History

The CNHS got together during the months of January thru April for dinner and meeting at Kristy’s Tavern on East 200th Street. Now it is time to get to work and get out. Watch the website for meetings and outings for the Spring, Summer and Autumn periods. We will be concentrating on projects and activities than actual meetings per se.

We are going back to working with the Memorial Garden which has been neglected for years. Back in 1909 the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill #140 declaring that a memorial should stand in perpetuity to honor those who lost their lives in this school fire tragedy. Therefore, we are obligated to do this. We will need many volunteers to make this project work but again, it is something we must take on. Any expertise or enthusiastic volunteer help is greatly appreciated so that we can recreate something to be proud of at the Memorial Garden that pays tribute to the neighborhood and the school fire of 1908.  Lest we forget!

Finally, the State of Ohio, the City of Cleveland and the Cleveland MetroParks are working out a plan for Cleveland MetroParks to take ownership of the Cleveland Lakefront State Parks from Edgewater to Wildwood. Look for continuing improvements in our parks including hopefully the rebuilding of the historic Euclid Beach Pier!

Remember, keep in touch with us. We have fun and would love for you to join us! If you cannot reach us in any other way you may always call me at the Office of Councilman Polensek at (216) 664-4236.

This April marks the 75th anniversary of the Fraternal Order of Eagles #2259 Waterloo Aerie in Collinwood. Founded in 1938, the chapter was initially chartered as the Collinwood Aerie. It was renamed the following year the Glenville Aerie when the club then settled at Glenview Hall located at 10612 St. Clair Avenue. The Women’s Auxiliary was chartered in 1946. Here it would remain until 1952 when they moved to their present site on the northeast corner of East 156th Street and Trafalgar Avenue. Prior this had been the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post # 3426 throughout the 1940’s, and before that a furniture store in the late 1930’s. The club would retain their Glenville name until the 70’s, when it would be redesignated as the Waterloo Aerie.

The Fraternity of Eagles originated in Seattle Washington in 1898 by a group of theater owners. With its entertainment roots, much of organization’s early rapid growth was attributed to touring theatrical troupes. Today there are over 1,400 local Aeries in the United States and Canada with a membership exceeding 850,000. Their international headquarters is located in Grove City, Ohio outside of Columbus.

With their motto, “People helping People,” the non-profit donates more than $100 million dollars annually to various local and national charitable organizations. Seven United States Presidents, from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan have been members, and the organization was an important early backer of member Franklin Roosevelt’s Social Security Act.

As part of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s 3 billion dollar “Project Clean Lake,” Lake Shore Boulevard is currently torn up from Nottingham Road in the east to the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant in the west in order to replace and enlarge storm water drainage and sewer lines. Just over a hundred years prior, the lot where the treatment plant sits at East 140th Street and Lake Shore Boulevard was abuzz with an entirely different type of activity.

On May 26, 1900, the 27 acre lot with a half mile of lake frontage, Manhattan Beach, opened as a private recreational park complete with a dance hall. It was a popular site for various organizational picnics and outings. Lakeside Construction Company, headed by Edward C. Boyce, who had planned and built Dreamland in New York City and who was then building White City in Chicago, purchased Manhattan Beach on January 31st, 1905.

Renamed White City, with a budget of $250,000, they totally transformed the park with the addition of various rides, theaters, and wild animal acts. But almost from the start the new park seemed plagued by a number of problems. On May 25th, 1906 the park burned almost completely to the ground. Though quickly rebuilt, the following year severe storms did significant damage to much of the park. Other problems such as trainers being mauled by some of the big cats, issues with the trolley line service that brought visitors to the park and probably having competing near by Euclid Beach Park, which didn’t charge a general admission charge to enter the grounds, led to the parks closing July 5th, 1908.

William McCulloch is a Collinwood resident and an amateur local historian.

There is a lot going on with the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society. We are doing research, making contacts and moving forward. We invite you to join us on our journeys.

