Vernon B. Stouffer 1901-1974
Vernon Bigelow Stouffer was born in 1901. After graduating from the Wharton School of Business in 1923, he opened a food counter in the Arcade in downtown Cleveland, selling dairy products, sandwiches, and his mother’s (Lena Stouffer) Dutch apple pies. After one year, he and his father (Abraham Stouffer) opened “Stouffer’s Lunch” restaurant at East 9th Street, which featured tasty meals at moderate prices.
In 1929, Stouffer’s went public as the Stouffer Corporation, and then expanded into frozen foods (1946) and a chain of restaurants and motor inns (1960). In 1965, Vernon opened the premier Stouffer’s Pier W restaurant at Winton Place in Lakewood, Ohio.
Stouffer Foods was selected by NASA for the crew of Apollo 11, 12, and 14. From 1966-1971, Vernon Stouffer owned a controlling interest in the Cleveland Indians baseball team, Vernon Stouffer died on July 26, 1974, and is buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery, Rocky River.
For the complete article by Gay Christensen-Dean, click here.
Herb Score, 1933-2008
Herb Score, born in 1933 in New York, moved with his family to Florida. In 1952, he pitched six no-hitters for his Lake Worth High School baseball team and then signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians, playing with Rocky Colavito. The two came to the Major League in 1955.
On the night of May 7, 1957 at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, in the first inning, the second batter to the New York Yankees’ Gil McDougald faced Herb Score. With the count 2 and 2, Herb threw a low fast ball and McDougald whacked the ball right back at the pitcher, while his head was still down in the follow-through position, hitting him in the eye and breaking some facial bones. Herb never lost consciousness but had severe hemorrhaging in his eye and a swollen retina. He spent three weeks in the hospital and was sidelined for the rest of the season. His vision eventually returned but his pitching was never the same. In 1959 he was traded to the Chicago White Sox and he injured his elbow. He retired after three more seasons (in 1962).
In 1964, the Cleveland Indians hired him as their play-by-play announcer. He was revered by the fans and stayed with the Indians for the next 34 years. Herb Score died in Rocky River (age 75) on November 11, 2008 and is buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery. Click here for the full article by Gay Christensen-Dean.
Szabo Shoes: 99 Years
Szabo Shoes opened in Cleveland in 1920. The store moved to Center Ridge Road in Rocky River in 1953, in a building of the classic mid-century modern style. Szabo Shoes was a popular place, specializing in large sizes, wide and narrow widths. It was the place to go if your feet were hard to fit. They fitted high school athletes in Rocky River and surrounding areas with athletic shoes. Szabo Shoes also sold shoes to Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers players. The business and property sold in November 2019. For more details, click here to find the 2019 article by Gay Christensen-Dean.
Eh? Almost Rocky River, Quebec?
The British Parliament passed the Quebec Act on June 22, 1774. The Quebec Act extended the boundaries of Quebec to include Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. This infuriated people in the eastern colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. These colonies claimed that their land extended to the west. After the American Revolution in 1776, the Quebec Act was repealed in 1791. Ohio became the 17th state of the U.S.A. in 1803. Click here for the full article about the Quebec Act of 1774 by Gay Christensen-Dean.
The Devonian Period and Dunkleosteus Terrelli
During the Devonian Period of the Paleozoic Era (459 to 360 million years ago), Ohio was covered with water. The upper waters were clear and teemed with life, including the famous Rocky River fossil, Dunkleosteus terrelli, named after Dr. David Dunkle in 1956. He was a curator at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Dunkleosteus was a huge predator, at least 20 feet long and weighing two tons or more. Dunkleosteus had a jaw with two pairs of bony plates forming a beak-like structure. There was a mass extinction at the end of the Devonian period and Dunkleosteus did not survive. A model of this ferocious-looking creature is displayed at the Rocky River Nature Center. For more information, click here to read the full article by Gay Christensen-Dean.
