Century Houses

One pleasant day last week (at least pleasant for mid-January in Ohio) I took a walk to the neighboring town of Berea.  The city limits are just around the corner from me.  I have written several entries here about Berea, a town which had an interesting history as a center of the sandstone quarrying industry in the late 1800s.  

There are many historic homes in Berea, primarily around the campus of Baldwin-Wallace University.  In fact, the neighborhood has been designated as the Century Home District.

Some years ago, the Berea Historical Society put plaques on many of the Berea homes which were more than 100 years old.  Now, as we are well into the 21st century, there are surely many more houses which would qualify.  These were the homes of Berea's professional people, merchants, and college professors.  Most of the immigrant workers in the quarries lived outside what were then the limits of the village of Berea.  Today many of the houses are meticulously maintained, others need some work, but they all add to the architectural interest of the city.

Here are photos of some of Berea's century houses...

This house was once the home of Berea's founder, John Baldwin.  However, since the town was founded in 1836 and this house was built in 1871, it was obviously not his first home.

1874

1868

1876

date unknown

These two houses do not have plaques although they surely must date back to the late Victorian era.  They have always been favorites of mine.

I can remember when this house, built in 1855, was the home and office of a local dentist.  Now it belongs to Baldwin-Wallace University.

Notice the ornate "gingerbread" decorating the gable.

1897

1868

1865

1875

1871

Beyond the center of town there are other houses with "Century House" plaques.

1871

1855

1894

Notice the grindstone in front of this house, a reminder of how the manufacturing of grindstones was a part of Berea's heyday as the "Sandstone Capital of the World".

This house, located next door to the Berea Fire Department, has no plaque but it is obviously very old.  It is built of Berea sandstone.  The house is unoccupied, but it appears (hopefully!) that restoration work is underway.