First, we will be visiting numerous historic sites in the Downtown Cleveland area related to Collinwood and Nottingham history and settlement on SATURDAY, JULY 7th, 2012 beginning at 9:00 AM as a part of our History Discovery Series. We will be visiting the Lorenzo Carter Cabin in the Flats followed by a visit to the Superior Viaduct/Bridge Tour, Huntington Park/Courthouse Square to discuss the story of Oliver Hazard Perry and then onto the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Cleveland’s Public Square. Afterwards we will visit Erie Street Cemetery and then Woodland Cemetery. If time and energy permits we may make another stop at Lakeview Cemetery. Regardless we will end the day at our unofficial sponsor, Muldoon’s. If you would be interested in joining us on this day, transportation on your own, email the Historical Society at CollNottHistory@aol.com or CollNottHistory@gmail.com or call Mary Louise at work at  (216) 664-4236.

Baker Candies has produced chocolates and candies for the greater Cleveland area since 1921. In 1945 their operation started by Louis Bracracheff, a young immigrant from Aegean Macedonia, moved to their present location at the corner of Holmes Avenue and East 163rd Street. Baker has been Cleveland’s second largest chocolate wholesaler, providing in the past for Higbee’s, May’s, Nut Hut, and Nut Kitchen.

Still a family-owned business, the daily operation is being run by the fourth generation of Chris Alusheff and Chris Galgoczy. Though known especially for their Whipped Eggs, they offer a wide variety of different chocolates and candies produced on location. If you’ve never been there or it’s been a while, it’s worth a visit to check out this venerable Collinwood institution.

They are also able to take orders by phone or through their website and ship to you directly. Through Easter they are open till 7:00 pm weekdays. Otherwise their normal hours are 9:00 am to 4:00 pm weekdays and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturdays.

Baker Candies, 16131 Holmes Avenue, Cleveland, OH  44110, (216) 451-7779 or (800) 743-7779, wwwBakerCandies.com. 2nd retail outlet, 2804 SOM Center Road, Willoughby Hills, OH  44904, (440) 943-0508.

Will McCullough is an amateur local historian.

March is designated as “Women’s History Month.” Like Black History Month, celebrated during the month of February, (which I regret I did not have the opportunity to discuss )Women’s History month is meant to point out the personalities, achievements, inventions and tragedies related to that particular and specific aspect of our overall history.

Saying that “Women have been a major part of history since the creation of the world” is really an understatement. In our own country, their contributions to the growth and strength of our nation and other historic contributions as achievements have been overlooked far too often and their role overlooked and undervalued in recognition, literature, education  and in the study of American history, which in itself has been undervalued for far too long. My challenge to you then is this: that during this month of March let us make a point of understanding the women in our personal lives, in our community and in our country better.

The roots of a National Women’s history month go back as far as March 8, 1857, when women in New York City staged a protest over working conditions in the factories which would only get worse as the Civil War cast its pall over the nation in 1861-1865. In 1909, International Women’s Day was first observed. However, it wasn’t until 1981 that US Congress established a National Women’s History Week to be commemorated the second week of March. Then in 1987 they expanded this to a month. Congress has passed a resolution and the President has issued a Proclamation every year ever since.

After working with the Centennial Commemoration of the Collinwood School Fire in 2008, we saw a potential to speak on a wider basis about the history of the Collinwood and Nottingham communities. We were finding information that had previously been hidden from us and we wanted to share what we were learning.

Thus, the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society has taken on the monumental task of the preservation of the history of our communities. Historical societies in general perform a significant and valuable service to the local communities and it is our hope that we too can grow to become such an organization. In short, we want to help people appreciate their heritage by creating an understanding of the past, and a positive attitude towards history and its potential; in this way we contribute to the community’s quality of life.

Our primary purpose is to discover, record and collect whenever and wherever possible that material which may help to establish or illustrate the history of the area. We also hope to provide for the preservation of this material as is feasible.  Most importantly though, we want to be the venue through which this historical material is disseminated back to the community and awaken a sense and purpose of history, hopefully sparking a historical dialogue.

