The Stearns Homestead (22-18)
Posted by: 
boatchick
N 41° 22.488 W 081° 44.070
17T E 438578 N 4580625
The Stearns Homestead
Waymark Code: WM1A8Y
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 03/12/2007
Views: 82
Located at 6975 Ridge Road (OH-3) in Parma, Ohio. Stearns Farm is located on the east side of Ridge Road south of Parmatown Mall and Parma City Hall. The marker is close to the road, in front of the Stearns home. Although the marker was placed in 2001, it displays the bicentennial logo in the bottom left. The barn similarly has the bicentennial logo painted on it, though the "official" bicentennial barn for Cuyahoga County was the Wengatz barn in Middlebug Heights.
Side A : "The Stearns Homestead"
This 48-acre farm is the last remnant of an agricultural way of life that characterized Parma Township well into the 20th century. The farmhouse, built circa 1855 by Western Reserve settler Lyman Stearns, is representative of the Greek Revival style of architecture popular in this region prior to the Civil War. The "Yankee" style barn predates the house. Suburban development following World War II engulfed virtually all of this area by the 1950s. The Stearns Homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. (continued on other side)
Side B :
(continued from other side)
West Side Cleveland meat processor Earl C. Gibbs and his family bought the Stearns farm in 1919 and built the newer house in 1920. The family continued to graze cattle here through the 1970s, by which point the Parma suburbs had completely surrounded them. The City of Parma purchased the property from the Gibbs family in 1980 to preserve this unique remnant of Parma's rural heritage. The Parma Area Historical Society has since maintained it as a working educational and historic farm.
Marker Number: 22-18
County: Cuyahoga
Significance of Location: Place
Bicentenial Mark: yes
Website address: [Web Link]
Additional Coordinate: Not Listed
Additional Coordinate description: Not listed
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