Area History

In the 1930s a concerted effort was made to protect the natural beauty of a deep ravine near Loudonville where the Clear Fork River passes through wild terrain. It was during that decade when the Gorge Overlook was established; created by workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The overlook immediately became a popular destination, as […]

MANSFIELD — School is about to open again in the next few days, continuing a focus on education that has long been an important aspect of this community since its inception. The earliest students to be tutored outside their homes gathered at the venerable Blockhouse. The tradition has continued through today with north central Ohio […]

The greatest thing about a public venue is its history is ongoing: there is always another day for greatness to emerge. Take for example Mansfield’s stadium: Arlin Field. Every time the gates open and the stands fill there is fresh opportunity to make notes in the record books. It is a history that is continually […]

If you go there today it is the riding arena for the Raemelton Therapeutic Equestrian Center, but in the 1930s it was the Riding Hall at Frank and Jesse Black’s Raemelton estate. In 1933, shortly after the Riding Hall was built, it was the site of a Garden Club exposition hosted by Mansfield’s first garden […]

MANSFIELD — History has never been dull in Mansfield. The first home built by settlers was known as the Coffinberry Cabin in 1808. The home of national politician John Sherman also featured estates still maintained today at Malabar Farm and Kingwood Center Gardens. Louis Bromfield’s book “The Rains Came” led to the movie’s world premiere […]

Every camera has a lens to focus all the available light into some kind of recognizable imagery. More importantly, every camera has a shutter, and this simple mechanism acts as a stopwatch in time and space: it steps into the ongoing rush of human events to pull out and define one very particular instant. It […]