The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bicentennial celebration kicks off
Presentation at library highlights city’s founder
The Lorain County Historical Society in partnership with the Elyria Public Library kicked off the city’s year long bicentennial celebrations on Feb. 21 with a presentation that highlighted the contributions of Elyria’s founding family, the Ely Family.
Held in the Scheide Room of the Elyria Public Library at 320 Washington Ave, Lorain County Historical Society archivist Eric Greenly took attendees back to the 19th century in a free public presentation entitled “The Ely Family and Elyria” about the first European settlers to the area. The lecture explored the Ely family’s European roots and the societal turmoil that founder Heman Ely lived in as he and his family settled the area now known as Elyria.
While the main celebrations will take place in the summer, the Elyria Bicentennial Series features a number of planned events that will serve to honor and showcase Elyria’s rich history while also looking towards the future.
Executive Director of the Lorain County Historical Society, Bill Bird says that this presentation was only the start and that more events are in the works.
“The Lorain County Historical Society and the Elyria Public Library are part of a committee with the Elyria Bicentennial called History and Education. We are trying to present some additional Elyria based programming during this bicentennial year and have at least one free program every month and maybe some extra ones as we get closer to the official celebrations,” Bird said.
He says that they will be holding an event to mark Founder’s Day on March 18 on the corner of Broad Street and East Bridge Street, and are hoping to hold a whole week’s worth of events in the summer to coincide with the official bicentennial celebrations. Bird said that he was encouraged by the amount of people who came out to the bicentennial kickoff and hopes that it paves the way for continued engagement as the year moves forward.