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Peninsula residents gather outside Harrington Store on Main Street, 1910.
NPS Collection
Part of human nature is our desire to be social and form relationships. Farmers in the Cuyahoga Valley have relied upon the help of friends and relatives to endure economic and personal hardships that often threaten family survival. In the early 1900s, neighbors worked together in each others' fields to thresh wheat and make hay. During the Great Depression, farmers with enough produce shared food with their extended families. Participating in the local community meant that farmers could usually find the help and support they needed during tough times.
Living in a small community brought a sense of safety and security. In the 1800s and early 1900s, valley residents knew their neighbors. Many people did not lock their doors. If you needed a ride, there was usually someone to pick you up. Children played and explored outside for hours with little adult supervision.
Valley residents also saw the community as a source of fun and entertainment. In communities like Everett, Peninsula, and Bedford, residents attended Home Days, local dances, and other events where they could enjoy themselves and strengthen neighborhood bonds. For families living on small farms participation in the local Grange provided vital continuing education and support.
This research grew out of the 2011 Farming in the Valley oral history project. To learn more and explore related topics, visit the main page.
Working Together
Jan Thomas, a former resident of Everett, describes how farmers in her community worked together to share and exchange products.
They bartered a lot with other farmers, too. You know, if Mr. Scobie needed corn, he came down and got corn. Or if he needed some hay, he got hay and then maybe the next year he had more hay than we had, and he had better corn than we had, so… It was a close-knit life.
Knowing Your Neighbors
George Fisher, longtime resident of Peninsula, remembers how families knew all of their neighbors and how children could never keep secrets from their parents.
At one time, I used to know everybody in Peninsula, and everybody in Boston. Now I don’t know half the people. You know, newcomers come along, generations, it changes. ‘Cause when we were growing up, we never, nobody ever locked the doors. I could come home anytime—the doors were open! Everybody’s house was open. In fact, they didn’t even have a police department when we were kids, you know. They had a constable and he was only around in the evening once in a while, downtown Peninsula. Other than that, you didn’t have any police departments. You know as far as a small town goes, when you were kids, if you were out playin’ or somethin’ and you did somethin’ wrong, before you got home your dad knew about it. Someone would tell him. Yeah, you know, everybody knew you, you know, and “Hey, that kid’s doin’ the wrong thing. I’ll have to tell his dad.” ~chuckles~
Meeting and celebration in Bath Township hall.
Courtesy/Bath Township Historical Society
Community Events
Local celebrations and festivals were great ways to bring the community together. During Home Days and holiday events, large crowds shared food, games, and conversation. In Bedford, for example, the Memorial Day celebration included a morning parade and afternoon Sousa March by the local band. Reunions for alumni of BedfordHigh School were times for old and new friends to share memories. Bedford's Public Square has a history of special events. One of the grandest was the Centennial Homecoming in 1913. The city continues the homecoming tradition, with new activities added every few years. The 1981 event, for example, featured new contests for the "most magnificent mustache" and the champion horseshoe pitcher.
Northampton's Homecoming
Willis Meyers participated in Northampton's homecoming celebration every year as a child in the 1920s and 30s. Willis describes the food, games, and other festivities.
The big thing was the Homecoming, and that was once a year. ‘Course everybody in the township would come to that. They’d go into the Falls, in town, and have the merchants donate prizes, you know. They had different games and they was a prize for every game like horseshoe pitchin’ and baseball, and everything you can think of, they had. Of course horseshoe was a big deal at that time, you know. ‘Course, their contests would be for different age kids, you know. They had races and… but what they did, they’d have a feed sack and one leg would be in the feed sack of each person, and they call that a three-legged race, you know. So that was a big deal, too.
During the 1910s, Dorcas Snow grew up on Snowville Road in Brecksville on a farm that had been in her family since 1835. In the following passage, a part of her memoir Dear Brecksville, Dorcas recounts some memorable community events.
"In the early days there was an annual Fair and the Town Hall was filled with displays of fruits and flowers. The best exhibits were awarded premium certificates from the judges. Athletic events were held at the Square, and at the close of the day there was a dance in the Town Hall. Refreshments were pink lemonade and gingerbread. There were [also] the Home Days and Fourth of July celebrations at the Center. A big blue tub of ice cream was brought from the city and there was a barrel of lemonade and popcorn balls." Dorcas Snow, Brecksville, 1976
Social Organizations
Participation in local organizations helped farmers and other valley residents address issues that affected their lives. Many farmers were members of the Grange, the oldest national agricultural organization supporting rural communities. In the years after the Civil War, the Grange developed to help protect and improve the lives of America's farmers. The Grange has also worked to promote rural education, improve transportation and access to health care, and protect natural resources. The organization united farmers and provided resources for farming security and sustainability. Today, the Grange focuses more broadly on community service.
Other social organizations helped farmers and their families address concerns and implement changes to benefit local rural communities. Women's Farm Club No. 1, in Bath, was a female-led social club for farmers' wives. The club gave women an outlet for talking about important issues and built bonds between members.
Women's Farm Club No. 1
Pat Morse, whose mother was a member of Women's Farm Club No. 1, remembers club activities and events during the 1930s and 40s.
The women met once a month and they did, I would say, they studied progress and farming, being farmer’s wives, I would say, with canning and sewing and that kind of thing. Oh, and the other thing they did was, each year they had a big picnic at the end of the year. I don’t know how this evolved, but all of us kids had to put on a play to entertain them, and we just loved that. It was such fun. And you’d meet at different peoples’ homes each year. And they were very large gatherings at that time.
The Grange
Hazel Broughton, former resident of Everett, describes the purpose and history of the Grange, a service club supporting rural communities.
The original Grange was formed in 1867 following the Civil War. And it was started because of the unruliness between the states and agriculture and Washington. So they fashioned it after a rural organization for farmers to, mainly, get their ideas to together to be able function and raise crops and livestock. Now, it is mainly a community service. We still are rural-minded, but it’s past its prime. But we have a national Grange, we have a state Grange, we have a local Grange, and now we have four Granges in Summit County, of which when I started they were twelve, and I am Summit County Pomona Master, which is the county. Unfortunately, younger people today, families, do not join Grange anymore. There’s too many other things to join. So it’s fading. One thing I’d like to say about the Grange: They were the instigator for rural delivery of mail. They were instigator in free lunches in schools. While they didn’t do it, they pushed it. They pushed it from the rural standpoint. So you can see that it’s been important. And we do do a lot for community service. We work in connection with our communities, and Deaf, Deaf is our project. Deaf, for the Deaf schools in Ohio, especially down around Columbus where we have the Columbus deaf school. It’s local, and I’m proud of it.
