March Newsletter

March 7, 2025

Hi, everyone. We are anticipating longer days and some breaks in the cold weather as we look toward spring! 

In that light, we will be featuring a sign of spring in our monthly program – maple sugar tree tapping and the making of maple syrup. Gwendolyn Mayer will be our speaker and will be talking about the history of making maple syrup as well as the stories of two local men who helped revolutionize its production. Gwen currently serves as the archivist for the Hudson Library and Historical Society and has been an invaluable resource in supporting HHA’s marker program over the years. We hope you will be able to join us at 7 p.m. at the Barlow Community Center on Thursday, March 13.

In our newsletter this month, we will again feature some of the structures in the historic wooden block downtown north of Clinton Street. As you may recall, the fire of 1892 destroyed the buildings south of Clinton Street. These were replaced by brick structures, but the original wooden buildings north of Clinton survived the fire and remain today. This collection of buildings is thought to be one of the oldest wooden blocks still standing in Ohio and HHA is working to increase awareness of its history and contribution to Hudson’s heritage.

Also in this month’s newsletter, we have included a couple of requests for you. First, we are hoping to resume participation in Hudson’s Memorial Parade. Since we seek to promote preservation, we are looking for a volunteer who can drive their historic/classic car in the parade to represent HHA. We are also seeking your help in identifying community members who would consider serving on Hudson Heritage Association’s board. In the coming year, we will be looking to fill two to four seats on our Board. Please let us know if you are interested in either of these opportunities.

We hope to see you March 13.

Susan Newman and Rebecca Leiter

Co-Presidents

Hudson Heritage Association 

Next Program: Library Archivist Gwen Mayer Will Share History of Maple Sugar Making in Hudson

While maple syrup production in Ohio is often associated with towns like Burton and Chardon, its link to Hudson is less well known. Hudson Heritage Association will explore this chapter in the community’s past when it hosts Gwendolyn Mayer as its featured speaker on March 13.

As Mayer notes, “The process of sugaring involves gathering sap from maple trees, boiling it into syrup and packing it for home consumption or to sell. It is not always easy or romantic, and often there is a good deal of hard work. In the several hundred years this has been occurring, many people have improved the process including locally known men Gustave Grimm and Clarence Crane.” At the March meeting, Mayer promises to share their stories, as well as others involved in local maple syrup production. “It is a story of history, industry, environmental awareness and conservation as well as adulteration and sweetness,” she adds.

Mayer is a familiar face to many in Hudson and has been a member of the staff at the Hudson Library & Historical Society for 28 years. She currently serves as the Library’s archivist, overseeing a collection of newspapers, maps, manuscripts, papers, genealogy materials and artifacts dating back to Hudson’s founding in 1799. It is the only such collection focused on Hudson and is dedicated to educating the community about the town’s rich history through outreach, research and events. The Historical Society also maintains one of the nation’s largest research collections on abolitionist John Brown and the Brown family. Mayer grew up in Hiram and currently resides in Garrettsville. She attended Hiram College, Kent State University and the University of Pittsburgh.

HHA’s March 13 program, to be held at Barlow Community Center, begins at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.

This Ohio Historical Marker recognizes Gustave Grimm for his advances in maple syrup production. The sign, researched by Gwen Mayer and the Hudson Library and Historical Society, is posted near the Evaporator Works on Ravenna Street in Hudson.

Looking for Notable Car(s)

HHA hopes to resume its participation in Hudson’s annual Memorial Day parade and is looking for a partner to help us be part of this important community event, which will be held this year on Monday, May 26.

In keeping with our “preservation” mission, HHA is asking someone to volunteer to drive their restored historic/classic car in the parade to honor the Memorial Day holiday and to represent HHA in historic style. The photo above, taken in the 1990s, was made possible thanks to the vehicle contributed by Wade Johnson, a Hudson native who for many years operated carriage tours of the historic district. Your vehicle need not be horse-powered; gasoline models are welcome!

Please let us know you if you have some keys (and a driver) we can borrow at info@hudsonheritage.org. Thank you!

A Walk Down the Wooden Block (part 2)

Although February's weather was not ideal for strolling, we hope many of you had a chance to look more closely at the three buildings we featured in last month's story about Hudson’s “wooden block” on North Main Street when you were running errands. This month, we continue our tour, looking at three additional buildings in this unique enclave.

The Hine-Fowler House at 201 North Main was built in 1840 by John Hine on property originally owned by Owen Brown. Hine sold it to Elvira Fowler in 1845 after Melissa Hine, his wife, filed for dissolution of marriage for gross neglect of duty. Elvira was the wife of Chauncey Fowler, a saddle and harness maker, and they owned the house until 1910. The Greek Revival structure has since housed a number of businesses including a realty, a builder (Hudson Homes, Inc.), the Computer Club of Hudson and the dental office pictured above.

Across the street at 202 North Main, the Noonan Shops were built by William Noonan, a carpenter who did the cabinet work in Old St. Mary’s Church (today known as the Church on the Green). The north section was used by his brother and bootmaker John Noonan, who maintained a business at this location for 17 years. The façade, with its false front, Italianate brackets and overhangs, is original, including the typical inset doorway and display windows. There is a simulated multi-paned window in the lower north section and a James Ellsworth tile roof at the rear. One of the wooden block’s longest established businesses, The Learned Owl Bookstore, has been located here since 1968.

Located on the east side of the block, this property at 219 North Main incorporates both an unusual fan and delicate Federal cornice moldings, which distinguish it as Classical in style. The house was built in 1832 by bootmaker Elixius S. Wooden and associated for most of the nineteenth century with John Nutting Farrar, a local tinsmith who had his shop directly across the street at 190 North Main. Mr. Farrar was the grandson of Western Reserve College professor Rufus Nutting. After Mr. Farrar’s death in 1894, the house served for nearly 60 years as the residence of the Bishop family, descendants of some of Hudson’s original settlers. It turned to commercial use in 1963. The display window is an alteration, as is the addition on the south side.

Stay tuned next month to complete our tour of the “wooden block.”

Looking for a Few Good Men - and Women

As we head toward the end of our 2024-2025 programming year, Hudson Heritage Association is already looking forward to our next operating year, which begins July 1, 2025. Part of that planning will be making sure we have a full board so we can continue to focus on the work that has been our priority since 1962. In the coming year, we expect to have two, or perhaps as many as four, board seats to fill and we are putting out the word now to those in the community who may want to consider joining us.

The HHA board is made up of 18 Hudson residents who are elected for an initial three-year term. Each member may serve two additional three-year terms. (Former board members are also welcome to consider joining the board again, provided it has been at least three years since they last served.) Members have the opportunity to be part of the committees of their choice and members also serve as committee chairs and board officers.

As an all-volunteer organization, our board is responsible for all the services HHA delivers: our programming, advocacy work, building research, marketing and all other activities. We only have a few requirements for service: be a dues-paying member of HHA; attend our once-a-month board meetings; and actively support our mission to protect Hudson’s historic buildings, the village streetscape, and the city’s Western Reserve architectural aesthetic.

If you think you might be interested in becoming an HHA board member, please drop us a line at info@hudsonheritage.org. We welcome all inquiries! 

A Second Chance to See Our February Program

If you missed HHA’s February meeting, you missed an almost standing-room-only presentation by Christopher Gillcrist, director emeritus of the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, who spoke about the history of piracy on the Great Lakes. It was a snowy night, so if you opted to stay in, you have a second chance to hear his fascinating story by clicking here. Many thanks to HHA member Allyn Marzulla, who snapped this photo of our speaker.

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