Friends of history are welcome to join the CNHS by emailing us at CollNottHistory@aol.com.  A membership application will be emailed or sent to you. Our annual meeting will be held on Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 1:00 PM at Muldoon’s. RSVP to Mary Louise at the email address above. Dinner on own. Our website is https://sites.google.com/collnotthistsoc/

 

You may or may not be aware that the Main Cleveland Public Library maintains a collection of old Cleveland High School Yearbooks. Located in the Social Science Department in the new Louis Stokes Wing on the fifth floor the task is currently headed by librarian Dave Furyes. Eighteen of Collinwood High School’s oldest issues dating from -1928 to 1952 have been digitized and are accessible online through the library’s website, cpl.org. You need just click on the Research category and go to the Digital Gallery. Below is the total listing of Collinwood schools and their issues they currently hold in their collection.

- Collinwood: 1928-31, 1943-45, 1947, 1950-52, & 1983 (JAN Class 1946-52)

- St. Joseph: 1955-56, 1958, 1960, 1962-64, 1966-81, 1983-89

- Villa Angela: 1947, 1963-65, 1974, 1976-78, 1981-84, 1986-90

- Villa Angela-St. Joseph: 1991-97, 1999, 2002, & 2003

If you should have or know of any of the missing issues, please consider donating them to this effort to fill the gaps in the collection and helping preserve this area of our neighborhood’s history.

Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH  44114,  (216) 623-2860

William McCulloch is an amateur local historian.

 

The Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society shares this piece of our Country's history with you and wishes you and your families a HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

The following is a Thanksgiving address by Abraham Lincoln:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

 

 

 

 

Several thousand years ago, a rising Lake Erie invaded Euclid Creek’s final meanders. The result was a “drowned-valley estuary” a great place for early industry. From 1818 to the Civil War, the lake level meanders fostered the county’s first stoneware kiln, a shipyard, and small port facilities. After the war, the Ursuline Sisters maintained the estuary as a nature park. 

Dr. Roy Larick will illustrate the estuary’s natural history, early industry and Ursuline preservation. He will also show how the current Lower Euclid Creek Lacustrine Refuge project impacts the estuary’s final meander. Possibilities now exist to serve the needs of nature, historical preservation, and recreational access equitably.

An Evening with

Dr. Roy Larick

Euclid Public Library                                                                    

631 East 222 Street                                                                 

October 20, 2011

Showcase 6:30 PM  /  Program at 7:00 PM

 

During the harvesting months of September thru October the normally quite stretch of Mandalay Avenue is bustling with the activity of local winemakers. The Collinwood Juice Company, the largest wine grape purveyor in Ohio, specializes but not limited to  those from Northern California’s Napa Valley, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino counties.

 Carl Cocita, 60, Brush ’68, has managed his families operation, previously known as Martino & Sons, since the death of his maternal grandfather, Nick Martino, in 1973. Mr. Martino, an Italian émigré from Toro in the province of Campobasso, initially started the business from a three car garage at his family’s home at 15328 Yorick Avenue in the early 1920’s.

 Handling over 50 varieties of wine grapes, Collinwood Juice makes it a point to only offer those with adequate sugar and pH balances. In season they will process somewhere between 500 and 700 tons of grapes brought in by refrigerated semi trucks. Because of this volume, they are able to consistently beat their competition on price. 

 Outfitted with their own imported Italian winemaking equipment, Collinwood Juice can provide their customers pressed juice to order as well. They also carry a full line of products to cover all your winemaking needs and are willing to share their expert processing instructions upon request.

  Oh, and did I mention the figs? For about the last 10 years Carl has also shipped in Kadota and Black Mission figs from California as well. So from the hills of the west coast to the dinner tables of greater Cleveland, via Mandalay Avenue, Salute!

Collinwood Juice Co.  15741 Mandalay Ave. Cleveland, OH  44110  (216) 451-8697

September thru October

Monday thru Saturday 9:00 am – 6:30 pm & Sunday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

 collinwoodgrape.com

 

Even though discontentment and hostilities had reared their ugly head by 1775 few of our ancestors of the original Thirteen Colonies imagined what complete independence from Great Britain would mean. Those who thought about such things were seen as radicals. However, with growing hostilities and greater discontentment the ideas of these same radicals began to take root.

Some time ago someone gave to me a copy of an article published in the London Times this year called “the Death of Common Sense, ” which spoke of the death of the spirit of revolutionary thought and true common sense in our lives. It made sense in a very thought provoking manner. While trying to think about what to write for this article and thinking about the upcoming Fourth of July and what it should mean for Americans, I was reminded about Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense” published in 1776 which was THE written impetus for our Revolutionary idealist forefathers to argue for freedom from British rule, a rule of tyranny that no longer served the people of the American colonies. Perhaps we need to go back to thinking about what is truly “common sense.”

cont.

