Cleveland Avenue North & 4th Street Canton, Ohio November 3, 2017
The carousel spinning and spinning…
The lights, the sounds, the horses…
All of these elements added up to one thing. Pure joy, for all ages.
Every generation looks for a way to bring together people of all ages. Meyer’s Lake was the glue that held all ages together for many generations in Canton, Ohio. Just say the phrase, “It used to be at Meyer’s Lake…” to a native of Stark County and watch her face light up with a certain joy not found in many other places.
The Carousel at Meyer’s Lake brought joy to many people from all over the country. In the early 1970’s, when the amusement park came to an end, this Merry-go-round was packed up and shipped to Hartford, Connecticut. It was unpacked, a sight was chosen, and it was assembled in Bushnell Park for many more generations to enjoy.
Bushnell Park is situated at the base of the Connecticut State House
My wife Alyson Bachtel Holland and I had the opportunity to ride this historic artifact that once brought children and adults of Stark County a sense of pure joy! As we chose our horse and we listened for the next bell, and the music to begin we felt nostalgic and we were drawn closer to the memories of our parents riding this carousel over and over., when it sat in Meyer’s Lake. You can’t buy that feeling…
Listen now, as we take you on this ride, Circling Joy…
The Strausbury Family. Courtesy of the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.
The Strausbury Family. Courtesy of the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.
Stark County History, Ohio, Like You’ve Never Seen Before!
Can you imagine having greater access to historic photographs from around Stark County? Well, imagine no longer! Many of the Stark County photographs, which were donated to the Ramsayer Library over the years, have been digitized!
The digitization of these historic photographs will greatly benefit the research community and the general public. Additionally, there are numerous instructional applications made by possible by this digitization project. For example, Mark Holland, the archivist, has the capability of projecting these digitally-captured, historic photographs for visitors when they come to stop by at the Ramsayer Research Library. Moreover, they will be incorporated into future audio-visual productions as well.
Stephen Wendt, MLIS, digitized hundreds of photographs from the Stark County collection during his digital preservation internship at the Ramsayer Research Library. Stephen’s internship was affiliated with Kent State University’s graduate School of Information in Library and Information Science. In addition to his passion for digital preservation, Stephen is a professional genealogist. He assists the community with their genealogy-related requests! Stephen may be contactedhere.
WHAT?
Many of the Stark County photographs, which Stephen digitized, concern the “Citizens of Canton” and the “Grand Army Band” photographs. The photographs are of various shapes, sizes and conditions-many of which, as you might expect, are in black and white.
Don Millett – Editor of the Canton Daily News.
Sr. Symporose – Principal of St. Marys School in Canton. 1955
WHEN?
Many of the photographs are from the late 19th century and early 20th centuries.
WHERE?
While most of the photographs were taken in Stark County, some of them were taken in other locations.
For example, the Grand Army Band traveled together by train, and these photographs were digitally captured as well! The Grand Army Band depicted in the slideshow below show them in action in Canton and across the country!
WHY?
Sharing Stark County past with researchers and members of the public is why we do what we do!
HOW?
After all of the photographs are properly assigned a specific number (called an accession number), they are sent to the Ramsayer Research Library’s flatbed scanner for scanning. Each photograph is scanned front and back. Normally, up to three images are taken per photograph. Here is how the process works!