Historic Landmarks Tour June 23, 2013

SERVING GREENTOWN, UNIONTOWN, HARTVILLE, MT. PLEASANT, CAIRO AND AULTMAN
VOL.18 ISSUE 3
www.laketownshiphistoricalsociety.org
July/August/September 2013
Historic Landmarks Tour
June 23, 2013
Top: One-Room Schoolhouse Number 9 (Cairo)
Right: St. Jacob’s Lutheran Church
Bottom: The Herbert’s converted 1800s era barn.
It has been two years since the last LTHS Home
and Garden tour was held in Greentown and this
tour will be the fourth in the series. Each of the
buildings on this year’s tour have several things
in common: They were built many years ago,
they have been lovingly preserved and they are all
located in the same Lake Township area.
(Continued on next page)
Landmarks Tour continued
The East Nimishillen Church of the Brethren (pictured on
left) at 2650 Nimishillen Church Street is the oldest church
in Lake Township. Through the late 1800s the Brethren
congregations alternated services with the Lake Church
located north of Congress Lake. Andrew Cordier was a
minister at East Nimishillen. He is well known as a president of Columbia University and Undersecretary in
Charge of the General Assembly of the United Nations in
New York City.
The Herbert house (1055 Clearvale St. NE, Hartville) was
a former barn built in the mid 1800's. As listed in the Stark County Atlas, the property was originally the
99 acre farm of G. Machamer. In 1896 thirty acres on Market Avenue were sold to S.M. Bishop. In 1962
the barn became a work in progress resulting in a beautiful and intriguing home with approximately 5,000
square feet of interior space. It includes 5 bedrooms and a laddered loft. The exterior includes a koi fish
pond, brick walkways and a six-car garage with a heated workshop. The house is clad with board-andbatten cedar siding.
The One- Room Schoolhouse Number 9 (Cairo School) closed in 1927 and was returned to Brumbaugh
family ownership. Hubert Brumbaugh was in the last Cairo School graduating class and when he returned
from the military he moved into the schoolhouse dividing the first floor into rooms. Ricky and Patti Hines
purchased the building about 18 years ago and decided to double the size by adding a second floor. Ricky
is a talented carpenter and his handiwork is displayed throughout the house in the curving wood staircase,
the wood burning stove surround and custom furniture.
The Dr. Richard and Wilma Werstler farm, LaFox Valley at Twin Pines Estate, started with a simple log
cabin home along what is now Kent Ave. The log cabin is gone but the Werstlers have restored and enhanced the house and other farm buildings. The house was originally Italianate style with three front
doors. The original wavy glass windows can be seen on the second floor. The 96 feet long 46 feet wide
barn is one of the largest in Stark County. The barn basement currently contains added horse stalls and a
rubble stone foundation wall can be viewed along with the swallow nests hanging from the rafters. The
homestead was founded in 1812 and the farm has been in the Werstler's family for all except eight years.
(continued on page 4)
PAGE 2
Lake Township Historical Society
Historic Landmarks Tour
June 23, 2013 1 to 5 pm
PAGE 3
Landmarks Tour Continued:
The barn was restored in 1993 and the home restored and enhanced under the direction of Geary
Moore Ahrens, the architect who designed The
McKinley Museum. A tour of the grounds will
include a smoke house, corn crib, milk house,
play house, office building surrounded by flower
beds and a stocked fishing pond.
The St. Jacob's church cemetery lies just north of
the farm property and the church bell can be
heard when the wind is from the west. St. Jacob's
Lutheran Church was founded in 1846, has been
expanded over the years and currently has a very
active congregation.
The Lake Township One-room Schoolhouse on
the corner of Lake Center St and King Church
Ave. will also be open during the tour.
The event will be held rain or shine and some
sites are not handicap accessible. Tickets can be
purchased from any LTHS trustee or at any tour
site on Sunday, June 23rd. For additional information call Ruth Sturgill at 330-877-2625.
Family members and employees shared stories
and displayed memorabilia about: Greentown /
Bishop Hardware, Wise Hardware, Royer
Hardware, Hartville Hardware, Standard Farm
and Supply, Lake V&S Hardware, True Value
Hardware and The Hartville Hardware.
