Description: This color image shows a view of the business district of Chardon, Ohio, ca. 1960-1969. The perspective is looking toward the street from Chardon Square Park. In the center foreground of the image is a raised platform around which is a ring of lampposts. Chardon Courthouse Square District was added to National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Chardon was designated the county seat of Geauga County in 1808. On July 25, 1868, the entire village business district (now Main Street) was destroyed by fire, including forty businesses, offices, meeting halls, and the 1824 courthouse. Citizens immediately rallied and formed the Chardon Building Company. In August 1868 they contracted with Herrick and Simmons of Cleveland to build the Union Block using fire-resistant brick. This was one of Rensselaer R. Herrick's (Cleveland's mayor, 1879-1882) last construction jobs. The Union Block occupies the northern half of this block of Main Street. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06624
Subjects: Buildings; Business and Labor; National Register of Historic Places; Historic buildings--Ohio; Geauga County (Ohio)
Places: Chardon (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated January 9, 1941, these photographs show two Amish farmhouses near Middlefield, Ohio. Ohio is home to the world's largest Amish population. Ohio's Amish Country consists mainly of Holmes County, Wayne County, and Stark County. For nearly two centuries this area has remained unrestrained by modern technologies. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F06_030
Subjects: Amish; Farms; Amish farmers--Ohio--Geauga County; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Middlefield (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio)
 

Description: The downtown district of Chardon. Chardon is mostly known as a vacation spot for Ohio residents, known as a good place for recreation and also being close to Lake Erie. In addition to this, the other mainstay of Chardon's economy is the dairy industry, and is home to several cheese makers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06710
Subjects: Geauga County (Ohio); Dairy cattle; Dairy products industry
Places: Chardon (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: The downtown district of Chardon. Chardon is mostly known as a vacation spot for Ohio residents, known as a good place for recreation and also being close to Lake Erie. In addition to this, the other mainstay of Chardon's economy is the dairy industry, and is home to several cheese makers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06711
Subjects: Geauga County (Ohio); Dairy cattle; Dairy products industry
Places: Chardon (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: Caption reads: "The Steaming Sugar Bush (Geauga County Near Chardon, Ohio) Sign on sugar house reads: Chardon Lakes Sugar Camp Photographer: E.P. Moody. March 1941." Maple syrup season begins in January, ending around April in Ohio, and while trees are tapped all over the state, Geauga County has some of the state's best, and hosts the state's Maple Syrup Festival every spring. Traditionally, maple syrup was harvested by tapping a maple tree through the bark and into the wood, then letting the sap run into a bucket, which required daily collecting. Less labor-intensive methods, such as the use of continuous plastic pipelines, have since superseded this in all but cottage-scale production. It takes approximately 10 gal. of sap to be boiled down to1 quart of syrup, and a mature sugar maple produces about 10 gal. of sap during the 4- to 6-week sugaring season under gravity, but can produce 20 or more gallons under vacuum. Trees are not tapped until they have a diameter of 10 in. at chest-height and the tree is at least 40 years old. If the tree is more than 18 in., it can be tapped twice on opposite sides View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F17_008_1
Subjects: Maple syrup industry--Ohio--Geauga County; Sugar factories--Ohio--Geauga County
Places: Chardon (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This color image shows a front view of the Geauga County Courthouse, Chardon, Ohio. L.J. Randall, builder of the Randall Block on Main Street, was the contractor for the courthouse; Joseph Ireland (active in Cleveland 1865-1885) was the architect. Looking at the Geauga County Courthouse, note the square tower which changes to an octagon one full story above the roof line. The courthouse's cupola reaches 112 feet and contains an antique clock mechanism that was renovated in 1996 by the community and Chapter 28 of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. The bandstand on the village public green is a reconstruction of the 1875 original. The bandstand was dedicated by the community in 1981, and the brick memorial walkway was dedicated in 1993. The courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as part of the Chardon Courthouse Square District. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06623
Subjects: Courthouses; Justice centers; Justice--Administration of; National Register of Historic Places; Geauga County (Ohio); Local government
Places: Chardon (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Race at Burton Fair- 1940. Photographed by Henry P. Boynton- 1940." This is a photograph of a harness race at the Geauga County Fair in Burton, Ohio. There are hundreds of people watching in the stands and several standing in the center of the track. Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull two-wheeled carts called sulkies, although racing under saddle (trot monté in French) is also conducted in Europe. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F03_0014_001
Subjects: Racetracks (Horse racing); Harness racing--Ohio--History; Harness racing--Pictorial works; Geauga County (Ohio)--History; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Burton (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Fowlers Mill in Chardon. The community of Fowlers Mill (originally Fowler's Mills) began in 1829, when brothers Milo and Hiram Fowler purchased land on the Chagrin River in Munson Township. The Fowlers immediately dug a millrace and built a sawmill. In 1834 they built this gristmill. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06826
Subjects: Mills and mill-work--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Agriculture; Geauga County (Ohio)
Places: Chardon (Ohio); Geauga County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: Caption reads: "Threshing scene on Route 82 Geauga County." Photographed by Henry P. Boynton - 1939. Threshing loosens the edible part of the grain from the inedible, scaly chaff. It is done right after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the grain from the chaff. This process does not remove the bran from the grain. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B06F05_006_1
Subjects: Geauga County (Ohio); Threshing; Farms
Places: Geauga County (Ohio)