Almost Memorial weekend as I write this. Cedar Point (where EBP’s Racing Derby now runs as “Cedar Downs”) has been open for a few weeks, but goes full time this weekend. Traditional parks like Waldameer in Erie, PA, & Conneaut Lake Park open for the summer this weekend (& they’re both close – definitely plan a trip sometime over this summer to them. Conneaut Lake Park especially feels like a “trip back to Euclid Beach”!)

But think back now, to the days when our Carrousel turned by the Lake at Euclid Beach, and summer was coming. Remember? The snow would (finally!) be gone, the Park’s sycamores would be leafing out, and the Lake would be actually liquid again!

But that’s not what Clevelanders were looking for, was it? What we were watching for told us that yes! Summer had FINALLY come to Cleveland!

Think Lakeshore Blvd, between E 156th & the “trailer park”. What was it that made it “summer in Cleveland”?

That glorious red “Open for the Season” sign!

Members of the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society will be paying a visit to the First Presbyterian Church in East Cleveland in order to visit the cemetery there as well as visiting other cemeteries around Cuyahoga County to learn more about our Collinwood school fire children as well as our Civil War veterans.

Here is some history about the First Presbyterian Church, which is on 16200 Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland, from their Church Keepsake Memory Book. 

“At the beginning of the 19th century this was a pioneer community and it required strong bodies and courageous souls to overcome the hardships of the frontier. Homes were miles apart. Roads were, at best, but forest paths or Indian trails. Wolves and wild cats, deer and bears were neighbors, and rattlesnakes made themselves at home on the clearing or at the door of the settler’s cabin. Men were specially endowed with courage and hardihood and to their sterner heroism was matched the patience and self-denial of the women who helped to found the Western Reserve.

Soldiers and Sailors Monument honors Collinwood men

Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society invites you to attend the next meeting of the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society to be held on THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2011, at  St. Mary’s Church Hall, 15519 Holmes Avenue, 6:30 PM.

 Our Guest Speaker will be Tim Daley, Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers & Sailors Monument. He will share with us the Past, the Preservation of and the Future of this Historic Monument on Cleveland’s Public Square. Many of Collinwood’s young men served in the Civil War and are honored on this Monument’s Memorial Tablets. We will talk about the Collinwood boys who served and who are memorialized on the walls of the Monument.

The Officers and Board welcome members and other interested historically-minded friends to join us at the meetings. They are learning experiences filled with friendship and occasionally a walk down memory lane. Help us make history as we journey towards preserving and sharing our community’s history and heritage.

Membership is $6.00 per person and may be paid at the meeting. Feel free to call Mary Louise at (216) 664-4236 or (216) 486-1298.

Memorial Day – there will be several Memorial Day events held on Monday, May 30th – the traditional and the observed holiday.  Lakeview Cemetery commemorates this day by setting wreathes of flowers at the Garfield Memorial and Woodland Cemetery will commemorate the day by honoring some of the Black soldiers of the Civil War who were later buried there. The Monument will also hold their tradition services that day at 1:00 PM. @font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }

Our “Tell Us!” Project

 We had a new idea!

Every so often CNHS will be asking YOU to share your memories of “Things Collinwood”. We’ll share what you tell us in upcoming issues of our ReCollections newsletter, and establish a collection of these pages for safekeeping, as well as sharing them with the Collinwood Observer.

This time it’s our own Collinwood Yards & the Railroads that used them! We’d be delighted to hear from you!

All modes of transportation need to be refueled. Horses needed food and water, cars need gas, and 100 years ago, locomotives needed water for steam, coal or wood to heat the water to make steam, and sand (yes sand) for traction. These facilities were set up for them.

The spacing of these refill points was based on the range of the locomotive. Facilities were set up for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad (later New York Central, Penn Central, Conrail and now CSX). An outpost was usually set up with facilities for the changing of crews and refueling or replacement of locomotives. A railroad town then was born at this “Division Point”; the “Division” being how far a locomotive could go on its onboard supply, or in some cases, in a day.

