Lake Road Walking Tour

The 20th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2026.

John S. Williams purchased 50 acres of land from the Cahoons in 1902. It ran along Lake Erie between Lakeside Cemetery and the Huntington Estate, south to Wolf Road. The earliest date given for this house is 1878, however, tax records suggest it was more likely constructed in 1902 or 1909 and added to in 1926.

As viewed from the cemetery next door, it appears to be a simple vernacular gabled farm house to the rear with an unusual double gambrel roofed front addition. This may represent the transition from farm to summer home.

The 19th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2026.

Tax records confirm that this beautiful Victorian Italianate style house was constructed in 1876 or 1877.

“Bay Village: A Way of Life” has extensive information about the couple that built it. She was a member of the Lilly family, residents of the center of Dover Township, direct descendants of Miles Standish. He grew up at 29737 Lake Road and ran a fishing business from boats harbored directly across the street. He also ran their large farm and was a skilled craftsman who made his own tools and designed this house which won first prize in a house contest in 1876.

The 17th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2026.

The book “Retracing Footsteps” by Catherine Burke Flament has a wealth of information about both Henry and Regina and their families because many of them are buried in Lakeside Cemetery.

Henry was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1832; Regina in Wurtenburg, Germany, in 1834. Regina’s family immigrated in 1850; Henry in 1854. They were married in 1854 and Henry (and therefore Regina) was naturalized in 1860.

The 16th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

John and Maria Pellett were both born in England and immigrated to the U.S. in 1853. By 1857 they were living in Cleveland and purchasing property in Dover. They purchased 58 acres in this location in 1864 and built this home in 1872.

John Pellett is listed as a “Master Machinist” in an 1874 Dover Business Directory. “Bay Village: A Way of Life” states that he farmed the Glen Park area and that his daughter taught school at the Lake Road schoolhouse. Also, that William Lewis did general blacksmithing and at some point the Lewis family occupied this home.

The 14th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

Betsey Osborn, the granddaughter of pioneer Reuben Osborn and daughter of herbalist Seldon Osborn, married Thomas Williams in 1873. They married when Betsey was 33 and Thomas 21.

The house was built on land she inherited, and it remained in her name until her death in 1912 (he died at 43 in 1895). In 1914 Henry Steinbrenner Sr. and Sophia Steinbrenner purchased the Williams house and farm which extended from Lake Erie to the Interurban tracks.

The 13th 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 Sherman’s grandfather, Reuben Osborn, who originally bought the land from the Connecticut Land Company. Sherman Osborn was the son of Selden Osborn.

According to “Bay Village: A Way of Life,” Reuben later gave each of his five grandchildren some of his land. The grandchildren raised berries, fruits and grapes to sell and on a smaller scale oats, corn and wheat to supply their own needs. They also fished.

The 12th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

According to Foote genealogy and “Bay Village: A Way of Life,” David Foote was born in Colchester, Connecticut, in 1760 and married Betsy Hamlin of the same town. He served in the Revolutionary War. They had 10 children.

In 1815, David packed up part of his family and moved to Dover Township, settling on Lot 97 in the northwest corner of the township. His 195-acre parcel extended from Lake Erie to the north, what is now Bradley Road to the east, south to what is now Walker Road and west to the Avon line.

The 11th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

Very little information has been previously written on this charming small home. The County Auditor lists the construction date very specifically as 1853. If so, it would have been constructed on a large undivided 195-acre parcel owned by Ransom Foote heirs which included the c. 1828 David Foote house on the north side of Lake Road (now demolished).

Ransom Foote Sr., the son of David, died in 1846 leaving his wife, Catherine, widowed with 10 children. According to the 1850 Census, 22-year-old Ransom L. Foote was living with his 44-year-old mother, 92-year-old grandfather David, and numerous siblings. He married Julia Farr in 1853.

The 10th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.

This address on Lake Road was the location of the large, landmark Baker/Becker House which occupied this site from 1853 until 2007 when it was preserved by being disassembled.

Because the lake side of the house was as formal and finished as the front facade and some saw Federal elements in the original design, possibly remodeled into Greek Revival, there were thoughts it was built as early as 1828. However, curiously it does not appear on any maps until 1870.

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

According to the “Tuttle Family Story” by Flora Tuttle Renfrew, Dexter was born in 1807 in Massachusetts and came to what is now Rocky River at 16 with his family. He married Amelia Weidnar (born 1811) in about 1828 and settled in Dover Township in 1836.

The couple first lived in a log cabin west of Tuttle Creek and north of Lake Road. They had seven boys and one girl who died young. Son Ezra (born 1837) helped Dexter build this house where they raised chickens and sheep. Amelia used wool from the sheep to make clothing for the family. They also had a sawmill.

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

Selden was the only son of Reuben and Sarah Osborn. He was born in 1809 in New York and married Ohioan Nancy Ruple in 1833.

Selden first owned land in the 1830s away from Lake Road and tax records are not clear as to when this house was built. His father owned this land until 1842 when 25 acres were transferred to Selden and the tax value went up significantly in 1847. The house has had many additions with the east end of the current house probably the original.

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

Christopher Saddler, born in Germany in 1756, first came to America in 1777 as a private in the British Army. He was taken prisoner and in 1778 he switched sides. He served with the patriots under General Count Pulaski.

William Saddler, his son, was a sharpshooter who participated in the War of 1812’s Battle of Lake Erie which brought him through Dover. Their home in New York was burned down during the war, so the son convinced the father to move to Dover. They arrived in 1814 or 1815. Their wives Sophia and Elizabeth later joined them.

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

The original log church is long gone but the church community remains, now known as the Bay United Methodist Church. It was in March 1827 that Elizabeth Tryon Sadler signed a deed purchasing land in this location from her husband William’s parents, Christopher and Sophia Sadler.

The deed was recorded in June of 1827. It was possibly the same year that walnut logs from the Sadler woods were donated to build the first church building for the new congregation of which Elizabeth was a founding member. Tax records reflecting the sale were not updated until 1830.

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.