1885 Pump Organ
Betty Weiss (1915-2023) lived in Rocky River for over 70 years. Before her death, Mrs. Weiss donated this 1885 Mason & Hamlin pump organ to the Rocky River Historical Society. She loved classical music and supported the Rocky River Chamber Music Society and the Cleveland Orchestra for many years. Betty lived across the street from the Rocky River Park and remembered that the park had an ice rink when it was cold enough with a warming shed and a coal-fed heater for the skaters.
WINTER HOLIDAY SCENE c. 1983
Old Detroit Bridge with Westlake Hotel
Holiday card from the Rocky River Junior Women’s club archives at the Rocky River Historical Society with snowy Old Detroit bridge
Party Hearty in Rocky River circa 1957
Getting ready for holiday entertaining? Take a peak at the party game played by guests at the Rocky River Junior High School PTA Holiday Party. To play, guests needed to find and list the names of other guests sporting—
Unmatched earrings
Odd color shoe string
One glove
Unmatched ladies hose
Safety pin under man’s lapel
Ring with Coast Guard emblem
Ribbon in man’s shirt button
Hair ribbon
Unmatched men’s socks
Unmatched cuff links
Cotton in ear
Rope belt
Two toned lipstick
Odd shoes
Bobby pin in man’s hair
Unmatching nail polish
Two wrist watches
Costume clip on purse
Ribbon on heel of shoe
Earring clipped on glasses
False eyelashes
Grant-Funded Project to Support our Collections!
The RRHS Archives Grant Project
The Rocky River Historical Society is excited to announce that the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board chose our organization for a grant to support our collections! With the money granted to us, we have been able to purchase lots of archivally safe storage, and now we are hard at work transferring photos, letters, and more from old metal file cabinets into our brand new flip-top boxes and acid-free folders.
As we’re working on this grant-funded project, we welcome any additional helping hands from the Rocky River community. If you have been looking for a way to volunteer with RRHS, now is the time! Visit our website to fill out a contact form, or direct message us right here on Facebook. We hope to hear from you soon.
ST. CHRISTOPHER PARISH COMMUNITY: A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
By Ginni Going
On May 14, 1922, Rocky River’s original Town Hall was also the site of the first Mass of the newly established Catholic parish of St. Christopher. The name for the new church was selected by the new pastor, Fr. Patterson, for the Patron Saint of Travelers. At the time, commerce and travel were increasing to the west; largely due to the railroad, and the 1910 construction of the new “longest unreinforced concrete span in the world.” The new Rocky River Bridge provided pedestrian, automobile, and streetcar access to Rocky River, and increased traffic was most evident.
Later that same year, the diocese purchased 7 acres of farmland on Detroit Road, Rocky River, and on Palm Sunday, March 18, 1923, the first Mass was celebrated in the newly constructed frame church. On July 25, 1925, the popular tradition of blessing motor vehicles at St. Christopher was begun and continued into the 1960s. Fr. Patterson’s reminder to all was “St. Christopher jumps out after you hit 60 mph.” The car blessing will return on July 24, 2022, as part of the Centennial Celebration.
The congregation continued to grow, and in 1954 under the direction of Fr. Ahern, the need for a new, larger church was met with the construction of the present Romanesque building on Detroit Rd., Rocky River. The next 64 years have seen continued growth. The building of the multi-use Community Center came to fruition in 1981 along with a major remodeling of the church, including large stained-glass windows, a new altar, and other upgrades, which were accomplished in the mid-’80s. In 2001 under Fr. Chlebo’s leadership, the newly built Parish Center provided a large multi-purpose room, smaller meeting rooms, a library, and a computer lab, along with new education offices.
With the very dedicated efforts of parish members and the strong support of Fr. Chlebo, Centennial Park became a reality in July of 2020. The public is welcome to visit Centennial Park with its playground, Pavilion, Meditation Garden, outdoor amphitheater, picnic tables, walking paths, and multiple seating areas.
Celebrations will be occurring throughout this year and a few highlights are:
May 14, 2022, was the Anniversary of the first Mass
July 24, 2022: There will be a blessing of cars and other modes of transportation, along with a car wash and ice cream social.
There are monthly activities planned including concerts, some outdoors. The annual Block Party will become a weekend event.
