Medina High School - Medinian Yearbook (Medina, OH)

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A Brief History of Medina City The village of Mecca, founded by Elijah Boardman in 1818, was renamed Medina seven years after its establishment because there existed a town by the name of Mecca in nearby Trumbull County. Boardman donated 237 acres to the county and four town lots on the west side of the present square for public building on the condition that the county seat be located in Medina Village. The early settlers proceeded to fashion the Public Square in the manner of the New England communities. During the village’s first Fourth of July celebration in 1820, the main streets were named Liberty, Washington, Court and Broadway. Churches The Medina area’s first churches were built outside of the village. St. Paul’s Church, which was built about a mile southwest of Weymouth in 1817, burned down. The second structure, built in Bagdad, was shared with the Congregationalists. In 1830, members of the Episcopalian faith decided to build a new church in Medina Village. Services were held in the courthouse while subscriptions were taken to fund the construction of the edifice. The structure was formally consecrated July 11, 1837. In 1876, the rectory was built. The growth of the religious community necessitated the construct ion of the present stone church. The First Congregational Church building was shared with the Episcopalians in Medina Township until a new place of worship was built near the center of the township. When that structure was destroyed by fire, the Congregationalists moved into Medina Village and held their services in the courthouse. The “Old Brick Church,” the first church in Medina Village, faced the square and was completed in 1835. Since the church walls were considered unstable, the Phoenix Hall was rented for services. A contract was signed in September of 1880 to build a new church. The church has been enlarged several times since then. The First Baptist Church was organized in a school house north of Medina at Fenn’s Corners, August 20, 1833. After March, 1839, services were held in the courthouse and private homes. The cornerstone of the first house of worship was laid in September, 1845. A contribution from the Robert Hall estate and a very generous gift from John D. Rockefeller made possible the construction of a new church which was dedicated October 2, 1910. The Methodist Church was established in Medina in 1834. Meetings were held in the school house, courthouse, and private homes until 1836, when a frame church was completed on the corner of South Court and Lafayette. In 1860, a new church was built which burned down in December, 1896. The cornerstone of the present Methodist Church was laid in 1897. After years of meeting in homes for worship, a small frame church was built by members of the Roman Catholic faith in 1878. As the parish grew, it was necessary to build a larger church. Medina citizens, Catholic and Protestant, contributed to the campaign fund enabling the completion of a fine stone church in 1908. The present St. Francis Xavier Church was built by members of the parish under the guidance of the late Father Murphy in 1960. Newspapers In 1832, the village’s first newspaper, The Constitutionalist, a weekly paper, was published. Another paper, The Medina County Whig, began publication in 1837. Both papers merged in 1841. The paper was enlarged in 1853 and became The Medina County Gazette. In 1964, The Medina County Gazette merged with The Daily Leader Post which was established in 1954. The result was The Medina County Gazette Leader Post, printed daily by the Gowe Printing Company. At the present time, the daily paper is simply called The Gazette. The paper acquired its own presses in 1975. Underground Railroad As early as 1833, Medina was a depot of the “Underground Railway.” The Harrison G. Blake home, 314 East Washington, served as a stop. Slaves were hidden in the attic during the day and were taken to Oberlin, the next station, under cover of night. Blake served in the Ohio General Assembly for two terms as a representative. He was a member of the Senate of Ohio for two terms and was chosen president of the Senate. In 1858, he was elected to the United States Congress and was re-elected in 1960. Blake founded the Phoenix Bank in 1867. Courthouses During 1840, the county commissioners were concerned about the condition of Medina’s first courthouse as the sandstone foundation of the edifice was crumbling. D. H. Weed was contracted to build a new courthouse on the east side of the square where the county buildings were being moved. Weed became the owner of the 1822 courthouse and the other