Brownhelm Historical Society plans bicentennial

With widespread loss of crops, malnutrition and starvation, Colonel Henry Brown of Stockbridge, Mass., traveled to Ohio in 1817 to the Western Reserve area to look for land to purchase.

Brown chose a large parcel of land along the Lake Erie shore, returned east and entered into a contract with the Connecticut Land Company for Brownhelm Township, which was known then only as “Number Six in Range Nineteen.”

In fall and winter of 1816-17, Brown traveled with several young men and selected for himself a tract of land about a square mile, in the northeast corner of the town near the lake shore.

Brown was accompanied by several young men who assisted in building a log house for him. Some of these men who came with Brown returned east, but four of them remained and were around when the first three families arrived.

The men were Peter P. Pease, William Alverson, Charles Whittlesey and William Lincoln. Then, the men were single, but they subsequently married and settled in the area.

Thus, in 1817, Brownhelm Township was created.

Brown chose the name Brownhelm based on his surname and the Saxon word “hem” or “helm,” meaning “home” or “dwelling place,” translating to “Brown’s home.”

Today, members of Brownhelm Historical Association are honoring the history with a year’s worth of activities to celebrate its bicentennial.

The Brownhelm Historical Association was created in 1993 by residents to preserve Brownhelm’s history for future generations. The group has over 170 members dedicated to the Historical Association.

Marcia DePalma, head of the Historical Association’s programs, events and membership, said the bicentennial is a celebration.

“We are trying to bring the community together,” DePalma said. “We don’t really have a town like other places; we are just a community.”

The drive behind the bicentennial is the ongoing renovation of the former Brownhelm school, 1940 North Ridge Road, which closed in 1988.

The school now named Historic Brownhelm School and Museum, will be used as a meeting place for the group, a place to host fundraisers and a museum to hold historical artifacts from the school’s past.

“This bicentennial will lead up to the new Brownhelm school,” DePalma said. “We will have a ceremony that will re-enact the school’s history.”

For more information on the bicentennial, visit http://www.brownhelmhistory.org.

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL The main hallway of the former Brownhelm school is lined with pictures of graduating classes from throughout the school’s history.