Westlake-Dover history housed at the Clague Museum

The Clague House Museum offers a glimpse into life in the 1870s. The museum is open during the Clague Road construction, and may be reached by traveling southbound on Clague Road from Detroit Road.

Located at 1371 Clague Road is a beautiful stately old home that was restored by the Westlake Historical Society. Robert Clague originally came to this area from the Isle of Man and purchased 78 acres of land around 1830. The Clague House, built in 1876, followed a log cabin and then a small frame house first constructed on the property.

Robert and his wife, Margaret, raised nine children and were known for being a very close-knit family. The last two surviving members of the Clague family, Walter and Sophronia, donated their land to the Village of Dover (now Westlake, Bay Village, and part of North Olmsted) for a park, with the provision they be allowed to live in the family home until their passing.

When the Clagues finally deeded the family land and home to the Village of Dover in 1929, Victoria Clague was against the idea and fought the dedication. As a result, her name does not appear on the Clague Family Monument located in the park across the street from the Museum.  

Both Sophronia and Walter died in 1934. Per Miss Clague's will, a library shall be maintained on the property to be a repository for early Dover history. The Sophronia Clague Memorial library is housed upstairs in the Clague House Museum.  

The two-story brick home is essentially the same as when it was built. The center room, however, was originally two rooms (a living room and a bedroom). The house was "ahead of the times" in that closets were incorporated into the bedrooms, something not normally found in the 1870s. 

The Westlake Historical Society was formed over 41 years ago and has painstakingly restored this hidden treasure.

In spite of the Clague Road construction, the house is currently open during the month of May. Because the road is closed to northbound traffic, visitors must enter Clague Road from Detroit Road and travel southbound. Please join us Sundays from 3-5 p.m. Please contact us at 440-471-4090 or visit us on the internet at www.westlakeohiohistory.org. You can also find us on Facebook.   

Dave Pfister and Lysa Stanton are members of the Westlake Historical Society.

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Volume 2, Issue 9, Posted 10:10 PM, 04.30.2010