The chat attendance was the largest since
LTHS started holding the
chats in 1998. We are not
sure if the draw was the
chat’s theme a chance to
visit with presenters who
travelled a distance to
bring displays or the
chance to win prizes in the
first LTHS raffle.
The board of trustees expressed their deep appreciation to everyone who
worked to make this event
a success.
Flowers at Hine’s One-Room Schoolhouse
Spring Fireside Chat Report
Two hundred six people attended The History of
Hardware Stores in Lake Township Fireside
Chat on April 25th in the Gentlebrook Centre.
Quilt raffle winner Cheryl Bowers
and quilt donor, Terry Benson
PAGE 4
New Collection Database Program
In 1997 the historical society started keeping track of its
artifact collections on a computer. The last program became outdated. Steven Espenschied, Curator, requested
volunteer assistance to create a modern computer database The search at Stark and Summit County colleges
and universities paid-off.
Tim Morse lived in Uniontown for 13 years and is an active community resident. He received his Boy Scout Eagle award in 2007. Tim graduated from Lake High
School graduate and Kent State University with a major
in Computer Information Systems. Tim is working fulltime at E-Business Express in Twinsburg, Ohio as a SEO
(Search Engine Optimization) support professional.
Tim started working on the LTHS
database program in February
with a July 1 start-up goal. The
new program will track not only
all types of artifacts but also membership, financial donations,
events, equipment, supplies, photos, library and document files.
Volunteers are needed to help
with data entry.
Please contact Steven Espenschied at 330-494-1518.
Local Scout and Lake Township History
The historical society received a request for information
on the history of Lake Township from Joshua Gibson, a
Star Scout with Troop 127 who is working on his Citizenship in the Community merit badge. Joshua is creating a
PowerPoint® presentation about Lake Township.
Joshua met with Curator Steven Espenschied, on Monday
June 10th and presented his project with a list of items to
research. Since there is no deadline on this project, Steve
will research LTHS files. LTHS looks forward to working with Joshua on his project and wishes him success.
Flowers at Schoolhouse and Museum
For several years, Miller’s Greenhouse, located at 3614
Swamp St., has been providing beautiful flower
arrangements for both
the schoolhouse and museum.
These flowers provide a
colorful greeting to
visitors, neighbors and
passersby. We offer
our sincere thank you
for this generous donation.
North Canton Memorial Day Parade
When the crowd on
the parade route hears
Steve Espenschied
playing his patriotic
music on the calliope,
people stand clap and
take pictures. This
year Lois Lehner's
musically talented
grandson Zachary
Oatley also played the
Calliope and received
many a shout-out
from his friends along
the way.
Ruth Sturgill drove The Schoner Chevrolet truck (thanks to
Mark Hanlon) while Joy Benton delighted the children by
passing out Mardi Gras beads and candy. Also pictured is
Zachary's brother Jay Oatley. Jay and his father Matt
helped to load and unload the Calliope.
History of Flags
A grand invitation is given to all from the Lake
Township Historical Society to visit the One-Room
Schoolhouse to see the newest display “History of
Flags.” Special thanks to Phil Schiffbauer for loaning some of his collection of flags and to Bruce Heisler for his antique flag. There are 20 flags on display with a brief history of each one. Twelve of the
flags (replicas) were flown during the Revolutionary
War.
This event will be open
June 14th trough September 30, 2013. See
the Calendar of Events
on back of this newsletter for dates and time.
PAGE 5
Adopt an Artifact
TRUSTEES
A primary part of our Mission Statement is to collect and
preserve the history of Lake Township. Ideally, each artifact in our collection should be housed in an acid free box
and wrapped in acid free tissue and other items depending
on type of artifact collected. It is quite expensive to make
sure each artifact is safely housed in the proper storage
materials. You can help!
Don Myers
President
330-877-2546
Dennis Benson
Vice-President
330-699-3342
Barb Thomas
Secretary
330-877-3971
James Tawney
Treasurer
330-699-6929
Lois Lehner
Trustee
330-877-1778
Martha Mertz
Trustee
330-699-3240
Greg Moor
Trustee
330-877-9660
Jeff S. Wendorf
Trustee
330-877-9383
YES! I want to Adopt an Artifact!
