Glimpse of the Past

Delve deep into our collection of photographs, objects and papers to learn about items that are not always on display at the Rose Hill Museum.

Read letters sent between family members 200 years ago, learn about an object that was once an important part of everyday life in the past, or take a nostalgic trip down memory lane with pictures and remembrances from local Bay residents.

Step into the shoes of someone in the past for a moment in time. New posts monthly.

1813 Grist Mill at Rose Hill Museum
by Michele Yamamoto In our records at the Bay Village Historical Society there is much historical evidence that the Joseph Cahoon family built at...

Ernest Wuebker, the first mail carrier in West Dover
The following article was written by former Bay Village Historical Society president and historian, Kay Laughlin, in 2015. Ernest Wuebker is credited as...

Easter Greetings
Easter is observed on March 31st this year. We here at the Bay Village Historical Society would like to wish you and yours a happy Easter this month....

Ice-Skating in Bay Village
The feature image of this post is of a 1976 drawing by Ethel Sadler of the early days of ice-skating in Bay Village, 2023.B.23.01. The 1976 Bay...

Snow Portraits
We at the Bay Village Historical Society would like to wish you and yours a happy New Year in 2024. Many thanks to all who have helped to make a...

Christmas Cards of Bay Village Notables
During Cahoon Christmas 2023 events, the Bay Village Historical Society will be showcasing an exhibit of Christmas cards and imagery in our library. The...

1800s Sleigh at Rose Hill Museum
The Bay Village Historical Society usually asks that visitors do not sit upon any of their antique collections. In December, there will be an exception....

Happy Thanksgiving!
The following postcard, sent in 1938 to Henry and his sister, Olga Wischmeyer, says it all. Best wishes to to you and yours this Thanksgiving, this time...

Woman Suffrage Amendment Poster, 1914
by Michele Yamamoto At the Bay Village Historical Society, we made an unexpected discovery while archiving the college diploma of Elizabeth Hughes...

Halloween Costumes of Yesteryear
by Michele Yamamoto This week there are many Bay Village families planning what to wear for Halloween. From parties to trick-or-treating, there will...

Lutheran Mission Grounds Bell
The following piece was researched using articles written by Bay Village Historical Society historians George Serb and Kay Laughlin, who shared their...

Women's Fashions: 1860s-1920s
(Feature image above: 1860s - A fashion fold-out from the Godey’s Lady’s book, 1863, Vol. 66, part of the Rose Hill Museum library collection.) In...

A Child’s Memory of the Cahoon Sisters
by Michele Yamamoto At the Bay Village Historical Society archives we have recently come across a couple of remembrances of the Cahoon sisters. They were...

Clothing Featuring Ornamental Beadwork at Rose Hill Museum
by Barbara Comienski (Collections Volunteer/ Docent) Rose Hill has a number of amazing costumes on display as part of this year’s special exhibition...

Eclipses in Bay Village
The following article was written by Bay Village Historical Society members Jim and Barbara Comienski. Barbara has been a tremendous help to us as both a...

Collecting Stamps
The Bay Village Historical Society is researching historical letter writing this year for upcoming educational projects. While doing so, we have come into ...

The Floating Fuller House
The Irene Lawrence Fuller house was once located on the site next to the Washington Lawrence Mansion (now Cashelmara Condominiums). The house was moved...

The Story of the Bay Village Volunteer Militia
The Story of the Bay Village Volunteer Militia by Michele Yamamoto It began with an inquiry from a former Bay Village resident. Steve Gress wanted to...

Summer Road Trip, 1920s-Style
Summer Road Trip, 1920s-Style by Michele Yamamoto Summer is unofficially here and many vacationers have plans to travel by car sometime during the...

Early Graduates of Bay High School
Early Graduates of Bay High School Congratulations to the recent Bay Village graduates of 2023! In the Bay Village Historical Society archives, we have...

The History of Bay Village City Hall 1914-Present
The following article was part of a presentation given in 2014 by Bay Village Historical Society President, Catherine Burke Flament, during the 100th...