Our railroad town was known first as "Frogsville" (we were a swamp then). As the town grew with the rail traffic and repair facilities, we became known as Collinswood, named after Chief Engineer, Charles Collins, who would later be tied to the bridge disaster in Ashtabula (1879)– and eventually we became known as COLLINWOOD.

Dennis Crislinp is CNHS Vice President, as well as one of our railroad enthusiasts.

 

On April 12, 1861 Confederate batteries in Charleston, SC open fire on Fort Sumter and thus initiate the opening salvos of the American Civil War, a war which would not end until April 1865 with 660,000 lives lost. Thus, this April of 2011 we begin our commemorations of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, otherwise known as the Civil War 150.

That is commemorate, with honor and respect, those events in the life of our nation that nearly tore the infant nation apart. The only thing we are celebrating is the fact that after this conflict, when we were able to sew the pieces together again, we were able to define who we were as a Nation; for before the war we were Ohioans and Virginians, et cetera, but after the war we were Americans! The Civil War period, 1860-1865, was a time of hardship and wartime but also a time of bold ideas, contrasts, innovations, inventions, and the defining of the role of women in our nation’s history.

It was not yet 100 years since the American Revolution and yet we had had to defend our country again in 1812 and we had fought in Mexico in the 1850’s for our safety and security. We were defining ourselves as a nation, proving we could grow as a nation as well as become a global power. Yet, internally, we were faced with issues which were never addressed and never properly dealt with personally or politically. Finally, arguments and legislation, agriculture, business, and industry as well as culture all clashed by the end of the 1850’s.

When North Carolina seceded from the Union of the United States on December 20, 1860, the conflict and the eventual break of that Union occurred. So many believed it would never come to this, including our own State Representative, James A. Garfield. However, as more states seceded from the Union and the Confederate States was formed, war was inevitable; especially with Lincoln calling for 75,000 troops in Washington and then with Virginia’s final decision to secede from the Union on April 17, 1861. It was a war, though many didn’t see it lasting very long, and believed it would remain localized.

Aside from the fact that our Carrousel comes from our own Euclid Beach Park, what is it that makes it so special?

The memories, of course. With horses on board said to be Sitting Bull’s (or Lady Godiva’s!), two lovely chariots, horses standing majestically on the outermost row and their inner row companions galloping around, lights, mirrors and the band organ thumping out its wonderful music – who even tried to resist riding? Which was your favorite? Did you pretend to be that cowboy or princess (or Annie Oakley or Sir Lancelot?)

But what spins the magic? That magic that enchants all carousel lovers, who I think are every one of them ageless, because they ride “merry-go-rounds”.

Our Euclid Beach Carrousel is much like any other vintage/antique (we should say “antique” since we celebrated the Carrousel’s 100th last year) in that its horses are all hand-carved & painted. What’s unique about our Carrousel though is its size, and the variety of horses on board. There are very few carousels surviving that are these big four row machines (whatever their manufacturer), most that you find are three rows, or even smaller. A rare and lovely thing indeed!

“PTC 19” carries 58 horses & two chariots on a roughly 60 – 65 foot platform. The 14 outside row horses are the biggest ones on the Carrousel (and some of the biggest made by Philadelphia Toboggan Company – “PTC”) and are “stationary”, not going up & down. (Stationary of course in order to work with the Ring Machine, as it’s pretty near impossible to “catch the brass ring” on a moving horse. Although I think I’ve heard it’s been tried...!) The rest sort out into three more inner rows, getting somewhat smaller as they get closer to the Carrousel’s center (“smaller” being relative of course – they’re all still fairly big figures carousel-wise!)

Greetings for the Holiday Season from the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society. We hope everyone has a joyous holiday season and peace and joy in the New Year.

We have had a busy year and have plans for a yet busier year ahead. In February 2011, we will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary already. We cannot believe this either. As we complete our holiday preparations for this year, we realize that there is so much to plan for next year. All the hustle and bustle will follow us throughout 2011 as we make preparations for our Annual Meeting (Sat., February 19th), field trips (Erie, Pa for one later in the year and not the casino), cemetery field trips, and events surrounding the Civil War commemorations--150 are planned locally, in Cleveland and other nearby locations. 