county buildings (except the jailhouse) in addition to receiving $3,000 for building the new courthouse. There have been several additions to the 1841 structure. The north and south wings, a tower, a front porch and a flag pole were added in 1873. In 1906, an addition was made in the back of the building; in 1933; two more wings appeared. The final expansion was made in 1951. When the Ohio legislature approved Medina’s second common pleas court in 1965, the county commissioners purchased land adjacent to the courthouse for a new courthouse. The new building was completed in 1969. Great Fire of 1870 Twenty-two years after a fire in 1848, which destroyed and damaged twelve buildings in the Public Square area, Medina was again disrupted by a blaze. April 14, 1870, a group of volunteers battled the fire because Medina had no fire department. The only original building saved from the blaze was the old courthouse at the southwest corner of Court and Liberty Streets. Sheets of metal were nailed over the windows by John and Thomas Miller to prevent the fire from entering the building. Forty-five buildings, including barns and stables, were destroyed. Many of the historic village records were burned. The present buildings on both sides of Court Street up to the original courthouse, two sides of the park, and the buildings along Washington Street replaced those demolished by the second great fire in Medina. Until 1877, Medina maintained the bucket brigade. It was not until a few buildings in the uptown section were burned that a fire department was organized. July, 1877, a bond issue of $3,000 was authorized by the village council to purchase a fire engine, the new Silsby Rotary Steam Fire Engine. Schools Until 1872, Medina’s school system consisted of four one-room school houses in the four sections of town; the exact location of these schools is not known. Students of all ages could attend a private, select school which was for those desiring higher education. Medina’s first public school was the Lincoln Building, completed in 1872. Two rooms of the building were rented to Professor N. H. Carver for a Normal School, which was a teacher-training institution. Mrs. Carver ran a boarding house for out-of-town students on a corner of South Broadway and East Smith Road. The Lincoln Building was used as both a grade school and a high school. The first commencement exercises for Medina Public Schools was held in the Phoenix Hall. The 1876, graduates were Bertha Barnard, Herbert Clark, Bessie Johnson Zimmerman, and Sara Washburn Pritchard. In 1923, a new school was erected for the high school students as the Lincoln building could only accommodate 400 students, whereas the student body numbered 800. This building is located on the corner of North Broadway and Kast Friendship. In 1950, the old Lincoln Building was torn down so that an addition to the Garfield School (1912) could be erected. In 1956, high school students were moved to a new building on East Union Street. The ever-increasing population of Medina necessitated the addition of a two- story wing built in 1964-65. Medina’s second elementary school, Ella Canavan, is located on Lawrence Street in the southwest section of Medina. The school was dedicated October 9, 1960, in honor of Miss Ella Canavan who taught approximately 3,500 kindergarten children during her forty- five years of teaching. Miss Ella, who taught from 1900-1945, died May 2, 1964. The school also dedicated its centralized library to her in 1966. The community of Medina had need of j another elementary school. The building, constructed in 1966, was named for Mr. Sidney Fenn who spent thirty-eight years as an educator in the Medina school system. The present senior high school, located at 777 E. Union, was completed and moved into in the 4 spring of 1974. ——— or

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Railroads A great celebration had taken place November 15, 1871, after the completion of the Medina portion of the Lake Shore and Tuscarawas Valley and Wheeling Railroad at which Congressman James Monroe was present. In the evening, there were fireworks and a Grand Ball was held in the Phoenix Hall. When a shorteut from Mallet Creek to Chippewa Lake was constructed traffic was eliminated through Medina. However, the track is still kept open for freight services to Medina industries. Local Old Businesses In 1878, after selling his jewelry business. A. I. Root purchased some ground near the Medina railroad tracks, At this site, a 40 x 100 foot two-story building was erected. This business came to identify Medina as “The Sweetest Town on Earth” because Root established a flourishing bee supply business. Hives, extractors, frames and