Ornamental Beadwork
Ornamental Beadwork by Barbara Comienski, Collections Volunteer/ Docent, Bay Village Historical Society The Rose Hill Museum is excited to be premiering ...

The Wischmeyer Model Boat Collection
by Ed Neal You might not know anything about boats. Your knowledge of them might be limited to one end is pointy, some use a sail to move around, and all ...

The Wischmeyer Boat Plans Collection
by Ed Neal Hobbies are where unique aspects of a person’s character manifest themselves. Hobbies are pleasant escapes from the tensions of the work-a-day ...

Women in Early Dover History
March is Women’s History Month in America. It is a time to commemorate and encourage the study, observance, and celebration of the vital role of women in...

What Dolls Tell Us About the Lifestyle of Early Residents
The following article was written by Barbara Comienski, a docent and collections volunteer for the Bay Village Historical Society. She is responsible for...

Letter from President Harrison to Margaret Cahoon, March 6, 1889
by Michele Yamamoto We continue to discover new surprises in the collections at the Bay Village Historical Society. One such discovery happened last year ...

A Recipe for Every Need: Home Cookbooks of the 1800s
 The Bay Village Historical Society has a number of recipe books in its collections. We hope you enjoy the examples you see here, as well as recipes that...

Angie George of North Coast Narrative brings history to life
The following post was excerpted from an article written by Bay Village Historical Society Board Member Cynthia Eakin. The article appeared in the October ...

Happy New Year 2023!
Happy New Year’s Day from the Bay Village Historical Society. We hope you are ringing in 2023 with those you love. We'd like to thank everyone who has...

Christmas Trees of Bay Village
Christmas Trees of Bay Village (20th Century) The former home of the Cahoon family (now the Rose Hill Museum) is decorated for the season, both to reflect ...

Singing Christmas Tree
Singing Christmas Tree by Michele Yamamoto As the Bay High School Choirs prepare for another performance of holiday music this December, we at the Bay...

Forest Views and Giving Thanks
Forest Views and Giving Thanks by Michele Yamamoto Forestview Elementary was a K-6 school in Bay Village. It was built in 1927 at 493 Forestview Rd. In...

Military Collection of the Bay Village Historical Society
Military Collection of the Bay Village Historical Society by Michele Yamamoto Veterans Day is November 11. It is a day to officially recognize the men and ...

Huntington Farm Pumpkins
Huntington Farm Pumpkins By Michele Yamamoto In recognition of October and fall and all things pumpkin, Bay Village Historical Society is showcasing a...

Early Football in Bay Village: 1924-1972
Early Football in Bay Village: 1924-1972 by Michele Yamamoto As Bay High School celebrates another homecoming and the 50th anniversary of the Bay...

Bayway Cabin, the Later Years
Bay Village Comes Through for its Kids: Bayway Cabin, the Later Years  by Michele Yamamoto This article is a continuation of the story of the Bayway...

100th Anniversary of Parkview School
100th Anniversary of Parkview School by Michele Yamamoto 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the building of the Parkview School in Bay Village. It was...

Over 60 Years of Friendship
Friends of the Library, Bay Village: Over 60 Years of Friendship by Michele Yamamoto The Bay Village Friends of the Library has announced their latest...

The Early History of the Bayway Cabin
by Michele Yamamoto This April, 2022 was bittersweet with the grand opening of the new Bay Village Library. Although there was great anticipation and...

Fashion Diva Fun: Gloves
The following post about gloves was written by Bay Village Historical Society member and volunteer Marie Albano, who has been a tremendous help to the...

Victorian Virtual Reality
by Michele Yamamoto In this week’s Glimpse of the Past, we are exploring our collection of stereographs and stereoscopes, credited by some as the very...

Fashion Diva Fun: Stockings
The following post about stockings was written by Bay Village Historical Society member and volunteer Marie Albano, who has been a tremendous help to the...

Beach Fun in Bay Village
Summer is almost here and many friends of the Bay Village Historical Society may have plans to visit our shoreline, if they haven’t already. The Lake Erie ...

Victorians Ruffled Feathers
The following article was written by Bay Historical Society Trustee Sue Jachnick. It was sparked, in part, by the discovery of an intact bird-of-paradise...

