he Weymouth Preservation Society is dedicated to preserving the history and enhancing the beauty of our historic Western Reserve village. We have restored the historic 1925 Weymouth School into a museum with exhibits of local history.
We are open the second Sunday from March through December from 2-4 or by appointment!
We have accessioned over 1000 items and photographs relating to our history. Your donations are welcome and will be well documented and cared for. This “walking” spinning wheel was owned by the Blakslee family, pioneers to Weymouth in 1817.
Take a look in this document to see if you now live in a “Lost” Medina Place.
Have you ever driven over the Rocky River on Cook Road? We now have a brief history of the bridges from Cook Road. Check it out!
Weymouth Mural Restoration
In the summer of 1968, the owner of the Weymouth gas station, Zed Davis, paid Craig Staufer $200 to paint a mural of historic Weymouth
on the wall behind the bar. Craig was only 16 but already well known for his artistic abilities. Craig talked to some of the older village residents and did lots of his own research to come up with how the village may have looked in 1856. Over the years time took its toll on the mural. The current owners, Rob and Marlene Shurell, (at left) looked for years to find someone to restore the mural. Janet Baran, new to Medina but a life-long professional artist with ties to Weymouth’s Lathrop Seymour, answered the call. Thanks to Rob, Marlene, Craig and Janet for bringing this beautiful and historic mural to life. The Methodist Episcopal Church (1845-1906) above Marlene’s head was totally missing.
Weymouth Church Restoration
The WPS is supporting the restoration of the historic Weymouth Church, sponsored by Susan McKiernan. It is the oldest church in the county, built in 1835. We have restored the cupola and front doors, had sixteen 11’ cedar shutters built, painted and installed and are now preparing the original windows for new cedar storm windows.
The Medina Township Police Department has donated the uniform of the first Chief of Police, Ken Turk who served from 1978 to 1995. In 1977, a trustee approached Turk, who was a county Sheriff’s Deputy at the time, about starting a police department to increase officer availability for residents and road coverage. Officers worked on a volunteer basis and eventually became full time and fully paid. Now, 10 full time officers are employed, plus the Chief of Police. The uniform is on display at the WPS Museum.
This year, the WPS was awarded an Ohio Historic Marker for the Weymouth Church. It was built in 1835 as the First Congregational Society and served until 1920 when it became the Weymouth Community Church. Our 49-page application was also awarded a grant to cover the nearly $3500 cost. The church building is important because the facade, though sided, is a nearly original example of the Greek Revival architectural style. Also, it is the oldest church building in Medina County and one of the oldest in Ohio, and it had a strong presence in the anti-slavery movement. In 1848, the congregation drafted 14 resolutions against slavery that they expected the Northeast Ohio presbytery to adopt. When they were refused, they withdrew and joined the Oberlin presbytery. The most famous abolitionist of the day, William Lloyd Garrison spoke at the church in 1853.
A question that we hear often! The original area of Weymouth was the entire township, into what is now Medina City, and into Granger, Brunswick and Hinckley Townships. Weymouth had the only post office, “high school” (to 8th grade), stores, and churches in that entire area. People got their mail addressed as “Weymouth, Granger Township, Medina county, Ohio”. Other small neighborhoods in the Township were Hamilton’s Corners (one-room schoolhouse and cemetery), Fenn’s Corners (schoolhouse), Windfall (schoolhouse and cemetery), Bagdad, Northropville (schoolhouse and private family cemetery), and Medina Center (schoolhouse, cemetery and township hall). Weymouth had a post office from the 1820s to 1906.
Follow this link below to the diaries of Newman L. Van Deusen (1847-1930) that span 67 years of his life! Van Deusen lived in nearby Hinckley, Ohio, and wrote in his diary every day from 1863 to 1929. These notes were transcribed from over 24,000 pages in the original journals, now housed at the Hinckley Historical Society. His writings are valuable in understanding the incredible changes that took place during his lifetime, right in our own local area.
Van Deusen Diaries 1847-1930
The township’s first school was a log church built on March 11, 1817. Eliza Northrop was the first teacher. Other Weymouth one-room schoolhouses were built in 1829 and 1840. In 1872 the Weymouth Sons of Temperance Hall was purchased by the school and a “high school” (to 8th grade) was added. In 1925 the village residents built a two-classroom brick school designed by noted Cleveland architect Paul Tressler Cahill. That school served until 1956. Of five schoolhouses from 1817-1956, four still stand. Follow this link to information about the teachers.
Here is a link to doctors who practiced in Weymouth from 1829 to 1937. Their biographies show the interesting careers that the doctors had in Weymouth and beyond. Dr Frank Young was our well-loved doctor from 1870 to 1895. He served as a surgeon in the Civil War and had a “cabinet of curiositie,” a collection of interesting and rare animals, birds and minerals.
Take a trip back in time and see how Medina played an important role in early aviation.
2023 Activities 
Ladies’ Bygones: Accessories 1820s to 1960s. Over 100 items of women’s fashion, dressing table and sewing accessories from fans to poodle skirts.
