As the Ohio Historical Society is attempting to market and pitch to the public, "History Matters" and it would be a shame for one more site to shut down and leave the learning of Ohio to the inadequate textbooks rather than hands-on interaction.

- J.

Zoaring above it all

In 1817 a group of German separatists took root in Tuscarawas County not far from the river of the same name. They formed a commune and until 1898 successfully separated not only from the German Lutheran religion, but also somewhat from American society as well. A visit to Zoar Village (see right, click to enlarge) brings you into a world almost unto itself, even in the modern 21st century.

Located about 45 minutes south of Akron and not far off I-77 (map), Zoar offers a glimpse of life in the 1800s that was a simpler time fraught with long hours of hard work. But it is a village that sheds the contemporary for its history. Residents are allowed to operate stores on their property, but only if they reside at that location. It increases the dedication of those who live there to the village and the care is evident. There are no rundown, blighted old properties in the village.

Due to Ohio Historical Society budget cuts, legislated by the Ohio General Assembly and done at a deep and lasting manner, the extent of guided tours may be limited and inconsistent with printed or web-posted literature. A guided tour offers a costumed interpreter detailing the nature of the Zoar commune as well as the individual jobs at various buildings.

House #1 is a large brick building that was originally intended for the aged as they moved to a later stage in life. A senior assisted living facility as it were. However stubborn seniors of the day tended to refuse moving into the facility. Wide entries and hallways with extremely high ceilings give a vast open feel to the rooms. Each room today displays various aspects of the Zoarites culture, from baby carriages, clothing, typical bedrooms to even musical instruments including a massive pipe organ. Through a breezeway the kitchen and laundry facilities can be found (see left, click to enlarge).

Several of the homes around Zoar feature clay roofing tiles that were kilned in Zoar (see right, click to enlarge). They have a striking resemblance to cedar shakes. Bricks were also kilned in the village and many pottery items were made there as well. Zoar was quite the self-sufficient commune in many senses of the word.

Central to the town are the gardens, which have religious symbolism in the planning (see left, click to enlarge). At the center tree rises to heaven as the Tree of Life or Christ, surrounded by hedge represnting heaven and 12 others trees which symbolize the 12 apostles. Paths lead from outside the gardens to the center and are representative of the paths people walk in life. At the edge of the garden is an innovative greenhouse, including a furnace that piped in heat via terra cotta pipes from a basement to the main greenhouse.

The bakery still operates on weekends and the freshly baked bread is a local favorite and quite popular (see right, click to enlarge). A large and smaller oven originally produced hundreds of loaves a day. Frequently on their way home children would stop into the bakery to bring home bread to the family. At times it was even passed out the front windows.

Bread making was often a slow process, as a Starter was created and fermented (see left, click to enlarge) many months for the sourdough bread that is so popular in the village. Starters were often begun in January. Men often also cut wood in January as it was the time sap was lowest in the tree (making it easier to cut) and would dry faster for use later in the year.

The blacksmith and tinsmith were two of the more highly skilled trades operating in the village. The tinship shop today (see right, click to enlarge) is loaded with a plethora of highly specific tools for various types of products. While seemingly frail and flexible, many of the tools added strength and durability to the product making it lightweight and built for longevity.


The Springs building (see left, click to enlarge) is one of the locations tin products can be seen as used. Spring water was fed into the room below and behind the town's general store and into pools that drained very slowly. Milk from the adjacent dairy was placed in tin containers in the Spring building to cool and to have the cream skimmed for use in making butter. Each house number was stamped on the tin container denoting the family's milk for the day.

Preservation efforts turned the run-down, decrepit dairy building into a beautifully restored masterpiece over several years between 1988 and 1992. Today the Zoar Community Association preserves and educates about the time, place and principles of the Zoarites.

While some buildings, such as the Treasurers House (see first photo of this essay), are privately owned and not part of a guided tour, others are open to the public regardless of any touring. The former Town Hall (and Firehouse) houses, on separate floors, a learning center and museum that includes Zoar's involvement in the building of the Ohio and Erie Canal through the region (see rleft, click to enlarge).

