The Cleveland Memory Project

Lying less than an hour to the east of the city, the Mentor shoreline has long beckoned Clevelanders to it with promises of nature, recreation, and expanding industrial opportunities. Through photographs, maps, blueprints, video clips and documents this site highlights the development of the Lake Erie shoreline along Mentor for both public and private uses. The material on this site resides in CSU Special Collections, The Lake County Historical Society and the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club archives. Read more ...

Site Features

• Photographs: Over 100 photographs from the Cleveland Press and other Cleveland State Special Collections show many of the landscapes and recreational activities along the Mentor shoreline including images of Mentor-on-the-Lake, Mentor Headlands Beach Park, the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club, and Mentor Marsh.
• Maps and Blueprints: Maps and blueprints from the CSU Special Collections and Mentor Harbor Yachting Club archives highlight ownership of the Mentor Marsh by railroad companies in the early 20th century and proposed plans for the development of the area into an exclusive housing development by the Mentor Harbor Company in the 1920s.
• Video: Clips from home movies taken by William J. and Phrone Barrow in the late 1950s show Mentor Harbor Yachting Club activities.
• Documents:
  • "Hitchcock's Holdup: The Story of a Steel Mill for the Mentor Marsh" by Samuel Tamburro examines early 20th century efforts to turn the Mentor Marsh into a steel-industry port.
  • Mentor Harbor Yachting Club - a 1955 booklet that provides a history of Mentor Harbor, the club and its activities.
• For Further Reading & Study: External links to additional Web sites of interest.
• Credits & Appreciation