The Munsons were a prominent but quirky family who lived in Medina from 1877 until 1956 when the last member passed away.  The patriarch was Albert Munson, Probate Judge, state legislator and political activist. He was also a devout spiritualist and regularly held seances in his home — although he never acted as a medium.
Munson, [...]

This is a wintry view of North Court Street in the early 1900’s.  The tracks in the snow were for the Interurban Electric, part of the Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus Railway which carried passengers to nearby cities and towns. A Medinian with a bad case of cabin fever induced by the perpetual snows of February [...]

Harrison Gray Blake (1819-1876) routinely ignored the Fugitive Slave Laws and hid runaway slaves in his handsome home home on East Washington Street. It was a terrible risk in those days to harbor slaves — the fines were prohibitive and could bankrupt a family.  Blake had a great deal to lose. He had come to [...]

Eliza Northrop Elementary School, which opened in the fall of 2009, is named for the first teacher in the first school in Medina. Eliza Northrop was the daughter of a pioneer family who came to Medina County from Connecticut,  and she taught for one year, 1817-1818, in a small log cabin about one mile east [...]

Medina’s founder, Elijah Boardman, was born in 1760 in New Milford, Connecticut. He was a Revolutionary War veteran who eventually became one of the wealthiest men in New England.
This portrait by noted American artist, Ralph Earl, tells us a great deal about Boardman.  He was tall and handsome, and judging from the writing materials and [...]

In the mid-1800’s, Medina was a stop on the Underground Railroad — a system of safe houses that gave shelter to runaway slaves on their arduous journey from the slave-holding South, across Ohio, to the safety of Canada.  One of the local homes that had been a stop on the Underground Railroad was also a [...]

The gazebo, Medina’s visual symbol and best loved landmark, is not as old as the Victorian buildings that surround it.  The Community Design Committee (CDC) placed it in the center of the park in 1976 as a finishing touch to its nationally lauded restoration of Public Square. It is a copy of an 1879 structure [...]

A long-held dream came one step closer to reality when a group committed to turning Medina’s 1878 Engine House into a museum met after a long interval. Such a museum would showcase vintage fire trucks and fire-fighting equipment, and tell the story of the two fires that ravaged Medina in the 1800’s.
The group has worked [...]

Cool Beans, located in an 1871 building on the northwest corner of Public Square, offers an extensive menu of coffees, teas and pastries, as well as lunches.  They are noted for serving especially good soups, but the sandwiches and salads excel as well.  All are made daily in the state of the art kitchen visible [...]