While state funding continues to decline and slow to a trickle, here's hoping that Zoar continues to soar as a living piece of the history of Ohio for the future to understand how the past created the present.

- J.

How now, John Brown?

On June 23rd, 1859, John Brown made his last stop in Ohio before going onto historic notoriety just months later in a foiled, and insane, attempt to plunder a federal arsenal to arm slaves in a massive revolt against their owners (see left, click to enlarge). In a nation boiling over a sectional crisis that pitted factions for and against slavery and states rights, John Brown became a symbol of animosity of the times.




Brown spent his formative years in Ohio, specifically Northeast Ohio in communities of Akron, Hudson and Richfield. His home in Hudson, on Hines Hill, still stands and was built next to his tannery business he started as a young adult. Brown was also a sheep herder, entering into a co-op with the Perkins family. Simon Perkins is one of Akron's founding fathers and it is the house that Brown briefly lived in that Simon Perkins later owned, that is known as the John Brown House in Akron.

It is not open much to the public these days, but on June 23rd, 2009, a free-admission open house was held to mark the Sesquicentennial celebration of Brown's last stop in Ohio. The house sits on property owned by the Summit County Historical Society, which also operates the Simon Perkins House on the opposite corner to the John Brown House (see right, click to enlarge) at the corner of Copley Road (Route 162) and Diagonal Road, just a hop, skip and chimpanzee jump from the Akron Zoo.

The John Brown House is larger now than when its most known inhabitant lived within, as the Perkins family built on to the house and later in time it served as the clubhouse for the Portage Path Country Club (a 9-hole course).

On display at the nondescript Tuesday night Open House were dozens of newspaper reproductions (from the 1800's and modern time), items from the John Brown educational trunk -- reproduction artifacts used for classroom education (see right, lower picture), a women's aid society (see left, click to enlarge) during the Civil War display and several Civil War era local artifacts, including Major Voris's saddle, a chunk of log from the Civil War battle at Chickamauga -- with musket balls still embedded in the wood (see right, upper picture), other era artifacts, an apparently authentic U.S. 45-star flag (which is long past the Civil War) and two large wooden plaques honoring Civil War battles and dead from the area that reportedly hung at the Akron GAR Hall (see lower right, click to enlarge).

To say John Brown was a radical is an understatement. An extreme abolitionist, Brown often traveled around the Northeastern U.S. preaching to end slavery, bringing along fugitive slaves on his travels. He established a farm in Elba, New York where he housed runaway slaves. Many, but not, of his children shared his abolitionist passion and when the freshly formed Kansas Territory threw open the status of the state as slave or non-slave state to the people, his family was one of many who migrated west within the states borders.

Termed "Bloody Kansas" for the many clashes between slavery and anti-slavery groups, Brown conducted a massacre along the Pottawatomie River near Ossawatomie, Kansas, murdering nearly a dozen pro-slavery individuals in the late 1850s. A statue today exists in a park setting near the high school in Ossawatomie.

Brown's grand plot, that moved him from celebrity to martyrdom (in the eyes of many Northerners, that is) was his attempted raid of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (at that time). In the attempted takeover, Brown was severely wounded and two of his sons killed (along with several other deaths). The entire episode is cloaked in celebrity, as commanding officer of the U.S. Army unit that ended the dispute was Robert E. Lee in one of his last actions as a U.S. soldier. His chief subordinate officer in this matter was J.E.B. Stuart, who along with Lee both gained fame as Confederate generals.

In what was surely the O.J. Simpson trial of its day, Brown was tried for treason and executed on December 2, 1859. Brown's health was critical during the trial and appeared in court lying on a cot, from which he made several grand pronouncements about his views on slavery in defense of his actions. Newspapers, which in the mid and late 1800s were the equivalent of blogs, Twitter and Facebook, printed his commentary from their own bias.

Among the literature handed out at the Open House was a list of events during the summer of 2009 to commemorate 150 years since "crazy old John Brown" emblazoned his name in history. On the Sesquicentennial of his execution, Akron will hold more commemorative events to its most legendary and historic son.

J.