We’d love to see more people involved in their local history and everyone is invited to join us on our field trips. We meet the third Thursday of the month beginning at 6:00 PM. Check with us via email to find out where we will be meeting. So, watch the Observer for more details or email us at CollNottHistory@aol.com or at maljesek@aol.com for more details.

Euclid Beach's Carrousel Committee (EBCC) and the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society (CNHS) have been talking to many of you around our neighborhood, and have found that there’s a big interest in having some sort of Collinwood/Euclid Beach Museum, here in our Collinwood neighborhood.

With the brand new Recreation Center coming in, the “Euclid Beach” name all over the neighborhood (including that neat mural on Lakeshore), and the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society already compiling information, photos etc, on all things in our neighborhood like the Collinwood School Fire, we could really put together something very special.

Our Collinwood Observer is also pitching in with collecting stories as well; wouldn’t it be great to have a place here “at home” to remember everything that made – and makes – our Collinwood neighborhood great? Think Euclid Beach (of course!), the Collinwood School Fire, the Collinwood Rail Yards, all the businesses that have come and gone – and the people who made it all happen – the list is endless! Who better to do this than us?! Our neighborhood’s history preserved by us!

Veteran’s Day was always a unique day in my house growing up because not only was it a special day to honor our Veterans it was also my parent’s anniversary. Through the years we celebrated this day in various ways and I still remember fondly their 50th anniversary. The November before my father passed away (Dec 2007) they were blessed to have marked their 63rd wedding anniversary.

They were married on November 11, 1944 at St. Aloysius Church on St Clair Avenue (Glenville). They lived in the Collinwood community though and their reception was held at the Collinwood Slovenian Home on Holmes Avenue.  It was during WWII so my father was married in his uniform and everything was rationed.  My mother remembers families getting together to pool their ration stamps in order to put together a wedding feast complete with a cake and enough fuel stamps to get them back to Camp Pickett, VA, where my father was stationed.   My mom always said that, “on the day we commemorate the world declaring peace, we declared war!”

It wasn’t hard to honor our veterans on this day growing up because we had a tradition of service in the family.  My father was in the Army and served as a T5, stationed State’s side during WWII, while his brother served with the Army overseas and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge, and a cousin served in the Marines. Several members of my mother’s side of the family also served during WWII. A cousin served the Army during the Korean Conflict and my mother’s brother was in Vietnam and gratefully returned home. 

Join the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society (CNHS) on Thursday, August 19, 2010 for a Birthday Party. Not an ordinary birthday party, but one to honor the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie.  August 23rd marks the 225th Birthday of Oliver Hazard Perry, as well the 191st anniversary of his death. According to officers of CNHs, "Perry’s accomplishments have always been celebrated and, as a newer historical society with a relationship with Perry here in Collinwood, we too wanted to celebrate his accomplishments.”

Perry was born on August 23, 1785 to Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and his wife Sarah Wallace Alexander in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. He grew up in a naval family during an era of great naval heroes and battles and during the “Federal” era in these United States of America so recently come from fighting a Revolutionary War (1776-1783). He was educated in Rhode Island and also lived in South Carolina, sailing ships, preparing for a career in the United States Navy.

In April 1799, he was assigned to serve on his father’s ship and saw combat off the coast of Haiti then in rebellion. During the First Barbary War (“to the shores of Tripoli”) he commanded the ship USS Nautilus during the capture of Derna. Then at the time of the War of 1812 he was given command of the US Naval forces on Lake Erie. He supervised the building of a fleet at Dobbin’s Landing in Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pa and then commanded that fleet during the famous encounter at Put-In-Bay, known as "The Battle of Lake Erie" on September 10, 1813. During the battle, he faced Captain Barclay, who served proudly with none other than the British War hero, Lord Nelson (died 1805). Perry’s victory protected the entire Ohio Valley from British invasion and gave Americans control of the Great Lakes.

COMMODORE OLIVER HAZARD PERRY

Many from the Collinwood community served during the Civil War; some gave all and others served only months. What is important is that they served. As they were born and raised in the Collinwood community as a part of Cuyahoga County, they were eligible to be memorialized with their names engraved in the marble tablets at the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. 

