Lake Road Walking Tour

The fifth in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

It was in 1816 that Aaron and Elizabeth Aldrich and a son moved from Rhode Island to Dover to live near Elizabeth’s brother Henry Winsor. In 1822, they moved to New York for Aaron to take charge of a cotton factory.

In seven years, Aaron earned enough money to move back to Dover and purchase a 140-acre farm, extending from Lake Erie south to what is now Wolf Road, and build this very fine frame house (in 1830).

The fourth in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

This home replaced a log structure constructed in 1810 when the Cahoon family were the first pioneers in Dover Township. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest part of the frame structure was constructed by Joseph and his son Joel using timbers milled in their sawmill on the premises.

After serving in the War of 1812 and work out of town as a contractor, and the death of his parents, Joel returned to live in the home with his wife Margaret who named it Rose Hill because of rose bushes planted by Lydia. Joel died in 1882 and the property passed to his five unmarried children.

The third in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

The first pioneer death in Dover township was Rebecca Smith in 1811. Some early sources say that she was buried in this cemetery in 1811 and then moved elsewhere in 1820.

It is more plausible that Mrs. Rebecca Porter and her infant son Dennis, who tragically drowned off Rocky River in 1814, were the first burials in this cemetery because the original land for the cemetery was donated by her brother-in-law Reuben Osborn.

The second in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

The Reuben and Sarah Osborn House was originally located at 29202 Lake Road, west of Lakeside cemetery. Reuben Osborn arrived in Dover on the afternoon of Oct. 10, 1810, the same day Joseph Cahoon and family were the first non-native American settlers to arrive in Dover Township.

Reuben brought his wife and children from New York the following May.

This was the first frame structure constructed in Dover Township and is the oldest existing frame structure between Cleveland and Lorain. It is a simple gabled structure with roofline, massing, and fenestration which hint of the Greek Revival style popular at the time.

This is the first in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

This small, shake-roof structure is currently located just south of Rose Hill at 27715 Lake Road and is currently utilized by the Herb Guild. It was probably moved from 492 Bradley Road in 1973 when the c. 1872 Italianate Alfred Wolf home was torn down.

The Wolf home had been used as a city senior center until it was replaced by Bay Lodge.