New Philadelphia News

The Muskingum Lakes Chapter of the American Red Cross has provided food, clothing and other assistance to families in New Philadelphia and Midvale who lost their homes in fires Wednesday.

TUSCARAWAS COUNTY , Ohio -- The state fire marshal has been called in to investigate an early morning house fire in Tuscarawas County .

The pain of wartime separation is illustrated in the book "My Very Dearest Anna" through the letters sent by Richard Moore to his girlfriend, Anna, back home in New Philadelphia, Ohio, during World War II.

Joe Tiller's idea of casting a line is different than Urban Meyer's way of tossing, as he phrased... The ZHS Tip-Off Club will meet at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Adornetto's. Coach Scott Aronhalt will talk about this past week's games with Cambridge and New Philadelphia and look ahead to the River View, Dover and DeSales games.

http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/files/2012/02/A1-color-5cols-Starr-House-23-150x99.jpg [caption id="attachment_110294" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Chuck Humel / Chronicle photos George Laurence, museum exhibit designer and builder/owner of Museum Acrylics Co. of New Philadelphia, works on a display in the Starr house, the site of the Lorain County Historical Society's new home. (CT photo by Chuck Humel)"][/caption]One of Elyria's historic homes is moving into the final phase of a grand makeover that will convert the one-time home of a local businessman into a permanent home and museum for the Lorain County Historical Society.The high-ceilinged rooms in the Starr House will become galleries spotlighting the county's industrial, political and social history. The goal is for the new Lorain County History Center to be ready for a spring opening.As is often the case with such labors of love, the beauty of the house has been found in the details. In numerous spots throughout the house, workers stripped away paint, cheap paneling and shag carpeting to reveal finely detailed wood floors, wainscoting or ornate crown molding that has gradually been returned to some semblance of its original state.Lacking historic drawings or architectural plans, the historical society and those doing the work made educated guesses based on their own knowledge of period houses."We worked off our judgment of what things looked like, and what the house told us," Bill Bird, the historical society's executive director, said Friday during a walkthrough of the 8,000-square-foot 1857 Italianate-style mansion - the oldest structure on Washington Avenue, which still retains a number of larger, older homes with ties to the city's past."We'd take a wall apart and see evidence of the past, of what had been there," Bird said.Financed by $1.6 million in grants, as well as major contributions by companies, including Ridge Tool Co. and R.W. Beckett Corp., and private donations, the project began in 2004 when the historical society's board of trustees moved to establish a centralized home for a history center.The one-time home of Horace Starr, a prominent Elyria businessman of the 1850s. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places.Despite the care being taken to have the house evoke its historic heyday, the project is not an attempt to produce a painstakingly accurate historic restoration, Bird said.When the day comes for the Washington Avenue attraction to open its doors for the first time, the idea is not just to draw visitors and interest to the Elyria house, but to pique curiosity and interest in history for smaller historic spots around the county."We want to give a taste of all the history in the county," Jackie Kokai, a historical society member, said Friday as she observed work being done by New Philadelphia craftsman George Laurence to create major display panels to showcase photos and other items of historic interest."We hope to have brochures on other museums in the county, such as the Spirit of '76 Museum in Wellington, and the history center in Amherst," Kokai said. "We want people to know what else there is to see here."Many rooms will feature reproduction light fixtures and chandeliers hanging from its 14-foot-high ceilings.Among the concessions made to modern times and efforts to welcome a wider number of visitors was the installation of an elevator running from the lower or basement level to the third floor.A room to the left of the tall entrance doors will house a reception area and gift shop. Work yet to be finished includes selecting computers, a phone system and other equipment for an office at the rear of the upper level, as well as new signage in front of the house and landscaping."I won't give a list of dates and opening events just now, but we'll have something, that's for sure," Bird said. "We will be opening this spring." Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

The 13th annual Chocolate Love A'fair should prove lucky for the chocolate-lovers who come and indulge its chocolate passions.

New Philadelphia, Ohio - Three lanes of State Route 7 are closed this morning due to another rockfall event just south of the location that restricted traffic two weeks ago north of Brilliant in Jefferson County.

It's one thing to plan a budget, buy food, clothe and support a family of four -- but try taking... The Zanesville Tip-Off Club will meet at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Adornetto's. Coach Scott Aronhalt will discuss the Rosecrans and Wheeling Park games and look ahead to the New Philadelphia and Cambridge games.

Coshocton hosted the 2012 Coshocton Junior High Invitational recently, with the Redskins wrestlers taking third place and Ridgewood taking fourth.

The administration and Village Council discussed options Wednesday on how to provide appropriate oversight of the various village departments.

Chealyn Jackson, a senior in Kent State University's College of Architecture and Environmental Design, gives a 10-minute presentation on her proposed redesign of a campus library for students and a panel of judges.

Columbus activates Umberger after missing 5 gamess have activated left wing R.J. Umberger off injured reserve and recalled left wing Dane Byers from their American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield, Mass.

"If you do something to encourage a healthy lifestyle, it will make folks happier, they'll have more energy, and be more productive," said Pat Sliva at the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

The owner of the Lee's Famous Recipe franchise on Maysville Avenue couldn't find a buyer and decided to wind up his affairs at the end of the year.