The WPS Museum is open the second Sunday of each month from March through December from 2pm-4pm or by appointment.
The Weymouth Preservation Society will present Carol Starre-Kmiecik as legendary newscaster, radio and TV broadcaster, commentator and writer Dorothy Fuldheim. The diminutive redhead began her television career on WEWS-TV 5 in 1955 and many of us grew up with her. She traveled all over the world interviewing notables such as Golda Meir, Chiang Kai-Shek, Gypsey Rose Lee, the Duke of Windsor, Bob Hope, and Mussolini. Her penchant for adding her own commentary and opinions to her interviews and newscasts endeared and occasionally enraged her viewers.
A dessert reception will follow. Sunday, March 19 at 2:00 pm. Doors open at 1:30 to visit our exhibit on “Ladies’ Bygones: Accessories 1820s to 1950s.”
Tickets are $26 ($22 for WPS members) by sending a check to WPS 3314 Myers Rd Medina 44256. Please include your email or text.
Handicapped restrooms and parking adjacent. 330-697-4320 for more information.
The 2023 WPS Plant Faire is planned for May 13, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Weymouth School, 3314 Myers Road. Annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, vegetables, herbs and gardening books/items will be available.
This year, the WPS will take part in Medina County’s Dandelion Drive. Stop and see our museum exhibit, and a display on our house plaqueing program. Event, parking and restrooms are accessible.
Community Potluck Dinner, August 26, 2023, 6pmEveryone whose heart is in the greater Weymouth community is welcome to come and visit with friends and neighbors. We will provide plates, silverware, tables, coffee, tea and water. BYO beer or wine. Please bring an entrée, side dish, salad or dessert to share.
The Weymouth community-wide lawn sale is a tradition now spanning well over 50 years! The WPS will be open. Check out our museum, learn from historic displays, play vintage children’s outdoor games, and enjoy a root beer float! Lawn sales at the school, as well as at local residences.
Presented by Christie Weininger, Director of the Hayes Presidential Museum
The novelist never married but love, courtship and matrimony are a central theme to her works, through her characters and plot lines. Lunch will be provided. Tickets $28 by sending a check to WPS at above address. Saturday, December 9 at noon. Come early to see our new exhibit on Ladies’ Accessories.
The cemetery, located on Remsen Road across from the WPS, has 277 historic graves. There is a self-guiding brochure at the entrance. Free parking at the school. The graves include soldiers from the War of 1812, the township’s first schoolteacher Eliza Northrop, and other interesting people. The gravestones were cleaned and restored by the WPS and the township trustees in 2014.
The WPS and the Medina County Visitors’ Bureau have written a self-guided driving tour of Medina township. Follow this link: www.visitmedinacounty.
Past 2022 Events 
As a part of its celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Medina County Historical Society, the society will take the lid off of 200+ years of the “Art of Quilts and Coverlets.” On March 26, 2022 the society will sponsor a Quilt Show at the Weymouth Preservation Society’s Museum. From noon until 4 pm the show will display multiple quilts and coverlets from the society’s collection and several private collections. A donation of $5.00 is requested, and masks will be required.
On Sunday, October 16, 2022, parapsychologist Brandon Massullo will give an author’s talk and book signing at the school at 3:00pm. His new book will “shed light on the ghostly lore surrounding Medina County’s restaurants, libraries, freeways, parks, and more. In 1906, the Woman in Black so terrified residents in Medina Square that a curfew was imposed. Restless spirits, rattling chains, and nefarious deeds are rumored to have occurred in a farmhouse in Sharon Township. Legend has it that about 100 years ago a witch preyed on the residents of Liverpool Township, and the ghost of a teenage boy is said to haunt the men’s restroom at Plum Creek Park in Brunswick Hills”. $6 at the door ($5 for WPS members). Parking and restrooms are accessible. Just in time for Halloween!
The Holiday Luncheon will be back in 2022, following a wonderful event last December. The presentation topic will be “Perils of Petticoats” women’s fashion of the Civil War era. Tickets are $25 ($20 for WPS members). With your check to the WPS, please add your phone or email and with whom you would like to be seated.
WPS Info and Opportunities! 
“Take a book, leave a book”. Stop by our Little Free Library at the school. Grab a book and “read, rest, reflect and relax” on the bench.
Trick-or-Treating by hay wagon and hot chocolate to warm us up!
As part of Weymouth’s Bicentennial observation in 2017, the WPS offers plaques for houses in the historic greater Weymouth area. They are 9” x 15”, solid aluminum, with our pinecone logo. The plaques cost $90 each ($80 for members), but the WPS will underwrite half the cost for buildings over 100 years old. The plaque will show the date of the building and its original owner, which we will research for you. If you would like to order one, Please contact Scott Benson at weymouthpreservation@gmail.com
We welcome your participation in our events and activities. Please provide your email address or phone if you’d like to be on our mailing list.
Any amount welcome!
If you have any photographs, artifacts or information to share, your items would be welcome as tax-deductible donations or loans. We’ll take good care of them!
Volunteers are always welcome!