Treer - Lyndhurst

As Euclidville changed to Lyndhurst in 1920, the basic design of the neighborhood was already set. This 1951 map shows all the original roads. Spencer Road was the first paved side street in Lyndhurst. Although the first commercial area was at Spencer and Richmond Roads, by 1951, it had long taken root at the crossroads of Mayfield and Richmond Roads.

Aristarkus and Sarah Brainard arrived with son Henry, and records show that Henrys son Bonaparte was born in Mayfield on July 17, 1844. The earliest land transfer to the Brainards that appears in land title records was the purchase of 29 acres from Joseph Selden in 1846.

Beryl Brainard, widow of Bonapartes son Harry, and her son Clifford place the date of Aristarkuss arrival about 1820. They built this log home and lived here until they purchased the property. The frame house, the first in the area, sat where the St. Clare Church convent is now.

Alice Brainard was photographed at home in 1908. The former tollhouse, moved to 1720 Brainard Road, can be seen in the background.

From left to right, Cliff, Alice, and Roy Brainard pose in their front yard at 1711 Brainard Road in 1908.

This was the home of Louis and Seraphina Darrow at 1711 Brainard Road in 1914. Seraphina was Bonapartes daughter. Cliff Brainard bought the house from Louis Darrow in 1939 and completely remodeled it in 1942. It was their home until 1956.

In 1850, Frederick Wishmeier purchased a piece of property on the west side of Richmond Road near Mayfield Road in 1850. Grandson Henry was still farming there when this March 13, 1949, picture was taken. This was the last working farm in Lyndhurst.

The mid-1800s brought a wave of German immigration to the area. The Melcher family, from left to right, are (first row) Ernest, Elizabeth, Gerhard, and Friedrich; (second row) Heinrich, Joseph, and Adolph. Gerhard arrived in 1845 and bought a tract of land that is now the site of Mayfield Country Club. He later bought more land on the east side of Richmond Road.

The Detering family is, from left to right, (first row) Anna, Fredrich Jr., Albert, and Fredrich Sr.; (second row) Edward and Emma. They arrived from Hanover, Germany, in 1848. The Detering brothers were among those who voted to incorporate Euclidville into a village in 1917. Their home still stands at 1344 Richmond Road.

The winter of 1876, with its appalling mud, resulted in the Mayfield Plank Road Company being formed. It would run from the top of Gates Mills Hill to the bottom of Mayfield Road at Murray Hill and connect to Euclid Avenue. Farmers began hauling oak and hickory logs to Gates Mills in the summer of 1877. There they were sawn into planks 8 feet long and 3 inches thick. The road was opened in December 1877. Now the eastern farms of Ashtabula and Geauga Counties had easy access to Clevelands markets and ports.

Eastern gatekeeper Gordon Abbey was paid $35 per month plus a place to live rent-free, coal for the office stove, and all the discarded planks he felt like cutting into firewood.

Gordon Abbey, a retired farmer, took over as toll keeper in 1882. Roland Pice, the original toll keeper, died suddenly in that year. Abbey stayed 20 years, until shortly before the road closed.

Mr. Smith, a well-liked man along the road, kept the west tollgate on the northwest corner of Superior and Mayfield Roads. The site was later occupied by Cleveland Heights City Hall.