Sunday, April 11, 2010

Stone House in Berlin Heights recommended for the National Register


Below is a press release from the Ohio Historical Society regarding six properties in Ohio that were recommended for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

One of these properties is the Stone House on Mason Road in Berlin Heights, Erie County, Ohio. After working on the required paperwork for nearly a year, I am thrilled that the Stone House has been recommended for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The Stone House, which sits amidst the orchards at Quarry Hill Orchards, was built around 1835 of locally quarried sandstone. This is one of the oldest Greek Revival-style structures in Berlin Heights and the only one constructed solely of sandstone. Most importantly, this is the first property in Berlin Heights to be recommended for inclusion on the National Register. The final decision is in the hands of the National Park Service and should be rendered within 90 days.


For Immediate Release - April 9, 2010
Contact: Kim Schuette, 614.297.2314 or 800-340-6131 or by email at
kschuette@ohiohistory.org.

State Board Recommends Six Nominations to National Register of Historic
Places Properties in To Be Considered by National Park Service

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)- Members of the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board voted today to recommend that nominations for the following properties in Ohio be forwarded to the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places at the National Park Service for consideration:

They include: Avon Isle in Avon (Lorain County); Bellville Cemetery Chapel in Bellville (Richland County); Baldwin Wallace South Campus Historic District in Berea (Cuyahoga County); Stone House, Berlin Heights (Erie County); East North Broadway Historic District in Columbus (Franklin County); and Woodland Cemetery in Dayton (Montgomery County).

If the keeper agrees that the properties meet the criteria for listing, they will be added to the National Register of Historic Places. Decisions from the keeper on all five nominations are expected in about 90 days from when they are sent to the National Park Service.

The 17-member board, chaired by Nancy Otis of Celina, is appointed by the governor to advise Ohio Historical Society and the state on historic preservation matters. It includes professionals in history, architecture, archaeology and other historic preservation related disciplines as well as citizens. The board meets three times each year to consider proposed Ohio nominations to the National Register of Historic Places and conduct other business.

About the National Register

The National Register lists places that should be preserved because of their significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture. It includes buildings, sites, structures, objects, and historic districts of national, state, and local importance. To be eligible for listing on the National Register a property or district must:

Be associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or Be associated with the lives of people significant in our past; or Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or represent the work of a master, or possess high artistic values, or represent a significant, distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction (e.g. a historic district); or Have yielded, or be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

National Register listing often raises community awareness of a property. However, listing does not obligate owners to repair or improve their properties and does not prevent them from remodeling, altering, selling, or even demolishing them if they choose to do so.

Owners or long-term tenants who rehabilitate income-producing properties listed on the National Register can qualify for a 20-percent federal income tax credit if the work they do follows the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, guidelines used nationwide for repairs and alterations to historic buildings.

In Ohio anyone may prepare a National Register nomination. Nominations are made through the Ohio Historic Preservation Office of the Ohio Historical Society. Proposed nominations are reviewed by the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board, a governor-appointed panel of citizens and professionals in history, architecture, archaeology, and related fields. The board reviews each nomination to see whether it appears to be eligible for listing on the National Register, then makes a recommendation to the State Historic Preservation Officer. The final decision to add a property to the register is made by the National Park Service, which administers the program nationwide.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Who Do You Think You Are?


Last night, I watched NBC's new series where famous people trace their genealogy. Being interested in this topic, I found the show to be quite good. Yet, the reality is that without the means to travel all around the country or across the world to do your research, you must do your research mostly online. Having spent countless hours doing research for other people, I must say that those that do genealogy research are 95% of the time quite helpful. If you see that someone else is researching the same person, contact that person and share stories. You never know, you might just be related.

Back to the show...Emmitt Smith discovered some amazing things about his ancestors. His past involved slavery, rape, mixed races, and more. I have never taken a trip into the past that hasn't been interesting and rather unexpected. Give it a try (or have me do the research for you).

Monday, March 8, 2010

Huron, Ohio History Articles

Here are links to articles that I wrote that recently appeared in the Huron Hometown News Paper. The first one is on a former one-room schoolhouse that I researched- http://huronhometownnews.com/school-news/2044--reminders-of-the-past-the-fox-road-schoolhouse. The second is on Huron shipbuilder John F. Squier (aka John F. Squires)- http://huronhometownnews.com/news/local-news/2095-portraits-of-hurons-past-john-f-squier. I hope you enjoy reading these articles!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Greetings from snowy Ohio. This is a blog about embracing the history around you and embracing your own history. Many people who live in an old house have questions about the history of their home and especially about what the proverbial 'they' were thinking when 'they' did something to the house that has no apparent explanation.

My husband and I live in a circa 1883 Folk Victorian house that we purchased in
1998. I was delighted to find out that our house was built for a run-away wife- quite the rebel for 1883. Myra Thomas was married to a widower who was 29-years her senior. Apparently, Myra was not happily married because she left her husband and built our house. In 1887, her husband was granted a divorce from her on the grounds of her "willful absence for three years." The subsequent owners were also interesting.

It is also rewarding to know who your ancestors are. I am of Sicilian and Slovak decent. I have yet to dig too deep into my own history, but have gotten to know many people that I have researched for others. I would be happy to hear other's stories.

In this blog, I will share information on houses and people that I have researched. The majority of these people resided in northern Ohio. I hope you enjoy the stories I have to tell.