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&nbsp; &nbsp;Construction on this Victorian Queen Anne style building, indicated by its very irregular form, began in 1886 when John Smart was moving to Medina from the state of New York. Although it is not certain who built the house, observations suggest that George Gruninger (Medina's leading house builder at this point in time) was the creator. Mr. Smart's family (his wife Julia and their daughters Anna and Maud)&nbsp;moved into the home in April of 1887, almost a year after construction began. &nbsp; &nbsp;Considering that most people that lived in Medina at the time still resided in smaller Greek style homes,&nbsp;the John Smart house stood tall and proud in Medina.&nbsp;Consisting of large bay windows, a two story tower, a first, and second story porch, an irregular roof
line with scalloped shingles, and boards that define the different floor levels, it was evident that John had enough money and success to thrive in growing Medina County.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;John built an iron
foundry on the west side of town, just north of the A.I. Root Company as a result of the first railroad that had been built through town. At the time, Medina was simultaneously rebuilding a lot of its businesses and city buildings because of the 1870 fire that claimed a number of buildings in its destruction.&nbsp;This foundry brought a large amount of economic success to him and later on in life, both of his daughters were married in the home. After the marriage of the daughters, both John and Julia moved to Cleveland to be closer to the children and took with them every item formerly in the home. This means that, unfortunately, nothing in the John Smart home as it sits today has any connection to the original family. For more information regarding the extended history of the John Smart home, following John Smart's ownership and residency, please visit&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.medinahistorical.com/jsh.pdf">http://www.medinahistorical.com/jsh.pdf</a>

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Since the late 1800s, the John Smart home has seen many residents and families come and go over the years since its construction. The building of the house began in early 1886, but was not finished until 1887 when John and his family of four moved in. Being a Victorian Queen Anne style home, the Smart residence fit right into the nature of Medina County, as this was a very popular design at the time.

The John Smart House / Medina Historical Society 

Instructor

This short walk through Medina includes several of the buildings within the town's historic district and concludes at the John Smart House which is home to the local history museum. 

&nbsp; &nbsp;Starting in 1877, the first Medina Library began to take shape. Members of the community in Medina came together and formed the Circulating Library Association in which books moved from person to person in a trade-like fashion. Each member of the association would pay a small fee in order to participate in this community organization, and they would then have then ability to "check out" books from the Library. &nbsp; &nbsp;In 1878,&nbsp;Herbert H. Brainard was elected the first official president of the Medina Circulating Library Association. It is speculated that this was due to Mr. Brainard agreeing to store all 70 library books in his jewelry store, and allow it to&nbsp;act as a library-type building, as well as housing his own business.&nbsp;Miss Meroa Andrews, an employee of Brainard's, took ownership of the Library books, and&nbsp;in doing so, acted as a librarian for the community. Community members would check out books directly from her, and she made a small yearly salary of $20 in the process. &nbsp; &nbsp;In the following years, until 1905, community business owners took turns donating rooms in their buildings to the Library association to be used as reading rooms. From a small, rent-free second story room, to an annexed church, to a small building purchased by the Library Association, the Library lived on. &nbsp; &nbsp;In 1905, a man by the name of Franklin Sylvester gave $10,000 to local trustees to build a proper library and demanded that it be made free for all to use. Construction on the new library began in 1905 at 210 Broadway Street, and the dedication of this new building was held on August 30th, 1907. Later, in 1933, the former Medina Public Library, under the guidance of Mr. Sylvester, extended its Library outreach to all&nbsp; inhabitants&nbsp;of Medina County. &nbsp; &nbsp;From its creation in 1907, the Medina Library has seen many extensions and renovations over the years. The earliest occurred in 1958. In 1976, a&nbsp;home which sat adjacent to the library, owned by&nbsp;a local named Dr. Mansell, was bought and demolished to allow the overall size of the library to double. In 2005, a massive expansion project extended the size of the Medina County District Library to create the beautiful building you see today.

The Medina County District Library has a rich history which dates all the way back to 1877. A small group of local residents formed the Medina Circulating Library Association in which books were exchanged from one person to another. The library moved all over Medina and ended up at its current location, 210 S Broadway, in 1905.. Through various renovations, remodels, and expansions, the library you see today doesn't quite look the same as the one Franklin Sylvester built in 1905-1907.  

Medina County District Library

&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; On the night of April 11th 1848, a fire broke out in the small village of Medina. With the lack of a real fire department or any type of preparation for such an event, the village burned.&nbsp;&nbsp;The fire spread from one wooden building to the next, and all that was left the morning after was ash.&nbsp;&nbsp;A total of 15 buildings came down in smoke after the efforts of Medina residents were pushed aside by the blaze. &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Although the village rebuilt after this tragic event with a larger amount of brick structures to avoid such an incident in the future, history repeated itself. Twenty-two&nbsp;years later in 1870 (nearly to the day), the village of Medina burned once again. Beginning in a wooden barber shop in the middle of the town, the fire&nbsp;spread. In the absence of a fire department, and with only a handful of volunteer citizens to fight the inferno, the fire spread quickly to nearby buildings. After the efforts of the few who fought the fire, all that remained were the ashes of what was once there, totaling over $200,000 in damages. This fire would later be called the Great Fire of the City of Medina. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Soon after, a smaller fire broke out in 1877. This&nbsp;created a great amount of panic in the community, which then influenced the city to set up a proper fire department to avoid any fires in the future at all costs. The City Council approved the beginning of a fire department on May 11th, 1877 and as a result, the purchasing of equipment as well as the first fire engine&nbsp;went forward. Along with the fire engine, a place to store such a vehicle was also needed, as well as a water system for the fire engine to pull water from for its functionality. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In response to the passing of this legislature and under&nbsp;direct influence from the community, bonds were issued out to pay for the engine, the engine house, and the ten public&nbsp;cisterns to be located up and down the streets. The purchase of a "Number 4 Silsby Steam Fire Engine" (a horse drawn wagon with 500 feet of rubber hose) was completed soon after. This $3,000 engine had the firing capacity of 425 gallons of water per minute. In 1878, the first Medina Engine House was completed and from then onward, the engine was stored in its new home.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;This engine was used until 1919, when after many years of repairs and constant maintenance, industry moved the village of Medina forward and the purchasing of newer, fire engines gave way to the departure of the Silsby. Years later in 1970, Medina's Community Design Committee repainted the original fire house from 1878 back to its ordinal glory. In 2013, the Medina Town Hall and Engine Museum that you see today, opened up to the public. Inside,&nbsp;you can see various photograph and memorabilia that guide you through Medina's rich history.&nbsp; All photos courtesy of Medina Historian, Roger Smalley

