Local archaeologist to speak on early stone houses

The Lorenzo Bement house is an early sandstone structure, built around 1840, on what is now Center Ridge Road in Westlake.

Join the Westlake Historical Society as they host a talk by Dr. Roy Larick about early stone houses in the Western Reserve and the geology behind and “beneath” them. Dr. Larick uses Google to create eye-catching maps which make the geology of northeast Ohio accessible to all.

Roy Larick was raised in Euclid, graduated from Ohio University in 1972 and spent 30 years as an archaeologist working around the globe. Dr. Larick returned home in 2001, bringing a long term perspective on change in local landscapes. He now documents natural and cultural change in ecologically sensitive places.

Dr. Larick’s Bluestone Heights organization and website (bluestoneheights.org) addresses the weave of nature and culture at Greater Cleveland’s sensitive places. The goal: comprehend places and the means to live more equitably with them. Bluestone Heights collaborates with local governments and non-profits to identify sensitive places and to achieve sustainable place management.

We first met when he collaborated with the Cleveland Heights Historical Society and led a hike and tour along Dugway Brook which meanders through the heart of Cleveland Heights. The tour included discussion about some of the early stone buildings built from sandstone quarried nearby.

As part of his research on early sandstone houses in the Western Reserve, Dr. Larick became familiar with Westlake’s Lilly/Weston and Lorenzo Bement and Avon’s Johannes Nagel and William Hurst stone houses which all date to the first half of the 19th century.

The Westlake Historical Society invited him to speak at their next regular meeting on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at Westlake Porter Public Library. The title of his talk is: “Westlake’s Sandstone Terrace Landscape: Ancient Shorelines, Early Houses, Emerging Greenways.”

We also hope to “dig” into some of the local history about these homes as well as that of Holy Trinity Church in Avon and some of the existing early local school buildings which were partially constructed of stone quarried right here in Westlake, and also explore a little history about the quarries as well.

William Krause

William R. Krause, AICP I am the Assistant Planning Director for the City of Westlake. I have worked for Westlake for 25 years. I served on the Bay Village Planning Commission for 5 years. I am a member of the Reuben Osborn Learning Center Steering Committee. I am a Board Member and Historian for the Westlake Historical Society and a Trustee of the Western Reserve Architectural Historians. I have been married to Debra for 33 years and am the father of three grown children, grandfather of one and owner of two Shih Tzu's.

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Volume 6, Issue 21, Posted 10:00 AM, 10.14.2014