Showing posts with label
National Register of Historic Places.
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Showing posts with label
National Register of Historic Places.
Show all posts
Near Youngstown you can find a wonderful piece of Ohio history tucked along a creek. Not only can you tour an important cog in the wheel of industry in Ohio's history, but take a walk along the wonders that nature carved over thousands of years millions of years ago.
Lanterman's Mill is the third mill since 1797 to operate at this spot along what today is known as Mill Creek. Youngstown founder John Young and Phineas Hill surveyed the falls along what is today U.S. Route 62 west of Youngstown. Young sold 300 acres surrounding the falls to Hill with the understanding that a mill would quickly be built there.
First a grist and saw mill, then later only a gristmill, the location was ideal. The second mill on the location was struck by natural disaster when flooding in 1843 wiped out the mill. The thousand+ pound mill grindstone can be seen today 500 feet downstream from that original location. German Lanterman, and his brother-in-law Samuel Kimberly, built the third, and current, structure three years after the flood. The mill has since born his name.
Lanterman used mother nature to his advantage, carving the bottom of the mill alongside the sandstone rock. Touring the mill today, visitors descend three levels to view the indoor water wheel and gear assembly. In what feels like a twist between an archaeological dig and a spelunking adventure, the bare rock walls still seep and drip with moisture, iron discoloration from exposure to oxygen baring testimony to the science of history.
Still operational, the mill grinds primarily wheat today but has examples to show of buckwheat and corn to those who view the grindstone on the main floor. Mill interpreters lead visitors through the steps in the milling process and the mechanics behind working, maintaining and replacing mill stones, which have a life expectancy of a half-century but needed to be "dressed" weekly. The two half ton grinding stones, depending on how fine the resulting flour should be, leave space between them no thicker than a piece of paper or as fine as tissue paper.
While competition from modern technology (of the day) caused the Lanterman's Mill to cease in 1888, a hundred years later it was restored and opened to the public as a fully operational mill. In the intervening century it had served the public interest as a bathhouse for swimmers, nature museum and historical museum. In 1892 it was purchased as park property and for 25 years served the public good as ballroom, concession stand and bathhouse with the upper floors used as boat storage. In 1974 the mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982 a full restoration was initiated, using historical records and blueprints.
The Mill is operated, and surrounded, by the Mill Creek Metroparks in Mahoning County. The immediate park property includes a visitor center, gardens, a 400-acre working farm, golf course and walking trails that include an historic iron furnace marker and remains, a log cabin, two unique bridges (suspension and parapet). Upstream from the mill is a covered bridge, originally built in the early 1800s to provide better access for farmers to deliver their grain to the mill. Signage on the bridge today, after being rebuilt in 1989, states that covered bridges were built to help ease the stress of the horses. Horses, quite aptly, were able to see that a typical bridge had no sides and the rushing river below was a danger. The covered bridge, then, acts as a form of blinders to keep the animal focused on the task at hand.
The walking trails that extend up and downstream make the complex the centerpiece of an afternoon hike. The mill has a small souvenir shop that sells flour milled onsite, other historic items but also remains historically faithful with concessions that include cold drinks and frozen treats. A two mile loop takes hikers along the Mill Creek, sandwiched between glacier-carved sandstone rocks and the creek itself along a well maintained board walk.
Today a tour of the five story mill costs all of $1, less if you are a Mahoning County resident. Quite a bargain for a working piece of how you can see Ohio as America. In the heart of what was to become the "rust belt" a mill still stands as a hopeful beacon that a region that once thrived industrially just might emerge in a new century in a new way for a new market.
- J.
The history of Ohio includes the accomplishments of scores of diverse individuals from all about the world. Germans were early immigrants to the country and likewise in the state of Ohio. In the early to mid 1800s, German settlements popped up in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, where opportunities for business along an emerging canal system were ripe. Today a walk through German Village (wiki, map), just south of Downtown Columbus, is a walk through the history of the German-American experience in Ohio and America (see right, click to enlarge).
The ups and downs of America -- and Ohio -- are reflected in the 233 acres that have seen development, decline, decay, destruction and rebirth. German settlers built a little community here through the dawn of the 20th Century, but the natural movement of young adults away from home, the backlash of a nation involved in two wars with Germany, prohibition (beer!) and the Great Depression took its toll on the area.
But in the 1960s the die was cast to begin a movement and organization that would become one of the most distinguished examples of neighborhood revitalization in the country. The German Village Society was formed and wove through the intricacies of city government to begin the preservation and revitalization of the settlement. Today over 1600 buildings have been renewed and the society boasts over 1000 preservationists.
German Village is best visited on foot. The streets, in typical European fashion, are tight (see left, click to enlarge) and sometimes jog inexplicably at angle. Plus a walking tour is the only way to truly linger in front of homes and gardens without irritating drivers behind you. The homes today vary from the historic to the historic looking, with an odd out-of-style home here or there that was existed before the preservation efforts began. The society's requirement is that the facade of the house look historic, while the interior can be modified as the owner desires.