Dream Mansion Turned Hospital / Bay View Hospital
by Michele Yamamoto October 1948 marked the opening of the new Bay View Osteopathic General Hospital in the old estate of Washington Herbert...

Bay Village Library, part 3 Bay Village Library on Cahoon Road
The following history of the library in Bay Village is taken from an article written by Bay Village Historical Society board member, Cynthia Eakin. It is...

Bay Village Library, part 2 Post War
The following history of the library in Bay Village is taken from an article written by Bay Village Historical Society board member, Cynthia Eakin. It is...

Bay Village Library, part 1 Dover-by-the-Lake
As Bay Village prepares for the opening of its much-anticipated new library, we at the Bay Village Historical Society would like to share with you some...

Wischmeyer Buggies
The mass influx of immigrants in the mid-to-late 1800’s included a German family in 1854 who would eventually bring a primary business adventure to Dover. ...

Ernie Olchon's Bay Service Station
Ernie Olchon’s Bay Service Station by Michele Yamamoto Do you recognize the building below? It sits at the southwest corner of Dover and Wolf, across from ...

"Lincoln has got to Washington..."
In recognition of Presidents' Day, the Bay Village Historical Society would like to share the following letter from our collections, with spelling,...

Valentines
      In anticipation of Valentine's...

The Society's Repository 1870s
  The Society’s Repository By Julia Osborn Peace on EarthGood Will to Men. Spelling and capitalization have been recorded as in the original...

Winter Magic
Enjoy the magic of winter! There are so many memories attached to snowfalls of making angels in the snow, climbing over mounds of snow at the end of the...

Welcome and Happy New Year!
Did you ever wonder what life was really like in Bay Village, formerly Dover, years ago? Join the Bay Village Historical Society as we journey through...

Early Artifacts Found in Dover
by William Krause Jack Dianiska has lived in his Henry Road home behind St. Raphael’s for 60 years. He contacted the Observer after the first Digging...

The '1810' Stone Smokehouse
by William Krause The stone smokehouse now sits behind Rose Hill in Cahoon Memorial Park. This is the first in a series of articles to be published as a ...

Osborn Learning Center
by William Krause 27715 Lake Road, c. 1814 The second in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village...

Lakeside Cemetery
by William Krause c. 1814 Lakeside Cemetery in Bay Village The third in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay...

Joseph & Lydia Cahoon "Rose Hill"
by William Krause 27715 Lake Road, c. 1818 The fourth in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village...

Aaron & Elizabeth Aldrich House
by William Krause 30663 Lake Road, c. 1830 The fifth in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village...

Dover Lake Shore Methodist Episcopal Church
by William Krause 29931 Lake Road, founded 1827 Dover Lake Shore Methodist Episcopal Church. The sixth in a series of articles to be published as a...

Former location of Christopher Saddler House
by William Krause 29737 Lake Road, c. 1835 The seventh in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village...

Selden & Nancy Osborn House
by William Krause 29059 Lake Road, c. 1832-1847 The east end (on the left) is likely the original house of Selden and Nancy Osborn. Photo by William...

Dexter & Amelia Tuttle House
by William Krause 25547 Lake Road, c. 1852 The ninth in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village...

Former location of the John Baker/Becker House
by William Krause 28838 Lake Road, c. 1853 The landmark Baker/Becker House on Lake Road was disassembled for preservation in 2007. The 10th in a...

Ransom L. & Julia Foote House
by William Krause 31263 Lake Rd., c. 1853 The 11th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village...

Former David & Betsy Foote Barn
by William Krause 30912 Lake Road, c. 1855 The 12th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical ...

Sherman & “Nettie” Osborn house
by William Krause 29560 Lake Rd., c. 1860 The 13th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical...

Betsey and (Barney) Williams house
by William Krause 29357 Lake Road, c. 1873 The westernmost portion of the current house was constructed in 1873 closer to the street. It was turned...

John and Maria Pellett House
by William Krause 26400 Lake Road, c. 1872 John and Maria Pellett House, c. 1872 The 16th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of...