Our goal through our continuing research in the Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society is to have a good list of those who served from our communities, identify them on the walls of the monument and identify their final resting place.  If a new marker needs to be placed at this site then we will get that taken care of well.  

We sit at the edge of the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, one of the most pivotal times of our lives as Americans. We wish to honor with great dignity the memory of our early community residents.

If you're going to try and tell a story, let alone putting one to print, it's never good just to get it half right. I initially took up researching the provenance, and eventually writing an article about the Four Points Tavern last month because another person had written an incomplete story. Now I find myself guilty of same. 

The other day after visiting a friend in the village, I popped into Mirabile's on Ivanhoe for a quick drink. While nursing my vodka and tonic I overheard the bartender, Mark Mirabile, and a patron discussing the article I had written. After I introduced
myself, they let me know that though Four Points had closed when I said it had in my article, it's history as a tavern wasn't quite finished.

I took what they had told me and confirmed the dates back at the library. I can now tell you that Four Points became the Nashville East Tavern around 1983. It was operated by Ted Maski who was a musician that played country music. It ran till about 1990 then it became the Eighteen Karat Lounge. That lasted till around 1993.

I've always enjoyed reading the different local papers to keep up with changes in town, especially when it comes to restaurant
reviews. So I was very interested upon reading about chef Marlin Kaplan's latest incarnation, Luxe, in the Detroit-Shoreway
neighborhood.

A few years ago, while preparing for a talk on women, I came across an old quilt. At first, when I saw it, all I saw was that it was tattered and torn and had been cut and repaired. I was wondering why my mother suggested I use it. Then she reminded me that my grandmother had made this quilt while she was still living in Kansas in the 1930s and I looked at it with a different perspective. The multicolored blocks and shapes that make up the quilt fit together to create a thing of beauty. The cotton was the old cotton; sure, it was matted where it was coming out of the edge of the quilt, but it was the original cotton used in the quilt about 80 years ago! It was well-loved and much-used and it carried its own battle scars. Therefore, I decided to use the quilt when I did my next talk on how women contributed to the cause during the American Civil War.

The first decade of the 20th Century was filled with discovery and invention. Our country was enjoying a decade of relative peace and prosperity. During this period, Collinwood and Nottingham villages were also very prosperous. The railroad, as well as business and industry, were growing and the population of the villages was expanding. The hearty immigrants brought their religion, their work ethics and their family values and built their homes, churches and their gathering places. The Collinwood School Fire of March 4, 1908 nearly devastated the community but the strong-willed immigrants continued on, despite their loss and worked even harder to build a cohesive community able to withstand anything life threw at them. Collinwood petitioned the City of Cleveland to become a part of their growing metropolis and in February 1910, Collinwood officially and legislatively is added to the City of Cleveland, able to receive services from the City while retaining their unique character. (The same happens with Nottingham Village in 1912 – but, that’s another story!)  

How do you celebrate the holidays? Regardless of one's faith or ethnic background, we all gather to celebrate during these early winter days.

There has to be a medical term for someone who awakens one morning and realizes how much she misses a particular part of her past. Is it melancholia? Homesickness? The “good old days” syndrome? Be that as it may, my “back-to-the-future” experience was the time I learned to play pinochle while tossing pizza.

Who’s making this paper?
You are. You and your neighbors. Anyone who steps forward to speak and write their thoughts down. We will publish everything you send us, either online or in print. We ask that it be truthful and not malicious. Think a writer’s missed the mark? Write down your perspective, send it in, we’ll print it.

Does Councilman Polensek control this paper?
No. He is providing $15,000 in ward allocation funds—your tax dollars—to build a grassroots project that allows

   Oliver Hazard Perry was the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie and a school in the north Collinwood community was named to honor him and his victory September 10, 1813. To read more about him, see the Collinwood Observer website for an article on Perry and his relevance to us today.

   Stay tuned for more Collinwood and Collinwood-related history.  If there is something you would like to know about just ask. It is always fun to look into our history. You can reach the Historical Society via email at collnotthistorical@aol.com. Find out, and write up the story for the Collinwood Observer!