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Just passing through?Finding history along the wayBy Marilyn Loeser
Interstate-71, which connects Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, and State Route 13 running north and south, intersect the city of 50,000 residents. Travelers stopping for a meal, to spend the night or visit one of its attractions probably have little knowledge of its past and neither did I until I decided to investigate.
The centerpiece of the south side of the park was a silent fountain, seemingly waiting for a warm spring breeze to come to life again. Nearby stood another memorial paying respects to Mansfield veterans of another time; another war.
HistoryEvery community has its past, its personal history, just as its resident do. Mansfield was founded in 1808 — two decades after the Northwest Territory was established — by U.S. Surveyor-General Jared Mansfield. Mansfield was incorporated as a village in 1828 and a city in 1857. One famous resident,
John Chapman — better known as
Johnny Appleseed — is honored with a plaque in the town’s center.
Many of his orchards and nurseries are still found in Mansfield and the surrounding county. Author Louis Bromfield is another famous American
associated with the city. As a child, he played at his aunt's gothic house, Oak
Hill, built in 1847. The house and his memories served as the inspiration for
"Shane's Castle" in his
1924 novel The Green Bay Tree. Two years later, he won the
Pulitzer Prize for
Early Autumn.
His Hollywood friends often visited him at his farm south of Mansfield. Malabar Farm is now a state park and famous around the world as the location of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall’s wedding. Industrialization
Remnants of this period of economic growth — and its decline — are still evident in the city. Led by the city's promising farm equipment and stove manufacturing industries, including the Tappan Company, Westinghouse became the city's largest employer, specializing in electric lighting, industrial heating and engineering and home appliances.
With the loss of the jobs, businesses in downtown Mansfield closed. Park Avenue West, formerly known as "The Miracle Mile" and Lexington Avenue are lined with empty building or house 21st century counterparts not quite fitting into the once prestigious neighborhood. Kingwood CenterCharles Kelley King made his fortune in Mansfield working with the Ohio Brass Company. Hired as the company's first electrical engineer in 1893, he led Ohio Brass into new ventures, particularly the manufacture of electrical fittings for railroads and trolleys. King eventually became the company’s president and chairman of the board.
The King home was designed by prominent Cleveland architect Clarence Mack, who made a career of building fashionable homes in Lakewood and Shaker Heights, Ohio and in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Mack began a second successful career in 1935 by designing residences in and around Palm Beach, Florida. Today the King home is used, as King directed, to house a horticultural library and the administrative offices of Kingwood Center. Much of the main floor, however, is on display in a manner similar to its original arrangement with many of the King's furnishings. With no children, the couple left their home and its elaborate gardens to the public, establishing a private foundation that continues to operate Kingwood Center today. A year after his death, 1953, the estate became a public garden. The house and gardens are open all year. Depending on the season, the gardens and house are alive with nature’s best colors. Other claims to fameAlthough I knew The Shawshank Redemption was filmed in and around Mansfield — predominately at the old Ohio State Reformatory — I learned several other movies were filmed here including Harry and Walter Go to New York, Air Force One and Tango & Cash. The reformatory's Gothic-style administration building has become a tourist attraction and is open for tours. The Miss Ohio Pageant is held every year at the Renaissance Theatre and Richland Carrousel Park is a popular attraction in the city. As with any community, its history is its residents. Every village, town and city has its own personality and past just waiting to be discovered. If you go:The Holiday Inn - Mansfield Hotel & Suites is conveniently located at 166 Park Avenue, near all the city’s attractions. Amenities include high speed Internet access, two restaurants and an indoor swimming pool and fitness center. Two-room suites with kitchenettes are available. To contact directly, call 419-525-6000 or check the website at holidayinn.com. For information on attractions and their hours of operation and admission, check the Mansfield & Richland County Convention & Visitors Bureau website at www.mansfield.tourism.com. |
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Community, patriotism and pride in local history seem to be
an ongoing theme in Mansfield, Ohio. At least that was my perception as I
strolled along Park Avenue on a recent winter day.
I started off from the Holiday Inn, walking a few blocks
toward the center of town. It was a windy, cold day and the town center was
quiet this Saturday morning. I was immediately drawn to the park cut in half by
Park Avenue. On the north side were a gazebo and several war memorials including
one dedicated to Korean War veterans, inscribed with “Freedom is not free,” the
same words carved on the Korean War Memorial in Washington, DC.
The
brief stroll told me a lot about the city and its citizens’ respect for its
homegrown heroes and its place in history.
Chapman
found the fertile land of Ohio ideal for his nurseries and located them along
the streams between Mansfield and
Of his 30 books, many, such as
The coming of the railroads in 1846, followed by the first
road across America, the
Like other
In 1926, King and his wife built their home on 47-acres of
property facing Park Avenue and contracted the Cleveland landscape architecture
firm Pitkin and Mott to design their gardens.