During this Centennial year, St. Christopher will install their Century Landmark Plaque on the Lakeview Avenue side, indicating the site of the original church.
The entire community is welcome to the Centennial Celebration, and further notice will be in local publications.
Grand Army of the Republic Highway…U.S. Route 6
We might be feeling isolated due to the virus, but we are really connected to the whole rest of the country.
U.S. Route 6, also known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, runs through Rocky River as Lake Road. The Grand Army of the Republic was an organization of veterans of the Civil War. The organization ended when the last Civil War veteran died in 1956.
Heading east from Lake Road in Rocky River, U.S. 6 follows the Clifton Blvd. bridge over the Rocky River into Lakewood, where it is joined by U.S. 20. Continuing on, it passes Edgewater Park, crosses the Flats on the Detroit-Superior Bridge, winds around Public Square and follows Superior Avenue until it joins Euclid Avenue after East 131st Street. At Euclid Creek Reservation, it splits from U.S. 20 and follows Chardon Road through Chardon and across Ohio to Pymatuning Reservoir on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border.
Leaving Ohio, U.S. 6 zigzags through northern Pennsylvania, through the Allegheny National Forest, follows a scenic part of the Susquehanna River, and then through the Pennsylvania anthracite coal country until it crosses into New York at Port Jervis, on the Delaware River. Still going, it crosses the Hudson River north of New York City at Peekskill, New York, and then it’s on into Connecticut.
It enters Hartford, Connecticut, capital of Connecticut, and location of the Victorian Gothic Mark Twain House, built for him in 1874, with woodwork designed by Tiffany, and where he wrote his most famous books, including of the fictitious adventurers Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Next comes the college town of Providence, Rhode Island, another state capital, founded by Roger Williams who fled the Massachusetts Bay Colony as he believed the right to worship should not be regulated by the state. Turning south, U.S. 6 goes through the old whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and on to Cape Cod. This main route across the Cape passes the dunes of Cape Cod National Seashore and ends its journey at the very tip: Provincetown.
Back in Rocky River, our adventure now takes us west, still along the lake, to Vermilion, Huron, and Sandusky, after which U.S. 6 leaves the lake, crosses Indiana, skirts the south side of Chicago through Joliet. In Illinois, it parallels I-80, sometimes joining it, and crosses the Mighty Mississippi River at the Quad Cities (Moline and Rock Island, Illinois; and Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa.) Then, it’s on to Des Moines, named after the river which was originally called La Rivière des Moines (River of the Monks) by French voyageurs. It leaves Iowa at Council Bluffs, historically a site of Native American ceremonial pow wows, crosses the Missouri River into Omaha, Nebraska, and then comes another state capital, Lincoln. The capitol building is topped by a 19’ tall statue of “The Sower”, representing the importance of agriculture to Nebraska, on top of a 400’ tower that can be seen for 20 miles. Next comes Hastings, Nebraska. Kool-Aid was invented there in 1927.
Paralleling or joining I-76 in eastern Colorado, it’s on to Denver and another state capital. The 1908 neoclassic capitol building resembles the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Leaving Denver, U.S. 6 is the same as I-70 all the way to the Utah border, crossing the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass (elevation 11,990 feet) and continuing through the ski areas of the Rocky Mountains, including Vail, Colorado, named after Charles Vail, the highway engineer who routed U.S. 6 through that Eagle Valley area in 1940.
In Utah, it is the same as U.S. 50, travelling north of Arches National Park, and then it splits from U.S. 50, heading north and back south through Delta, Utah. Entering Nevada at Great Basin National Park, an area of ancient bristlecone pines, and dark skies, it’s on to Ely, Nevada, founded as a stagecoach station for the Pony Express, and then southerly to Tonopah before entering California and ending at the tourist town of Bishop, California, on the east side of the Sierras.
Written by Gay A. Christensen-Dean
Charles M. Ingersoll
Charles Ingersoll was born in Madison, Ohio on July 27, 1896. His father, Francis Siegel Ingersoll, was an executive of the Madison Wheel Company. Francis had a disagreement with the president, sold his company stock, and moved the family to Rocky River in 1906. He bought the John Deere Agency from W.J. Geiger, the hardware store originally at the corner of Blount and Detroit, and his livery stable. The family lived on the southeast corner of Wooster and Telbir.
