February Newsletter

February 2, 2024

We hope you have been staying warm and safe as the brief spell of snowy weather reminded us of what winter REALLY is like in Northeast Ohio. While the past few weeks have been challenging for driving, getting kids off to school and even venturing outside to retrieve the mail, the recent snows have created a photographer’s wonderland that shows us how beautiful our town can be at any time of the year. It was particularly cheering to drive or walk near the Village Green, where the holiday lights were in place until the end of January. Our thanks to the city for extending the light show another 30 days!

Cold temperatures did not deter the large crowd that turned out for our January meeting featuring a superb program led by members of the Sojourner Truth project, which is dedicated to building awareness for the suffragette and abolitionist who spent her life campaigning for equal rights for women and the end of slavery. Attendees learned about Truth’s connection to Akron and were treated to a dramatic reenactment of the speech she gave there – considered one of the most significant in American history. It was a great kickoff to a new programming year. We are grateful to HCTV for recording the event which can be viewed by clicking here. Those who are interested in learning more about Sojourner Truth and contributing to the Sojourner Truth memorial in Akron can learn more here.

Earlier this week, Hudson residents, including many HHA members, attended the City of Hudson's Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee's Open House. Over 200 engaged citizens attended for one final opportunity to meet in-person and share ideas with committee members, city staff and other residents about this important guiding document for our city government. If you missed the open house and would like more information, or if you attended but have more to say, click here to learn and share concerns. Additional feedback will be accepted until February 16, 2024. At that point, the engagement period will close so that the steering committee can review input and complete the final draft plan.

On February 8, we will host volunteers from Oviatt House Inc. who will describe the grassroots effort to save a home in Richfield with strong ties to the Underground Railroad and John Brown, who also spent significant time in Hudson. The program will combine history with a very interesting look at a complex renovation project that is still in process. And, closer to home, we will be delighted that night to bestow the owners of two Hudson houses with HHA markers, reflecting their hard work to preserve and protect two more of the historical properties in our community. Read below for more details about our February program. 

This month, we also continue our new feature, Properties with Pedigrees. We are particularly pleased to spotlight the feature’s author, Western Reserve Academy senior Rojauhn Pakdel, who researched and wrote the piece on the school’s Athenaeum as part of a class project. Thank you, Rojauhn, for your contribution to our newsletter!

Finally, we want to call your attention to a significant milestone that the city of Hudson will reach this year when it celebrates its 225th anniversary. Plans are underway to mark this noteworthy achievement in June and we will share more details as they become available. In the meantime, we’ve included an item below that describes how David Hudson’s namesake community came to be more than two centuries ago. 

As always, we are grateful for your interest in our work and your support for Hudson Heritage Association. We look forward to seeing you February 8!

Diccon Ong & Nora Jacobs Snider

Co-Presidents

Hudson Heritage Association

February Meeting to Describe Work to Save Richfield House with Ties to the Underground Railroad

On February 8, Hudson Heritage Association will host volunteers from Oviatt House Inc. who will describe the grassroots effort to save a home in Richfield with strong ties to the Underground Railroad.  Slated for demolition until the community stepped forward, the home was built in 1836 by Mason Oviatt, nephew to Hudson’s Heman Oviatt, and a friend to famed abolitionist John Brown, who spent time in Richfield and at the home as he worked to support the network of routes and stops that moved enslaved individuals from the South to eventual freedom in free states and Canada. Today, the house is listed on the National Park Service Network to Freedom and is part of a 336-acre park known as Richfield Heritage Preserve – Ohio’s Hidden Treasure.^TM

Oviatt House board members Tricia Steiner and Ken Brown will share details of the home’s history – from its beginnings as a place where Mason and his wife Fanny raised 11 children, to the subsequent generations of Oviatts who lived there, to its eventual sale in 1919 to James Kirby, the inventor of the Kirby vacuum cleaner, and its transfer in 1937 to the Cleveland Girl Scout Council.  They will describe the condition the house was in when the nonprofit acquired it, details of the home’s construction, and the work that has been done over the past two years by volunteers to restore it to its original condition.  They also will describe ongoing fundraising efforts and plans to operate the house as an educational museum.

