Peninsula
Peninsula Library & Historical Society
PO Box 236
Peninsula, OH 44264-0236
Phone: 330.657.2665
Website: www.peninsulalibrary.org
Sights to See in Peninsula
The Peninsula Library & Historical Society’s collection centers on
the history of Boston Township, Peninsula, Boston Hts, Boston Mills, and
Everett. Holdings include photographs, cemetery records, local government
records, and scrapbooks.
Everett Village
Intersection of Everett and Riverview Roads
Everett was originally called Johnnycake Lock in 1828 after a strong storm
washed sand into the Ohio and Erie Canal where it crossed Furnace Run.
Crews and passengers on the canal were forced to eat cornmeal cakes –
johnnycakes – for days until the canal was re-opened. East of the Furnace
Run Bridge on Riverview Road are the remains of the aqueduct which was
constructed to avoid a recurrence.
West on Everett Road is the last remaining covered bridge in Summit County.
The bridge was completely reconstructed in 1986 after a flash flood destroyed
the old structure eleven years before. The entire village, except the
Everett Church of Christ, was purchased by the National Park Service in
the early 1980’s. It currently awaits restoration.
Peninsula Village National Historic District
Route 303 at Akron-Peninsula and Riverview Roads
The Peninsula Village National Historic District encompasses 53 acres
on both sides of Rt. 303. Hermon Bronson of Waterbury, CT arrived on his
tract of land in 1824. The canal spawned a boat building industry and
provided a way for goods to reach markets. Bronson plotted a village in
1837 and named it “Peninsula” in recognition of the large feature created
by a bend in the Cuyahoga River. Peninsula incorporated in 1859 with Hiram
Volney Bronson as mayor.
Peninsula’s major industry was its vast sandstone quarries which supplied
stone for canal locks, foundations, and sidewalks. Both the canal and
the quarries have been preserved in Deep Lock Quarry Metropolitan Park
on River view road south of town. Self-guided walking tours of the village’s
numerous historical buildings can be obtained free of charge at the Peninsula
Library and Historical Society.
Boston Village
Boston Mills Road at Hines Hill and Stanford Roads
Boston Village boasted a sawmill, a boat yard, a grist mill, a warehouse,
two stores, a saloon, a hotel and a population of 300 during the peak
canal years of 1827 to 1842. Later, Boston would be the home of the conger
and Jackson Brickyard, a mill that made toy marbles from stone, and the
vast plants of the Cleveland-Akron Bag Company.
Boston’s most notorious citizen, Jim Brown, ran a rather extensive counterfeiting
ring out of his tore near the banks of the canal. Brown’s schemes went
on for years, frustrating Sheriff Sam Lane, until a fatal fall on a canal
boat in Peninsula in 1865 ended his career. Today, Boston is the site
of the Boston Mills Ski Resort.
Boston Heights Village
Olde Eight Road at Boston Mills Road
Boston Heights was created as a result of a special election in 1923 when
the residents of Boston Township’s “east hill” voted 87 to 12 to incorporate
as a separate village. In 1925 the village purchased the old school, which
was built in 1904, from the Boston Township Board of Education for $500
and converted it into the present Village Hall.
Just to the east of the Village Hall lies the Fairview Cemetery donated
by the Heights area’s first settler, Alfred Wolcott. The Ladies’ Cemetery
Association, which was formed in 1890, meets twice a month to make quilts
and sells them to raise money for the annual Memorial Day ceremonies.