Browse Exhibits (3 total)

This exhibit examines Mentor, Ohio from early America to the modern era.

Native Americans lived in the region prior to the settling of the Western Reserve. Early residents arrived in Mentor in 1797. These residents named the community after the character "Mentor" in Greek mythology keeping with the tradition of the Western Reserve.

Mentor grew rapidly due to the town's proximity to Lake Erie and the Ohio and Erie Canal. The railroad would soon pass through Mentor in the early 1850's. Mentor served as the home President of James A. Garfield and father of the Uncle Sam.

The City of Mentor itself was officially established in 1855.  Many Mentor residents earned their living as florists or horticulturalists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Due to the beautiful rosebushes developed in the city in the 1930s, the city had earned the nickname, "Rose Capital of the Nation." Mentor developed also as tourist trade attracting businessmen that sought to escape from nearby Cleveland and other industrial areas.

Following World War II people settled into the suburbs such as Mentor; however still working in Cleveland. In the 2000 U.S. Census, Mentor was the most populated city in Lake County with over 50,000 people residing.

How the use of the canals has changed because of the industrial needs of Ohio and how that has also changed the landscape of Northeast Ohio.

You can view an interactive timeline and read the memories of Captain Pearl R. Nye.

With the completion of New York's Erie Canal in 1825 and as the canals opened in Ohio, Ohio became less isolated from the rest of the country. Prices for agricultural produce, wages and canal construction costs rose.  For 25 years the canals were the principal means of transportation of both freight and passengers within Ohio.

A Chronological History of the Cuyahoga River as it applies to economic, social, and political characteristics.

Man continually shapes and reshapes the environment in which we live. The Cuyahoga River basin is no different.  The river has provided water resources and a waterway that man has used and manipulated to suit his needs over time.  As you proceed through the exhibit, think about how you might answer the following questions:

1. How has the river changed over time?

2. How have different generations of people used the river?

3. Why has the river been instrumental in the development of Cleveland as a major city in the United States?