Kent State University - Chestnut Burr Yearbook (Kent, OH)

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Yesterdays Stories from the past ' li ll il 'iii .ze of Kent and KSU 'I' ' . -flum- Efff- ' , 'r-f , , .. 'iff-fe '-- ' - ' ru x' - tr 'lf . . - Christian Cackler would never believe it. And when Capt. Brady, to escape some fractious Indians, made his fabled 22-foot leap east over the Cuyahoga River in Nor would Safmle' Brady, JOHN HBYVUHKGV, John BFOWF1 Of 1796, he couldn't envision the Main Street Bridge that would Marvin Kent. Or Frank Merrill, David Rockwell or John make me mp less troublesome only ten years later' McGiIvrey. When Christian filed the first lawsuit in these parts in the early 1800's because his wandering geese were killed by an . , ld .t- - the irate neighbor, he probably never dreamed the farm hamlet Townsmp for 126 cents an acre' Cou n Imagme of Franklin Mme would one day become the City of Kent with canals, railroads, trolley cars and automobiles that would a population of 28,0004 eventually traverse it. John Haymaker, who bought the first land in Franklin 20 If-v -P

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. Q- 'Z U .... And John Brown, later of Harper's Ferry fame, whose tannery in Franklin Mills quickly went out of business, couldn't peek ahead to see the various industries - a chain works, an umbrella factory, celery and onion farms, mills, a pickle processor - in the village's future. Marvin Kent wouldn't have believed that his pet project, bringing a railroad to Franklin Mills, would one day evolve into dozens of automobiles lined up for interminable periods, their exhaust-choked occupants waiting at the crossing for the inevitable train. . , .,.v....-. . - Opposite page, top, view west across the river about 1867. The railroad will replace the canal lock within a year, and the present stone Main Street Bridge will be built in 1876. CUniversity Archives, Art Troy Collectionj Bottom, view down South Water Street, about 1890, Frank W. Cone Dry Good Store pictured is now Thompson Drugs. QUniversity Archives, Trory Collectiony This page, top, trolley, left is about to turn north onto Water Street. The horse watering trough at the Main and Water Street intersection was removed in 1919. QUniversity Archives, Art Trory Collectionj Bottom, candy, cigars, film, or a refreshing soda are all available at Donaghy's Drug Store in 1918. QKent State University American History Ftesearch Center, Dick Donaghy Collectionp Merrill, Rockwell and McGiIvrey, viewing the two unfinished buildings, handful of students and 70 briar-laden acres of the Kent Normal School in 1913, would probably be overwhelmed by the 97 buildings, 18,000 students and sprawling 2,265 acres of today's KSU. None of these phantoms from Kent's past would believe the changes that have occurred. lt's been a long road. 21