In response to a third major fire in the small town of Medina, which significantly damaged three buildings, the founding of the first organized hook and ladder company (or fire department) of Medina began in 1877. The building that served as the fire house until the early 1950s also served as the local Town Hall and was completed a mere one year after the fire.  The bright red building you see today holds a community museum on the first floor highlighting the extended history of the fire department in Medina.

Medina Town Hall & Engine House Museum

The land on which current day Medina sits was surveyed back in 1817 by&nbsp;Elijah and Anne Boardman of the Connecticut Land Company. This land was to be settled upon and made into a village and that opportunity was given to a young man by the name of Captain Austin Badger in 1818. Medina's long history had begun. Austin Badger was a pioneer who traveled from Buffalo to Cleveland with all his belongings in his knapsack in the years after the War of 1812. When given this opportunity, he got right to work starting out by clearing away the forest area that the square now sits upon today.Quickly becoming a small village by the 1830s and expanding at an exponential rate, life in Medina was bustling and busy. The county surrounding this area was expanding and as such, a larger courthouse was needed. Replacing the original small brick courthouse, the larger one you see today has been restored to its original beauty through various restoration projects since its construction in the 1840s.The streets were busy, the shops were filled, life in Uptown Park was peaceful, and the city was ever growing. On the night of April 14th, 1870, a fire destroyed dozens of buildings surrounding the park. On the morning after, the leaders of Medina met outside the courthouse, surrounded by the devastation, and set out to rebuild this once beautiful area using brick.The amazing views seen today in the heart of Public Square were created out of the rubble of this tragedy. Without this terrible event, the Victorian style buildings and architecture might have never have been created and Medina would not have the same character.&nbsp;The gazebo that sits in the center of the park offers a throwback to the past as it represents the same character of the Victorian buildings that surround it. At one time there was a fountain that sat in the center of the park but it was replaced by the structure you see today. Built using the template of a gazebo in Bellville OH, the Uptown Park gazebo remains the centerpiece of beauty and peace in this historic square.&nbsp;

Enclosed by a number of Victorian style buildings sits Medina's historic Uptown Park, also known as the Medina Public Square. This amazing historic site offers a visual time capsule from the early days of what was once a small village. Constantly bustling with people, the square represents the pinnacle of social life, while also maintaining beauty and all the comforts of home. Medina Public Square has a history like no other, and what you see today represents the efforts of generations of people who came together to conserve this landmark. Within the park, you can see the beautiful gazebo, a WWII cannon, and multiple historic and memorial benches.

Medina Public Square Park - Uptown Park

The lot on which the Medina County Courthouse stands today was originally purchased by&nbsp;Commissioners Sheldon Johnson, Timothy Burr and Richard Warner in 1840 with the idea that a new courthouse was to be built to replace the smaller old brick courthouse that was currently in use. The three men hired a man by the name of D. H. Weed to build this new structure on the agreement that he was to be payed $3,100 as well as&nbsp;the land that the old courthouse currently occupied and the old courthouse itself.Facing Uptown Park, currently known as the Medina Public Square Park, the construction of the new courthouse began. The foundation of this project was completed in August 1841 and the building itself finished its construction later on in 1841. At the time of completion, it was a two story building with a Greek Architecture style. Within were three rooms on the bottom floor and two rooms on the second with a large stairway at the end of the building.&nbsp;The structure of the building was perfect for the next thirty years until the population of Medina had grown to a point that the two story building wasn't big enough to host all requirements of the county and some additions had to be made. in July, 1973, commissioners&nbsp;William Kennedy, Benjamin Burt, and Alexander Whiteside hired architects by the names of&nbsp;T. Dudley Allen and William G. Tilley to construct a four room addition to the front of the courthouse allowing more space for county officers to do their work.&nbsp; The bell tower that you see today on top of this new addition was also constructed at the same time. The bell within the clock tower was 1,000 pounds which was proved a worthy challenge to the builders.Since the days of the addition in 1873, the courthouse has seen various minor additions and remodels such as the flag pole in front of the building as well as the installation of electric lights when they were made available. The courthouse has served its purpose for over 175 years and remains in use&nbsp;today.

The Medina County Courthouse stands tall and proud on the east side of Medina's public square directly across from the historic Uptown Park. With contracting and construction of the building dating all the way back to 1840, the building you see today isn't exactly identical to the original. However, the character and prominence remains as it represents the centerpiece of local government in Medina County. The courthouse has gone through numerous remodeling phases in its extensive lifetime and yet it remains fully intact and in full use. This historic landmark is now officially recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

Medina Ohio Walking Tour

The John Smart House / Medina Historical Society

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

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