Museums & Properties

Norton

C/O City of Norton
4060 Columbia Woods Dr.
Norton, OH 44203
Phone:  330.825.7815

Website:  http://www.cityofnorton.org/General%20Info/History/Historical%20Society.htm

Sights to See in Norton

Knecht Cider Mill

3137 Cleveland-Massillon Road
Built by Edward Laubach in 1867 for $3,200, the original structure was a steam sawmill.  The mill burned to the ground in 1874, but was immediately rebuilt for about $1,000.  The property was sold in 1879 to John J. Knecht and converted into a cider mill.  It is still used in the fall mainly during the Olde Tyme Cider Festival.  The present owners, the Crawford family, are direct descendents of J. J. Knecht.
 

The Country Store

2334 South Cleveland-Massillon Road
The Country Store dates to 1828 and is believed to have been owned by Birdsey Norton.  It served as a stage coach stop on the route from Marietta to Cleveland.  It was later famous as the Loyal Oak Country Store.  Local legend has it that a tunnel employed as part of the “Underground Railroad” runs from the property under the street intersection.  Built of hand-hewn oak posts and beams, it is now occupied by the Independent Business Institute.  For many years it was owned and operated by L. V. Bowers as a grocery store and Sohio gas station.
 

Loyal Oak Tavern

3044 Wadsworth Road
Built around 1840, the Tavern was a hotel, according to the 1874 Summit County Atlas, and prior to that, in 1858 was H. Bechtel’s Cabinet Shop.  As a hotel it was known as the Loyal Oak House (per the inscription on the third floor wall by Ray Wilhelm, the bartender in 1886.)  In 1911-12 the business was operated by Jack Lozier and his mother, while in the 1930’s and 1940’s it was known as Adam’s Place, so named after its then owner, Adam Pinter.  Today, the restaurant is owned by Milkovich brothers, Milo, Mark, and Mike.  Old timers tell of beer cooling in an underground stream in the basement during those early times.  The original half-0log bar is till in the basement with a keg in the wall dating to the 1930’s.
 

The Pillar Home

4273 Greenwich Road
Constructed in 1840, probably by Nathan Seiberling, the patriarch of the Seiberling family.  John, the eldest of Nathan and Catherine, lived here when his two sons, Frank and Charles, were born.  He and his wife also had five daughters.  Frank and Charles Seiberling were the founders of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, and also the Seiberling Rubber Company.  The house is now under restoration.  

Grace United Church of Christ

3285 South Cleveland-Massillon Road
Like the Lutheran Church, the Grace United Church of Christ building was constructed in 1885, and stands on stones taken from the original church which was built in 1851.  Originally known as Grace Reformed Church, the German Reformed congregation went into surrounding woods to hew out logs for their wooden structure.
 

Trinity Lutheran Church

3281 South Cleveland-Massillon Road
The Lutheran Church was built in 1885, replacing a two-story stone structure that the congregation shared with the German Reformed Church since 1851, meeting on alternate Sundays.  The present building stands on the site of the original church.  The Reformed congregation sold their interest to the Lutheran folks who, thereupon, dismantled the edifice and used the stones for the foundation of their brick building.  The church boasts an antique organ, which is in use every Sunday.  One of the oldest cemeteries in the area is behind the church with stones from 1853.
 

Western Star Cemetery of Norton

3201 Medina Line Road
Markers date back to 1816.  Among families buried here are Spicers, Griswolds, and other early settlers of Western Star.
 

Norton Cemetery

4230 South Cleveland-Massillon Road
According to legend, Indians are buried here, along with many residents, including Van Hynings, Bates (early settlers of Loyal Oak, formerly Bates Corners), and others.  Recently, three stone markers were removed from the Black Plague Cemetery on Wadsworth Road and placed in the Norton Cemetery.  Out of a possible two dozen stones in the Black Plague Cemetery these were the only one located.  The earliest date was 1844.