smokers were then, as today, manufactured. In 1929, The A. I. Root Company went out of honey production and concentrated its efforts on making beeswax candles. A monthly journal, “Gleanings in Bee Culture,” founded by Root is still published. The Bennett Lumber Company was founded by Scott Bennett. Originally, it was called “The Bending Works” since wood was bent to make rims for wheels. After buying out his partner, T. G. Andrews in 1897, Bennett renamed the Bending Company the Bennett Lumber Company. The company has expanded and has a Home Center for retail sales to do-it-yourself customers. The Henry Furnace Company, one of Medina’s earliest industries. was founded by Alfred C. Webber and A. Washburn in 1860's. The industry originally manufactured hollow castings. The company changed hands a number of times over the years. In 1906, it was named “The Medina Foundry Company” manufacturing the Moncrief furnace. In 1916, the company merged with the T. E. Henry Company and formed the Henry Furnace and Foundry Company. Finally, in 1943, the company became a division of the Cc. A. Olsen Manufacturing Company of Elyria. The name at that time became the Henr y Furnace Company. , In 1982, George and Harry Madison built a pickle plant near the B O Railroad in the northwest part of town. Their first pickles were sold in Noyember, 1932. The H. W. Madison Company expanded greatly and its products are sold nationwide. In June, 1966, the company merged with the J. M. Smucker Company but retains the Madison name for its plant and products. The Medina Farmer’s Exchange was incorporated in 1904 to deal in grain, hay, feed, farm machinery and fertilizer. The Farmer’s Exchange bought farmers’ products and sold supplies to them. The Farmer’s Exchange serves Medina, Summit, Cuyahoga, and Lorain counties. Cemeteries In 1888, many Medina citizens, aware that the Old Cemetery on East Liberty was running out of space, raised money to buy new burial grounds. Thirty-four acres on Spring Grove between Weymouth Road and East Washington Street were bought from C. B. Chamberlain for $3,400. A women’s association raised money to add to Spring Grove’s scenic beauty. They also paid for the erection of an archway at the entrance of the cemetery. November 21, 1888, a soldier’s monument was placed in the cemetery. Franklin Sylvester Library Around 1900, Judge A. R. Webber asked a Granger cattleman, “Would you like to be immortal?” “How?” asked the cattleman. “Build Medina a library,” replied the Judge. In 1905, Franklin Sylvester, the wealthy cattleman, furnished the money to erect the present building on the southeast corner of South Broadway and East Washington Street. In his will, he stated that the Franklin Sylvester Library should never be used for anything but library purposes. A bookmobile service began in 1948, and is still in operation. The library is currently in the process of planning the expansion of its facilities. Medina Community Hospital Recognizing the need for a hospital in Medina, a group of representative men from the community gathered in the YMCA rooms April 24, 1942, to discuss ways of raising money to build a hospital. The Medina Hospital Association was formed to solicit and acquire funds necessary to establish a community hospital. The T. J. Weidner residence was selected for this purpose. The home was remodeled, enlarged and equipped with the funds acquired by the Association and a grant obtained from the Federal Works Administration. The building was completed and dedicated in October, 1944, as the Medina Community Hospital. During the years following, a number of additions have been made to the hospital increasing its facilities in order to meet the needs of the growing Medina community. Community Design Committee The Community Design Committee, established in 1967, is an organization with the purpose of encouraging the architectural beautification of the city of Medina, and especially the preservation and restoration of the distinct character of the uptown area in keeping with its existing Victorian tradition. The Community Design Committee was presented an award from the Akron Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the renovation of the Medina Public Square. In May, 1975, the National Trust for Historic Preservation presented a citation for significant achievement in historic preservation in the United States to the CDC. Kim Zarney, a 1966 graduate of Medina Senior High School and Chairman of the committee, accepted the award May 13, 1975 in Washington, D.C. Maria J. Hoffmann Tables of Contents Student Life Seniors Underclassmen Sports Music Clubs Faculty Advertising Copyright 1975 The Medinian Medina Senior High School Medina, Ohio