The February 8 meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Barlow Community Center, is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be served following the presentation.

The Oviatt House as it appears today following two years of restoration.  Considered one of the oldest houses in Richfield, the home stands at its original location at West Streetsboro and Oviatt Roads and has strong ties to the individuals and activities that supported the Underground Railroad in the 1800s.

Properties with Pedigrees - The Athenaeum

Located at 187 College Street, the Athenaeum, known by generations of students as simply, “The A,” is a historic building with a rich and varied history. Originally constructed in 1843 by Simeon Porter and Archibald Rice, a pair responsible for much of Western Reserve College's historic Brick Row architecture, this structure was initially designed to serve as the natural sciences building for the college, drawing its name, "Athenaeum,” from the ancient Greek city of Athens, renowned as a center of learning and science. Initially, the building consisted of just three stories, the bottom two serving as classrooms and the third housing a museum illuminated by a skylight. A tower on top of the roof, reminiscent of the WRA Chapel's tower, was a notable feature until it was removed in the 1860s. The Athenaeum was meant to be the first of several buildings that together would form a planned second Brick Row north of the original one located south of Hudson Street, but this grand vision was never realized as the college relocated to Cleveland in 1882.

The Athenaeum played a role in the advancement of technology during its early history. Professor Edward W. Morley, a renowned scientist, installed one of the first telegraph lines in Hudson inside the Athenaeum. This line connected the telegraph office at the downtown railroad station to his laboratory and then extended to his residence. Additionally, a line was established to link the Athenaeum to a store on Main Street, facilitating the more efficient purchasing of chemicals and materials for scientific research. In 1917, after WRA’s reopening under its benefactor James W. Ellsworth, the Athenaeum underwent a significant transformation, shifting in purpose from a natural science building to a student dormitory.

During this early renovation, the building was entirely gutted. It was converted from a three to a four-story building in order to better serve in its new capacity as a dormitory. Another more recent renovation, costing $4.7 million, began in 2013. Once again the building was gutted, retaining only the four exterior walls and its roof. The interior was completely rebuilt into a dormitory with 14 double rooms for students, two faculty apartments, a common room on the main floor, and (to the joy of weary students who live on the top floors) an elevator. The Athenaeum's multifaceted history, including its role in science, technology, and education, continues to contribute to the cultural heritage of Western Reserve Academy and Hudson.

Rojauhn Pakdel

Class of 2024

Hudson 225 Years Later: A Town Created in the Wilderness

Until 1662, the territory that would one day become the state of Ohio was the home to the native Americans who had inhabited the region for centuries. That year, it was granted to the colony of Connecticut by English royal charter and was part of a vast stretch of land that extended to the Pacific Ocean. Following the American Revolution, Connecticut returned most of the land to the U.S. government but retained 3,400 acres lying north of latitude 41 degrees and west of the Pennsylvania border – a region that became the Connecticut Western Reserve. The following paragraphs, taken from the city’s website, describe how Hudson emerged from this wilderness, thanks in part to the individual for whom it is named:

After an Indian war was won in the region, the Reserve seemed ripe for settlement. On September 2, 1795, Connecticut sold the Reserve to a land syndicate comprised of 35 investors known as the Connecticut Land Company. The sale was concluded for $1,200,000 for the estimated 3 million acres, or roughly 40 cents per acre. The Connecticut Land Company, eager to earn profits through sales to settlers, quickly organized a survey team to scout out the Reserve.

In 1799, David Hudson, a shareholder in the Reserve, led a party of surveyors through the wilderness of the Eastern forests to the Reserve itself. After an arduous expedition, the party eventually reached the territory and conducted its work, and on June 26, 1799, David Hudson arrived on what was to become Hudson Township. Leaving a contingent of the party to begin settlement, Hudson returned home to gather his family and possessions, and arrived again for permanent settlement on May 28, 1800. David later built his own home in 1806, where he would live until his death in 1836. Located on 318 Main Street, this house is the oldest structure standing in Summit County. In honor of David Hudson, the tiny settlement was officially named "Hudson" in 1802.

To learn more about what happened next in Hudson’s history leading up to the 20th century, click here.