In 1922, “Charlie” married Ethel Sayers. His parents gave him a lot on Wooster Road, second lot north of Shoreland. He had a house built before the wedding, by tradesmen who owed his father money on their accounts. Charlie and Ethel had two children, Frances Sara and Charlene Ethel.
In 1927, Charlie bought his father’s John Deere equipment dealership. His father was used to horse-drawn equipment and the engine-driven tractors were frustrating to him. Charlie’s first customer was Fred Schneider and sons on Northview Road. They bought an engine-driven tractor, made by the Dodge Co. of Boston, for $128.00. As a result, Charlie got the distributorship for the state of Ohio and set up dealerships in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Youngstown, and Cleveland. He later got state tractor distributorships for the Bolen Co. of Wisconsin, and Gibson from Colorado. Charlie had a lot of energy and drive. He wheeled and dealed his way around the country besides Ohio. He dealt in many types of heavy equipment, including tractors of various kinds, lawn mowers, front end loaders, rock crushers, seed planters, pumps, road graders, scrapers, etc.; and dynamite, that he stored in Caldwell’s Gully off Detroit Road across from Linda Street.
Written by Gay A. Christensen-Dean
Lakewood Park Cemetery Gravestone Dedication Ceremony
It was a beautiful afternoon on May 18, 2019, when we gathered to honor early settlers, originally buried in Wagar and Kidney cemeteries, Detroit Road, Lakewood, Ohio, and re-buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery, Detroit Road, Rocky River, Ohio, in plots originally purchased by Mars Wagar. The Johns-Carabelli Cemetery Memorials Co. fashioned the two new gravestones that we dedicated, for: the Calkins/Howe family buried in Section 2, Lot 302, Grave 5, and the Kidney family members buried in Section 2, Lot 301, Grave 4.
Speaking at the gravesites, Sandy Sill, manager of Lakewood Park Cemetery, explained how and why the project was started. Mayor Pam Bobst honored our forgotten fellow citizens. Gay Christensen-Dean gave a history of these early settlers. Gay had searched for any relatives/descendants of the honorees to notify them of the event. Joanne, Bill, Emma, and Maggie Calkins attended. A Kidney relative, Deirdre Lavieri of Atlanta, Georgia, was not able to come but sent a letter of thanks and appreciation that was read. At the end of the ceremony, a rose was placed on each gravestone. A tour of Lakewood Park Cemetery followed, highlighting the graves of famous people buried there.
Other attendees included representatives/descendants (Bill, Cynthia, Joy, Russ, Gay) of Section 2, Lot 301, Grave 5: “EARLY PIONEERS of LAKEWOOD originally buried WAGAR CEMETERY”, there to support their fellow ancestors; Jenny Dieringer of the Rocky River Historical Society; Ralph Pfingsten of the West Park Historical Society; Bill Barrow of the Early Settlers Association of the Western Reserve.
Thank you to the Lakewood Park Cemetery board (Jack, Scott, Dave) and staff (Sandy, Peggy, Chris, Tara, Kathy), and Eric Butler, and Monica Johns of the Johns-Carabelli Co. for making this happen.
Thank You for a Wonderful Picnic
It all begins with an idea.
This year's annual picnic proved to be another great success!
The Annual Summer Picnic for the Rocky River Historical Society was held on Thursday, August 9, 2018 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Elmwood Park Cabin.
This successful event helped raise $400 for our Society with close to 50 in attendance. With delicious food and terrific prizes, this event was a lot of fun.
Please see the list below to thank those who continue to support the organization:
Ford’s Mens Shop
Estectica Salon
Jan Dell Florist
Pearl of the Orient
Tomorrow’s Hair Salon
Pure Enchantment
Innuendo
Old Carolina BBQ
King Wah Restaurant
Mitchell’s Ice Cream
Ace Hardware
Herb’s Tavern
Rustic Restaurant
Irish Barber
Heinen’s
Mellow Mushroom Pizza
Paper Trails
Wild Flour Bakery
Burntwood Tavern
Wine Bar Market Restaurant
Zoup
The Olive Scene
Woods Restaurant
Rocky River Brewing Co.