Henry and Regina Wischmeyer House
by William Krause 26565 Lake Road, c. 1872 The 17th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical ...

More about Krumwiede homes
by William Krause 31103 Nantucket Row today. First, let’s set the record straight. In the last issue a caption of a photograph in the “Some Krumwiede...

Rememberences by Kay Laughlin

Kay Rothaermel Laughlin (1937- 2020).
No one knew more about Bay Village’s history than Kay. She knew all the facts and people that she wove into stories having lived in Bay Village all her life. She had a remarkable memory that served her well.
A 1955 Bay High graduate, she received a bachelor of science degree in education at The Ohio State University where she met her husband, Jerry.
Along with her twin sister, Gay, she wrote “Bay Village: A Way of Life” in 1974, the first written history of the town. In 2007, Kay and Ginny Peterson compiled the book, “Images of America, Bay Village.” Both books are available in our bookstore. Kay joined the Bay Village Historical Society in 1968 and served as president for two years in 1976. She was part of the team that opened Rose Hill Museum in 1974. She was a docent for 20 years at Rose Hill Museum, manager of the Historical Society antique show, accessions chairman for 10 years, one of the organizers at the Osborn Learning Center and became the society’s historian.
Kay began writing her “Snippets of Bay Village History” column in the Observer in 2015, penning more than 120 articles.

Methodist Church Marker
Bay United Methodist Church dedicates historical marker by Kay Laughlin on 9/18/18 Although rain sprinkles fell, it didn’t dampen the joy and spirit of...

Bay Village: A Way of Life
In 1971, my sister, Gay Menning, and I along with the Bay Village Historical Society, co-wrote the first written history of Bay Village, Ohio. “Bay...

Growing Up on the Foote Farm
In 1936, our father purchased a lot in the Foote apple orchard on the south side of Lake Road across from the Foote farmhouse and later, when the trolley...

The Dover Station
New and exciting sounds were heard in North Dover in 1882 with the beat of the steam locomotive exhaust, the shrill call of a whistle and the rumble of...

The Peterson Family Buildings
As you sit at the traffic light on West Oviatt and Dover Center Roads in Bay Village, facing east, your eyes see a two-story brick building with a sign...

Bay Village’s Back-yard Playground
Location, location, location. The following two stories began with a lake at the back door. Golf!!! It all began with Washington Lawrence, president of...

National Register of Historic Places
Bay Village has five structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although changes have been made to some of these structures over the...

The History of Martin’s Deli
On the north end of Bassett Road is Lake Road and the old Sadler (Saddler) property (Lot #92). Sometime after the Lake Shore Electric Interurban track was ...

Bay Village Landmark Houses
The first priority of the newly formed Bay Village Historical Society, in 1960, was to plaque as Landmark Houses those houses documented as being 100...

The Water Tower at Huntington
Huntington Reservation, on the shores of Lake Erie, was the former country estate of John Huntington (1832-1893), a prominent Cleveland industrialist and...

Cahoon Memorial Park
“This is the most beautiful place on earth,” declared Margaret Cahoon taking in the beauty of her farm nestled on the south shore of Lake Erie. And so it...

Here today, gone forever
George Serb stated in one of his Bay Village Revisited newspaper memoirs: “All good things must come to an end, an old saying. The CVS Pharmacy plans have ...

German farms and the Wischmeyers
Warm sunny days and cool nights brought a migration of German people to North Dover Township in the 1850s. They purchased acreage from the Foote, Winsor,...

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley
To some it was exciting, to some, necessary, and to others, convenient. On October 6, 1897, the first maroon deck car, a 40-foot Brill with 22.5 tons...

The Washington Lawrence mansion
Washington Lawrence, who was born in Olmsted Township in 1840, attended Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio. He was an associate of Charles F. Brush, the...

Capoba Lodge
The house at 459 Cahoon Road, on the northeast corner of Wolf and Cahoon roads, was built as a result of a friendship between two sets of sisters. The...

The Cahoon family
On the morning of October 10, 1810, the Joseph and Lydia Cahoon family wagon stopped at the mouth of a creek on the southern shore of Lake Erie in Ohio...