The only neighborhood to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is a testament to the will power of volunteerism. German Village was revitalized without state or federal financial assistance. It is coveted real estate, with the median house price estimated at nearly $400,000. The typical German Village home is a two or three bedroom house that sits close to the road, emulating the close-knit feel of villages in Germany.
Examples of the types of homes in German Village vary from modified warehouses, small homes that were creatively adjoined to create a larger and historic homes preserved. 
But you will be hard-pressed to see similar homes in the village. Drive around the outerbelt that loops Columbus and you can see the same home style, with the boom of growth in the 1990s, replicated throughout your trek, but in German Village each street offers a unique vista.
One of the more interesting homes is a pair of adjoining homes built by a pair of German brothers who were feuding at the time. Determined that each side of the house would not look like the other brother's, two very distinctive style sit awkwardly from the curb (see left, click to enlarge). But not long after completion, the two brothers enlisted in the cause and mustered out with an Ohio regiment to fight in the Civil War.
The neighborhood's investment in itself is evident from the voluntary efforts to maintain the gardens and throughways. During a guided tour, one of the key members of the governing board of the village shared that the City of Columbus once could not afford to maintain the brick-paved roads and sought to asphalt over a street. The entire village turned out to repair the brickwork themselves, from the noticeably aged to the very young. A little media coverage of the repair work guilted city council into funds for upkeep. In 2007 they were named a Preserve America Community by the Presidential Preserve America cooperative.
It is hard to wander through the parks in the village without seeing volunteers hard at work in the gardens. The centerpiece park of the village is Schiller Park (see left, click to enlarge), which was briefly re-named Washington Park as part of the anti-German sentiment during World War I. A vast open space for dogs to romp, residents to exercise, and for Shakespeare to come alive. The amphitheater plays the Bard each summer weekend at no cost to the public.
A sculpture titled the Umbrella Girl (see right, click to enlarge) has been attracting visitors to one of the corners of Schiller Park since the 1870s, but its current visage is the second generation of the sculpture. In the 1950s the original sculpture disappeared without a trace and still today the situation remains a mystery. The second sculpture was dedicated in the 1960s.
There are other greenspaces and gathering places within the district. A small two-tenth of an acre vacant lot, which was sarcastically referred to as "dog****" park, (see left, click to enlarge) was revitalized into a showcase garden known as Frank Fetch Park in honor of the man who initiated the German Village movement. 
Shopping, dining and overnight accommodations are abundant and equally unique. Among the popular dining stops are the original Max and Erma's restaurant and Schmidt's Sausage Haus (see right, click to enlarge). Juergens Bakery offers delectable goodies and at least 10 years ago accepted payment in Deutsche Mark! The Book Loft offers 32 rooms of shelves for browsing and there is no shortage of quaint Bed and Breakfast homes.
The best starting point for a tour of German Village is the Meeting Haus on South Third Street. An outstanding 10 minute video (also available over the web) provides the historical backdrop of German Village. Food and fun are found in one neighborhood that hides just south of Columbus, beckoning one and all to drink, dine and dawdle in a culture that is intertwined into the fabric of Ohio.-J.
Lanterman used mother nature to his advantage, carving the bottom of the mill alongside the sandstone rock. Touring the mill today, visitors descend three levels to view the indoor water wheel and gear assembly. In what feels like a twist between an archaeological dig and a spelunking adventure, the bare rock walls still seep and drip with moisture, iron discoloration from exposure to oxygen baring testimony to the science of history.
Still operational, the mill grinds primarily wheat today but has examples to show of buckwheat and corn to those who view the grindstone on the main floor. Mill interpreters lead visitors through the steps in the milling process and the mechanics behind working, maintaining and replacing mill stones, which have a life expectancy of a half-century but needed to be "dressed" weekly. The two half ton grinding stones, depending on how fine the resulting flour should be, leave space between them no thicker than a piece of paper or as fine as tissue paper.
The Mill is operated, and surrounded, by the Mill Creek Metroparks in Mahoning County. The immediate park property includes a visitor center, gardens, a 400-acre working farm, golf course and walking trails that include an historic iron furnace marker and remains, a log cabin, two unique bridges (suspension and parapet). Upstream from the mill is a covered bridge, originally built in the early 1800s to provide better access for farmers to deliver their grain to the mill. Signage on the bridge today, after being rebuilt in 1989, states that covered bridges were built to help ease the stress of the horses. Horses, quite aptly, were able to see that a typical bridge had no sides and the rushing river below was a danger. The covered bridge, then, acts as a form of blinders to keep the animal focused on the task at hand.
The walking trails that extend up and downstream make the complex the centerpiece of an afternoon hike. The mill has a small souvenir shop that sells flour milled onsite, other historic items but also remains historically faithful with concessions that include cold drinks and frozen treats. A two mile loop takes hikers along the Mill Creek, sandwiched between glacier-carved sandstone rocks and the creek itself along a well maintained board walk. 
