Willoughby
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About
Willoughby
Country : United
States of America
State : Ohio
County : Lake
County
Population :
around 22.000
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French "couriers
du bois" were the first caucasians to explore the areas of Ohio around
present-day Willoughby, and by 1750 a French trading post had been established
at the mouth of the Chagrin River at Lake Erie. The first permanent settler
did not arrive here until 1798, however, when David Abbott built a gristmill
a couple of miles upstream. The river is broad and shallow here (which
made it an easy place for horses and wagons to ford across), so as roadways
were established it was a natural place for a village to develop.
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Today the city
limits of Willoughby extend along the banks of the Chagrin from Lake Erie
to a downtown area that is a bit inland and to the west.
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At first the
town was called Chagrin. It was renamed to Willoughby in 1835 in honor
of Dr. Westel Willoughby, the founder of an early Medical College
located there, who willed his estate to the village. The medical schools
at Case Western Reserve and Ohio State University trace their origin to
this progressive institution.
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and
this caused an influx
of
settlers in the early 1800's.
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For
a time, the United States Government offered land
grants
in Ohio in lieu of owed pay to military veterans,
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Many
of these former soldiers are buried in the cemeteriessurrounding the town.
This photograph
taken in 1914 shows the original
bandstand in
the town square ("Point Park")
(source: Willoughby
Historical Society)
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A
public square, reflecting New
England
surveying methods, was established at the center of the town, surrounded
by the City Hall and Court, a Public Library dating back to 1826, schools
and churches. It is in this park square that Willoughby's first bandstand
was erected, sometime before 1883.
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The original
bandstand was made of wood and eventually deteriorated. For some years
Willoughby had no bandstand.
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The
larger, more modern version as shown in these photos was built in 1985.
Music programs here are scheduled irregularly. Sometimes the musician's
union in Willoughby offers free concerts to the public.
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The bandstand
is also used in conjunction with an annual art festival and also the annual
town festival (called "Frontier Days").
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Concert
at Willoughby - August 2, 2007
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A
Heritage Brass performance
is
more than a concert,
it's
an event.
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From
Renaissance masterpieces to new works,
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every
concert is a
feast
for the heart,
mind,
and soul...
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