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

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Eg-L-.Q R . I ,N - . . X, . 1 ir. . f a ' J 1 H I Ass xx 1 fan- I Lx X in I' M S V! , Q M! I- 7' yi ' A R. - V 17,5 l 1 I V 'Mil' , ,V J, , Lx ,,. . 9-.lf . it -. . . . as . .4 if A H5341 1 - X ff 1 . 4- 4 Y: ml' r , A 'P' KJ ,Ed gt I . - 1 l l l A town hall for a single performance. Two street lights were installed in the covered wooden Main Street bridge, which was replaced by the present stone structure in 1877. Professor Leon, a travelling showman, treated residents to a death-defying tightrope walk across the Cuyahoga as part of one July 4th celebration. The wandering cow ordinance of 1880, also applicable to horses and swine, effectively kept untended stock from the streets. The first electric lights flickered on here in 1887, with telephone service beginning shortly after. A trolley ride to Ravenna cost 10 cents, to Akron, 20 cents. 24 i' i l l At the turn of the century Kent was well on its way to becoming a city. In 1901, P. N. Eigner took a drive in the town's first car. I. D. Tuttle brought in the second car and almost immediately drove into a ditch - Kent's first auto wreck. More horseless carriages prompted Kent's first speed ordinance: an 8 mile per hour limit in the business section, and 15 mph allowed in residential areas. North Water was paved in 1903. In 1911, Calbrarth P. Rogers gave citizens a thrill: Their first glimpse of an airplane. Entering in royal style, Rogers

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XX 'rx 1,- 1 7 W E'-x. Q. K, If it wwm if ,..Lf- T r. f A'jWiExTfmv:Ix I 'V .1 ., . X' in fi N I ODDosite Dage, t0D. formality is the rule in the Lowry Hall , M ' I' V 5 .., if ,jitE2'iffiQj Y' ' Whig 9 dining roomg bottom, home economics students practice gif: ii- sfsurw rm- . - T . .q4 - A J., their skins in a Kent Hall kitchen classroom, 1916. +A ' ' ' ' N V -Q, , Q .4 Q iff Q CUniversity Archivesj zoomed along the river and just cleared the Main Street bridge. He landed nearby and his stopover here on his attempted first transcontinental flight made national news. So did his demise a year later when his engine stopped cold 250 feet over a field. But perhaps the greatest impact on the community was the state's choice of Kent as the site for a teacher training school. The town fathers, realizing the potential benefits of such an institution, did some politicking and steered the site selection committee away from Flavenna, a competitor, with a This page, top, skaters sweep snow off Blackbird Lake Cwhere Wills Gym standsj, a frog pond in summer and the school skating rink in winter, bottom, parking is no problem, as Professor Van Oeusen, one of KSU's first faculty members, stops his buggy in front of Kent Hall. fUniversity Archivesj hot meal and a hard sell. Kent won over 19 other sites, and Kent Normal School came into existence in 1910. Classes were offered at 20 extension centers almost immediately while Lowry and Merrill Halls were under construction on the 54-acre, tree-choked tract donated by William S. Kent, son of Marvin. President John McGilvrey had his hands full when the infant school opened its doors for summer training in 1913. The first student arrived a day early, the plaster in the dormitory wasn't dry, nor was the furniture unpacked. The QC C.-J