Ruth Sturgill
Trustee
330-877-2625
I want to support ________________________________
Cynthia Workman
Trustee
330-877-0937
Name _________________________________________
Vacant
Trustee
Address _______________________________________
Vacant
Trustee
City ____________________ State _____ Zip ________
Steven Espenschied
Curator
Dr. Richard Werstler
President Emeritus
330-494-1518
Publications and Fund Raising
A non-profit, even one with all volunteers, must
meet yearly expenditures. Two fund raisers are the
sale of DVD’s and print media.
Your tax deductible donation to the Adopt an Artifact Program will help pay for the care, maintenance, conservation, and storage of our Permanent Collection. You can
name an item of your choice, when donating financial support, or let us decide. Any amount is welcome and appreciated.
Amount ______________
You may also choose to make your donation a memorial
to a loved one.
Name _________________________________________
Please include this signed Gift Agreement Form with your
check payable to Lake Township Historical Society.
PO Box 482, Uniontown, Ohio 44685
During the annual meeting program and Fireside
Chats DVD’s are recorded which can be ordered.
Two books produced are A Small Town on the Red
Brick Highway by Dr. Von Hardesty and Introducing Lake Township by Elmer Yoder. The first book
will soon be reprinted and the latter is in good supply.
A new book has been drafted and is currently in preprint design stage. Uniontown, My Hometown 1932
-2013 As I Remember It—Greatest Place on Earth
by Bruce Heisler.
This book started out with Bruce’s reminiscing and writing. When LTHS board members read the manuscripts it
was apparent that this could become a popular book
about living in a small town for over eighty years as well
as documenting the town’s history and the transformation
from a sleepy crossroads to suburbia.
The price of the book has not been established, but plans
are being drawn-up for a gala book introduction.
PAGE 6
Player Piano
Membership Form
____________________________________________
(Name)
____________________________________________
(Address/PO Box)
________________
(City)
________
(State)
____________
(Zip Code +4)
____________________________________________
(E-Mail Address)
(____) _____________
(Home Phone)
Curator Steve Espenschied and piano tuner-repairman, Fred
Balzer are pictured with a 1919 Story and Clark player piano.
The piano was donated by Nancy and Alan Daft and the piano was converted to run on a vacuum cleaner motor.
The piano is in the LTHS Museum on Myers Street in Greentown and will be available for demonstration during open
house events and tours. (Pumping not required)
If anyone has music rolls to donate, please contact Steve at
330-494-1518.
(____) ______________
(Business Phone)
Are you a resident of Hartville, Greentown, Uniontown
or Lake Township?
Yes
No
Membership per year for Individuals. Please check one
___ $5 Student (under 18)
___ $10 Individual
___ $20 Family
___ $50 Patron
___ $100 Sustaining
___ $250 Contributing
___ $500 Donor
Life Memberships are available for a one-time contribution of
$1000
Membership per year for Organizations and Businesses
___ $25 Non-Profit & Civic Organizations
___ $50 Business Patron
___ $100 Business Sustaining
___ $250 Business Contributing
___ $500 Business Donor
Check here if you would like to Volunteer.
Information will be mailed to you.
Please mail to:
Lake Township Historical Society
Attn: Membership
PO Box 482
Uniontown, OH 44685
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Your membership dues are tax deductible.
PAGE 7
LAKE TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PO BOX 482
UNIONTOWN OH 44685
STAMP
HERE
Address Services Requested
June 14, 2013
Flag Day Celebration: “History of Flags” - One-Room Schoolhouse 2 to 5 pm
June 16, 23, 2013
Schoolhouse Open House: “History of Flags” 2 to 5 pm
June 23, 2013
Home and Garden Tour: “Historical Landmarks Tour: 1 to 5 pm
June 30, 2013
Museum Open House: “Advertising in America” 2 to 5 pm
July 4, 2013
North Canton July 4th Parade 10:30 am
July 7, 21, 2013
Schoolhouse Open House: “History of Flags” 2 to 5 pm
July 14, 28, 2013
Museum Open House: “Advertising in America” 2 to 5 pm
July 28, 2013
Hall of Fame Community Parade 3 pm
August 1, 2013
LTHS Board Meeting at Museum 7 pm
August 4, 18, 2013
Schoolhouse Open House: “History of Flags” 2 to 5 pm
August 11, 25, 2013
Museum Open House: “Advertising in America” 2 to 5 pm