Sheffield Lake in Lorain County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Burrell Homestead

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 18, 2013

1. Burrell Homestead Marker

Inscription. In June 1815, Captain Jabez Burrell settled this land after coming from Sheffield, Massachusetts. Five years later the brick homestead was constructed. Five generations of the Burrell family occupied the homestead continuously from 1820 to January 2001 when Eleanor B. Burrell passed away. In 1836, the racially integrated Sheffield Manual Labor Institute, a branch of Oberlin College, was established at the Burrell Homestead, but the Institute closed the next year because the Ohio Legislature refused to grant its charter unless it excluded black students. From 1837 until the start of the Civil War, the homestead was a major stop on the Underground Railroad. Runaway slaves were hidden in the grain barn until Robbins Burrell could arrange for captains in Lorain, such as Aaron Root, to hide them on vessels for the trip across Lake Erie to freedom in Canada.

Erected 2003 by The Ohio Bicentennial Commission-The P&G Fund-The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 15-47.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Abolition & Underground RR. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series list. A significant historical month for this entry is January 2001.

Location. 41° 27.283′ N, 82° 6.25′

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W. Marker is in Sheffield Lake, Ohio, in Lorain County. It is on East River Road south of Colorado Avenue (Ohio Route 611), on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Sheffield Lake OH 44054, 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 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Valley Of The Giants (approx. 0.9 miles away); Black River Bridgeway Trail (approx. 0.9 miles away); Jay Terrell and his "Terrible Fish" (approx. 2.9 miles away); In memory of the Brookside Graduates Who Gave All in the Vietnam War (approx. 2.9 miles away); Lorain County Community College (approx. 3.3 miles away); Shipbuilding (approx. 3½ miles away); Timeline of Dr. Norton S. Townshend (approx. 3.6 miles away); Norton S. Townshend, M.D. (approx. 3.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sheffield Lake.

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 18, 2013

2. Burrell Homestead Marker

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 18, 2013

3. Burrell Homestead Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on August 10, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 3,219 times since then and 142 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 10, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Al Wolf was the editor who published this page.