Lake Road Market
Danny Boys
Sweet Melissa Restaurant
Flip Side
Cowan Pottery Museum Associates
First Watch Restaurant
Erie Island Coffee
Hospitality Restaurants
Tartine Restaurant
Lovely
Charles Scott Salons
Much thanks for the many businesses who donated raffle prizes and to everyone who attended and made this a wonderful event!
Rocky River Historical Society Celebrates 50 Years
2018 marks the 50 year anniversary of the Rocky River Historical Society!
Founded by a dedicated group of volunteers on November 14, 1968, the Rocky River Historical Society’s purpose remains the same then as it does now which is, “to promote interest in preserving and obtaining all that relates to the history of Rocky River.”
To celebrate this special year, the Society is offering discounted book prices of $15 for “ROCKY RIVER YESTERDAY” and $25 for “WHERE THE RIVER ENDS.”
Missing Links - The Keswick Golf Club
A century ago in 1917, Rocky River lost its first golf course.
When it opened in June 1913, it was only the sixth course in Cuyahoga County. Keswick Golf Club lasted only three years from its auspicious debut on the grounds of the 137-acre Eells estate in the northeast corner of Rocky River.
In 1907 the Frasier (and sometimes Frazier) Realty Company purchased the land from the Eells heirs for the purpose of residential development, but the slowing real estate market lead the marketing teams from Mathews and Gilbert; as well as Fowler, Worman, and Kelly; to postpone homebuilding and build a nine-hole, par 36, layout bounded by Frazier Drive, Falmouth Drive, and Lake Road.
Prior to the grand opening, the 100-member Club released a plan to construct a large $50,000 Club House with tennis courts, a 1000’ beach, dining rooms and lounges, a grill room and buffet, card rooms, a barbershop, and men’s and women’s locker rooms. The expansion included another nine holes of golf immediately west on the 80-acre Clifton Beach property. It was not to be.
Several factors contributed to the unexpected closing after the 1916 season. With World War I rapidly approaching, the economic appetite for extravagant spending waned. As Cleveland expanded, suburbs began to flourish both on the east and west sides. With Lakewood growing westward, Mathews and Gilbert saw increasing demand beyond the Rocky River. Roadways, bridges, and transportation options reduced the commute to Downtown Cleveland significantly.
It was time for growth to replace golf. Newer courses and Clubs offering better amenities emerged at Westwood and Dover Bay. When Keswick closed, the members moved to the new clubs. By the end of 1917, road crews were busy constructing a bridge over the creek dividing the Eells and Beach properties. It took another six years to complete the paving of Beachcliff Boulevard east to Lake Road. During that time, the city poured $100,000 into street and sewer enhancement to help spur home construction on the now-defunct Keswick site.
By David A. Hollis
The First Lady of Television News
.
Dorothy Violet Snell Fuldheim was born June 26, 1893 in Passaic, New Jersey.
Her family was extremely poor. They moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she spent her childhood. Her German-born father loved the English language and took her to courthouses to hear lawyers’ rhetoric. In 1912, she graduated from Milwaukee Normal College with a teacher’s degree in English. Dorothy taught elementary school for two years and also acted in plays, another love of hers.
In the 1920’s she married Milton H.Fuldheim and they moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where she continued her theater acting. In an anti-war play in Chicago, she attracted the attention of the famous social worker, Jane Addams, who asked her to present a lecture on social reform. Over the years, Dorothy gave 3500 lectures. To get material, she began interviewing her subjects, including Adolf Hitler.
She started her broadcasting career in radio, hosting a biography program for WTAM, and later, the ABC Radio network, where she was the first female broadcaster. The theater and lecture experience imparted to her a new way to present the news other than the objective style of other newscasters.
She said, “If what you say is dramatically presented, the impact is far greater.” She was then approached by Scripps-Howard and “The Cleveland Press” to do journalism, and travelled around the world conducting interviews.
