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Photo, Print, Drawing Medina Public Square, Bounded by Liberty, Court, Washington and Broadway Streets, Medina, Medina County, OH

[ Data Pages from Survey HALS OH-12  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Medina Public Square, Bounded by Liberty, Court, Washington and Broadway Streets, Medina, Medina County, OH

Names

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey, creator
  • Boardman, Elijah
  • Badger, Austin
  • Lindsley, Benjamin
  • Weed, D H
  • Cooley, Lathrop
  • Knopp, P Jeffrey, historian
  • Stevens, Christopher M, transmitter
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 2000

Headings

  • -  squares (open spaces)
  • -  parks
  • -  urban parks
  • -  walkways
  • -  concrete walkways
  • -  benches
  • -  gazebos
  • -  bandstands
  • -  lawns
  • -  recreation
  • -  bronze plaques
  • -  Ohio--Medina County--Medina

Latitude / Longitude

  • 41.138613,-81.863293

Notes

  • -  Entry 2017 HALS Challenge: Documenting City or Town Parks
  • -  Significance: Medina Public Square has had two distinctly different phases as a town park. The first one was that of a Village Green. This life began in 1819 and continued through the Civil War. This relatively short life was clearly a reflection of the needs of Medina's early pioneers. It first, and foremost, established the importance of the county courthouse in the everyday life of the region's citizens. It provided a common area for community celebrations, most notably those that commemorated the birth of a new nation. It served a utilitarian purpose for farmers who had to graze or temporarily herd their animals on the Square. And it provided a place for local military regiments to train for war. All of these functions were consistent with the needs of an agriculturally-based, pioneer society in the first half of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, America transitioned into an industrially-based society. This new society brought increased wealth to the nation allowing it to develop more substantial and creative buildings and products. In Medina, this transition was cleanly made as the result of fires that literally wiped away the old agriculturally based buildings by the 1870s. The second life of Medina Public Square is that of a Victorian Park, including the buildings and streets around it that rose from the ashes. As trees were planted, fountains built, a gazebo constructed, lights installed, and stone walks laid, the Square became a park that was a reflection of the Victorian society and people in it who were becoming wealthier, more educated, more sophisticated, and more diverse in their interests. It is also this character that resulted in the Square’s nomination as an historic district on the National Register in the 1970s. Most importantly, Medina Public Square has remained the central focal point of the City of Medina as well as the County of Medina since both were founded in 1818. This is just as Elijah Boardman had hoped it would happen when he developed a rectilinear town plan that was 237 acres in area in 1817. At the center of the town would be a public square 300' square (approximately two acres) in size that Mr. Boardman would donate for public use. To the west of the square, Elijah would donate four additional lots to the county that could be used for county buildings, including a courthouse and jail that would face towards the square. The purpose of this plan was to attract the newly formed county seat to a town that Boardman called Mecca, but would eventually become known as Medina. Elijah Boardman was able to sell his plan to the commissioners of Portage County which, at the time, encompassed the land area that would become Medina County. Mecca was declared the county seat for the newly formed Medina County in 1818 and sales of lots began immediately. The Public Square was cleared of virgin woods by 1819, the first jail built on one of the donated lots by 1820; and the first real county courthouse started on another one of the donated lots by 1819.
  • -  Survey number: HALS OH-12
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1819 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1975 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: after. 1980- before. 1989 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 75001483

Medium

  • Data Page(s): 16

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HALS OH-12

Source Collection

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • oh2020

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HALS OH-12
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, Elijah Boardman, Austin Badger, Benjamin Lindsley, D H Weed, Lathrop Cooley, and P Jeffrey Knopp. Medina Public Square, Bounded by Liberty, Court, Washington and Broadway Streets, Medina, Medina County, OH. Medina Medina County Ohio, 2000. translateds by Stevens, Christopher Mmitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/oh2020/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, C., Boardman, E., Badger, A., Lindsley, B., Weed, D. H., Cooley, L. & Knopp, P. J. (2000) Medina Public Square, Bounded by Liberty, Court, Washington and Broadway Streets, Medina, Medina County, OH. Medina Medina County Ohio, 2000. Stevens, C. M. & McPartland, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/oh2020/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, et al. Medina Public Square, Bounded by Liberty, Court, Washington and Broadway Streets, Medina, Medina County, OH. trans by Stevens, Christopher Mmitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/oh2020/>.