Monday, October 13, 2008

Squire’s Castle




One of the most interesting places to visit in the Cleveland Metroparks is Squire's Castle in the North Chagrin Reservation (located in Willoughby Hills, Ohio).

The castle "shell" really wasn't a castle. It was supposed to be a gatehouse for a large country estate to be built by Feargus Squire, one of the founders of the Standard Oil Company in the late 1800s. (The large estate was never built.)

Squire’s Castle is beautiful in the fall when the trees begin to change color. A few years ago, I made a video of some of my pictures and videos taken of the castle over the years and that video is below. Since the weather was warm and sunny today, and the leaves were showing some beautiful color, I took a drive out there for some new photos, which I have included here.


Squire’s Castle Video





Castle Interior





View from Squire's Castle





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Friday, October 10, 2008

A Tour of Cleveland In Vintage Postcards

Here’s something that anyone from Cleveland, Ohio may enjoy. The short video below is a nostalgic tour of the city of Cleveland that I put together using vintage postcards from the 1930s-1950s. It includes postcards of the Terminal Tower, city roads and bridges, Public Square, University Circle, public parks, and other buildings of interest. (The music in the video is one of Gershwin’s Preludes.)




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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

The Fairport Harbor Lighthouse & Museum


In July, I took some pictures of the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse and then forgot about them. Since we seem to be in a slow weather pattern right now, and fall colors seem to have stalled a bit, I thought it was a good time to bring out the lighthouse pictures.

The Fairport Harbor Lighthouse , at the mouth of Ohio's Grand River and near the shore of Lake Erie, should not be confused with the much smaller Fairport Harbor West Breakwall Lighthouse , which is only a short distance away on the shore of Lake Erie at Mentor Headlands State Park. In fact, you can see both lighthouses at the same time, depending on where you are standing either at Mentor Headlands Beach, or at the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse.

The Fairport Harbor Lighthouse also houses the Fairport Harbor Marine Museum, which unfortunately was closed the day we visited. We decided to head to the Fairport Harbor Beach which is just a short distance down the road from the lighthouse. And it is DOWN the road, seeing that the lighthouse is perched very high on a steep hill above the beach area. The Fairport Beach Park is much smaller than its neighbor Mentor Headlands Beach, but was still a very nice place to visit.

Fairport Harbor Lighthouse and Museum



Fairport Beach



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