At the age of 54 in 1947, she signed a 13-week contract to do a 15-minute evening news show with WEWS-TV, Channel 5 in Cleveland, also owned by Scripps-Howard. That program ran for 17 years. She kept up her travel schedule as well as presenting the news on TV, often inserting her own opinions/commentaries.
She was the first woman in the United States to anchor a television news broadcast and also to have her own television news analysis program, “Highlights of the News.” Over the years (15,000 interviews), she interviewed many worldly figures, including the Duke of Windsor; Helen Keller; Martin Luther King, Jr.; John, Robert and Ted Kennedy; James Hoffa; Winston Churchill; Albert Einstein; etc.; and every U.S. President from F.D.R. to Ronald Reagan.
In the 1960’s, she teamed up with Cleveland radio personality Bill Gordon to host “The One O’Clock Club” on WEWS. The station was loyal to her and she was to it, even refusing higher salaries from other companies.
In 1980, she was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame. Towards the end of her career she still travelled. She covered the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in London in 1981, and the funeral of assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
Shortly after her 6pm news broadcast on July 27, 1984, she suffered a stroke, at age 91. She never fully recovered and after 37 years with WEWS she never returned to TV. That afternoon she had also interviewed her last subject, via satellite– President Ronald Reagan.
After a second stroke, she died on November 3, 1989 (age 96) in Cleveland. Dorothy’s first husband Milton H. Fuldheim had died, and in 1952 Dorothy married William L. Ulmer. He died in 1971. Her only child, Dorothy Fuldheim-Urman, preceded her in death. She had only one grandchild, who was severely handicapped.
Written by Gay A. Christensen-Dean
Sources: www.nytimes.com, www.odjfs.state.oh.us, en.wikipedia.org,
Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, www.cleveland.com
The Primett Building
The Primett Building (rhymes with “limit”) was the first masonry building in Rocky River and is still standing today in 2013. Archer Primett was born September 11, 1869, in Lakewood, Ohio. Anna Saunderson was born on October 23, 1870, in Lakewood. When they were young they both lived on what is now Arlington Road in Lakewood. They were married on February 11, 1890.
Both Archer’s and Anna’s families were in the meat business. Archer had his first meat market in a small building on Detroit Road in Rocky River, a couple of blocks from Blount Street.
In 1899/1900, Archer and Anna bought a meat market from her brother John Saunderson on Blount Street, opposite the Silverthorn, and they lived upstairs in the back. They owned the building and rented the land. In addition to selling meat from the meat market, they also made deliveries by wagon. The horses were kept in a stable behind the building, which included a pigeon loft where Archer raised squabs to sell. The beef came from the Webb Beef Company, Herbert Primett, John William Saunderson (They all were related), and other slaughterhouses in Cleveland. Archer also sold vegetables from his garden, and avocadoes and macadamia nuts were shipped in from his relative (Albon) in California. Seafood came from the Brandt Company.
In 1909, Archer built the masonry Primett Building (two stores downstairs with apartments above each) at what is now 19064 – 19070 Old Detroit Road. Before that, buildings were built of wood. The family lived in the apartment upstairs on the east side and the meat market was underneath. They rented out the other apartment and the other street-level space to grocers. One of the grocers was Clarence Mercer. Tom Woods bought the old building on Blount Street and used it for his barbershop. Later, he moved the building around the corner to Detroit Road.
At various times the meat market was called Oakwood Market or Primett Market. Customers came to the meat market every day because they did not have a good way to keep meat in their homes.
In 1921, Archer and Anna built a home on Lake Road in Sheffield Lake. Archer continued in the meat business for a few more years until they moved to Sheffield Lake permanently in 1924. They sold the business to employee Charlie Thomson, who worked in the meat business for over 58 years.
Archwood Drive in Rocky River is named after Archer Primett and his grandson George Archer Christensen. Archer was also one of the organizers of the Lakewood Yacht Club, now the Cleveland Yacht Club, in Rocky River.
The Rocky River Public Library, as part of their artwork collection, has three tin ceiling tiles from the Primett Building displayed on the wall of their Auditorium.
Written by Gay A. Christensen-Dean