In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday we are going to share a wonderful story about a large poultry farm that used to exist on the south side of Monroe Street, from Harroun Road east, where the Kroger store was built in 1982, and then expanded in 2005. This also included the adjacent BP gas station. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – 6235 Monroe Street
Briggs Place subdivision was laid out in 1905 by Henry Briggs. This house was built in 1902 on the north 42 feet of Lot No. 3, so the house was already on the property when the subdivision was laid out. Briggs sold the home to Ray and Ella Hollister, but the exact year is not recorded. It was probably after 1913, because Ray Hollister married Ella B. Clark on Sept. 11, 1913 in Adrian, Mich. Both were from Sylvania. When Ray completed his World War I registration card in 1917 he was living here and was employed as a mail carrier, delivering mail in rural federal district No. 2 in Sylvania. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – 5832 Summit Street
This house was built in 1897 on the south portion of Lot No. 3 of the Briggs Place subdivision. Henry Briggs platted the subdivision in 1905, so this house was already on the property when the subdivision was laid out. Briggs sold this house in 1905 to William and Gertrude Fetters. William married Gertrude Taylor in 1902 in Sandusky, Ohio, and they appear to have purchased a home on Woodruff Avenue in Toledo first, which is where they were living when the 1910 census was taken. So from 1905 until 1917, while they owned this home, it was a rental property. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – 5826 Summit Street
This house was built by Henry Briggs in 1902 on Lot No. 2 in the Briggs Place subdivision, named after Briggs who owned the land. The garage was also built in 1902. By 1904 Briggs sold this house to Nicholas Willinger who built numerous houses throughout Sylvania, including many along Summit Street. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – 5820 Summit Street
Burnham Park was established in 1911 when Mrs. Celestia Phillips-Pomroy-Burnham, in her Last Will and Testament, willed to “the citizens of the Village of Sylvania” this land for park purposes.
Over the years history has credited Sylvania resident Henry Burnham with donating the property for this park, but the true facts prove that it was his second wife, Celestia, who donated this park property. Celestia’s grandparents Paul and Fanny Hawes purchased the property in 1837, then it was willed to her mother, Susan Hawes-Phillips, in 1841. Then, in 1873, Celestia inherited all of the park property east to include Phillips Avenue from Erie Street south to Maplewood and then south to Monroe Street and east to Judi Young Lane. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – Burnham Park
This house, built in 1897, was owned by Mary Albring. Henry and Mary Albring purchased a 4.28 acre parcel along the east side of Summit Street and between the North Branch of the Ottawa River, in 1885. He died in 1887 and it transferred to Mary. Then in 1904 Mary transferred the property to her grandson, Henry Briggs. On that acreage Briggs platted a subdivision he called Briggs Place, consisting of five lots, which the village council officials approved in 1905. Over time those original lots were split into smaller lots. Our subject house ended up on the north half of Lot No. 1. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – 5814 Summit Street
Looking back, it was just before World War I when a group of golfers who had been playing at the Toledo Golf Club (later named Ottawa Park) began looking for property to establish a new golf course. They looked at three different properties throughout the county and settled on this Monroe Street and Corey Road location. In September of 1916 they purchased four parcels for a total of 160 acres. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – Sylvania Country Club, 5201 Corey Road
In three years, the Highland Meadows Golf Club will be 100 years old. In 1925, a group of Ottawa Park golfers got together and decided they wanted to establish a low-cost, no frills, golf-only private club. They hired the necessary attorneys to handle the purchase and the formation of their organization. Then a charter was formed, and the group was incorporated. They purchased an 80 acre parcel of land on Erie Street in Sylvania from Edwin B. Parker, and 43 acre parcel from Fred O. Peak, which led to the start of the Highland Meadows Golf Club. At first, both properties were transferred into the name of Charles B. Scott. The dues were set at $25 per year, payable semi-annually. Its inaugural meeting was held in February of 1926. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – Highland Meadows Gof Club
The Lathrop House, originally at 5362 Main St., was moved to Harroun Park after it was acquired by the city of Sylvania in 2004.
Elkanah Briggs built the original portion of this home in 1835 on a 40-acre parcel that he purchased on Main Street. His name appears in all of the earliest area records, voting in elections and serving in several elected positions while living in Sylvania. Many of the original legal descriptions measured surrounding properties using Briggs’ 40 acres that he had purchased. Continue reading The Lathrop House has long served as a beacon for freedom
This house was constructed in 1915 while the property was in the name of Elizabeth Elg. She was the former Elizabeth Harrwaldt who married George M. Elg in 1899. They lived in Ottawa Lake, Mich., and all the census records show them farming there. Early Sylvania directories never show them living in our subject house, so they must have rented this house to tenants during the four years that they owned it. In 1919 they sold this house to Dale and Katherine West. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – 5810 Summit St.
