Shaker Heights in Cuyahoga County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

The Village Garden Club

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 6, 2024

1. The Village Garden Club Marker

Inscription. In 1930, nine women from Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights formally organized The Village Garden Club and set as its goal the beautification of Shaker Parklands with trees. At a time when women were excluded from environmental activism, the club's careful planning allowed members to lead civic improvements. Since its establishment, the club has planted and maintained flowering trees at Horseshoe Lake Park, pausing only during World War II. In the 1960s, The Village Garden Club and 34 other local organizations successfully fought the construction of the Clark-Lee Freeway. Club member Mary Elizabeth Croxton chaired the Park Conservation Committee that won the battle and established the Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center. The Village Garden Club continues its stewardship over the flowering grove with “civic and environmental responsibility” as its focus.

Erected 2022 by William G. Pomeroy Foundation • The Village Garden Club • The Shaker Historical Society • The Ohio History Connection. (Marker Number 147-18.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Fraternal or Sororal Organizations

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• Horticulture & Forestry. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1930.

Location. 41° 28.905′ N, 81° 33.605′ W. Marker is in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in Cuyahoga County. It is on South Park Boulevard 0.1 miles west of Attleboro Road, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 16980 South Park Blvd, Cleveland OH 44120, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Cleveland,

on the Lake Erie Shore,

and in the Western Reserve.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Horseshoe Lake (about 400 feet away, measured

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 6, 2024

2. The Village Garden Club Marker

in a direct line); Jacob Russell (approx. 0.2 miles away); Site of Center Family (approx. ¼ mile away); Shaker Gate Posts (approx. ¼ mile away); East Family (approx. 0.6 miles away); The Shaker Parklands / The Nature Center at Shaker Lake (approx. 0.9 miles away); Van Sweringen Demonstration House (approx. 1.1 miles away); a different marker also named Van Sweringen Demonstration House (approx. 1.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Shaker Heights.

Also see . . . Our History. In January 1930, a small group of visionary women from Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights, Ohio met to organize a garden club. That first spring, they planted 50 bare root trees and kept them alive with water they carried up from the lake in buckets. (The Village Garden Club) (Submitted on December 4, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Credits. This page was last revised on December 4, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 4, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 199 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 4, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.