Medina Steak House as Stagecoach Stop?

Medina Steak House, 538 West Liberty St.,  circa 2011 from
http://www.phdelicious.com/Restaurants/Medinasteak.htm

The old Medina Steak House, now the Serenite Restaurant and Culinary Institute, has a long oral tradition, often repeated, that it started its existence as a stagecoach stop. Also home to the Medina Recovery Center, in the past the building has been used as "a restaurant, an inn, a hotel, a brothel, a bookie joint, grocery store and as a stage coach stop."(Medina Post 2015 article)

Now I don't expect to find it listed as either a brothel or a bookie joint in published records. Since both those activities are illegal, the owners or operators would have taken action to keep their businesses clandestine and out of print. But surely a stagecoach stop would be documented, wouldn't it?

Maybe not.

Where is it written that the building was a stagecoach stop?

1.  A  Medina Sun Sentinel article published on 29 October 1981 about Medina Haunts, says "The building itself is filled with history, built about 1858 as a stagecoach stop then used as a train stopover..."
2.  A 14 March 2015,  Medina Post article written by Kevin McManus says, "The building itself was reportedly built by Harrison G. Blake as a stagecoach stop in 1858."

But I could not find any documentation earlier than those two articles.

First of all, some history:

In the U.S. stagecoaches and or boats (including canals) were the main method of public transportation until the railroads came in. In most areas of Ohio, railroads were the norm by the 1850's and in 1854, Medina leaders tried to bring a railroad in. A group of investors formed the Cleveland, Medina and Tuscarawas Railroad and purchased the right-of-way from Grafton to Seville. They graded the route and then tried to raise the money to lay down the tracks. They failed. It would be almost another 20 years before a railroad came to Medina.

Colton's railroad & township map of the state of Ohio from 1854

The red outlined black tracks represent railroad tracks - all outside of Medina County's borders.

Detail from the 1857 map of Medina County. The red star is approximately the location of the old
Medina Steak House. Nothing is located there on this map. It is just part of C. Hubbard's property.
The chopped curved line from top to bottom that is to the left of the star is the railroad bed for the failed
Cleveland, Medina, Tuscarawas Railroad.

Using Bob Hyde's "Beyond the Storefronts" web site and  newspaper articles, the building can be tracked back in time through its various incarnations.

1968 picture of the old Steak House from Bob Hyde's
"Beyond the Storefronts" web site.
Neither the microfilm or the NewspaperArchive digital images were as
clear as this photo of a clipping from Bob's collection.

Medina County Gazette ad for the Medina Steak House.
23 May 1968, page 3.

An earlier incarnation of the steak house, as Roepers.
Medina Gazette 2 Nov., 1945 page 4

An ad from 14 May 1925 Medina Sentinel.
The property was known as the Miller House or the
Miller House Hotel from 1900 to the 1930's.

Undated and uncited picture of the old Steak House from when it
was the Miller House Hotel from  Bob Hyde's
"Beyond the Storefronts" web site.

From 1884 to 1900, the building was named the Germania House Hotel, John Gluntz proprieter.

Prior to that it was called the Palmer House Hotel.

Under Bob's Palmer House Hotel listing for 1873-1874 he says, "Palmer House Hotel became a stagecoach inn and stop as indicated by teeth marks on posts by wood eating horses called cribbers".  The building did not have to be a stagecoach stop for cribbing horses to gnaw at its hitching rails.

In May of 1872, H. G. Blake sold property to J.W. Palmer. Dr. Palmer and his son built the hotel.

By 1875, the hotel had changed hands and W.L. Stoaks was the new
owner. Medina Gazette 12 Nov., 1875, page 2.

Perhaps Dr. Palmer and his son should have
stayed in the patent medicine business?
Medina Gazette 3 May 1872, page 4.

What is known for certain?

• As late as 1857 (map above) there was NOT a stage coach stop there. 
• The building is one half a mile west of uptown Medina. Why build a stage stop so far from the main business area at that time?
• The building that exists now at 538 West Liberty was built around 1872 by Dr. J.W. Palmer.
• The new railroad opened in November of 1871. There would be no need of a stage coach after that.            
• Was there a stagecoach stop there 1858-1871? It is still possible...

From the land and deed records available at FamilySearch.org, we learn that H.G. Blake bought and sold numerous properties from the 1850's through the 1870's. This indicates that he viewed land as investment opportunities.

Remember who owned the land according to the 1857 map above? C. Hubbard. In 1851, H.G. Blake bought 7 acres on the west side of Medina from Charles Hubbard and his wife. This was before the attempted railroad project of 1854. More land speculation? But why is C. Hubbard still listed as the owner in 1857?  An error in the map, like the railway bed line that is marked as a railroad line? He held onto the land until the 1870's, after the railroad came in. The value of the land would have greatly increased .

The two 19th century histories of Medina County, Pioneer History of Medina County (1861) and The History of Medina County and Ohio (1881) do not mention any stagecoach stop run by H.G. Blake. The coach lines mentioned that came through Medina are the Chidester House Hotel on the south side of the square and the American House Hotel on the north end of the square are both mentioned as stops at different times.

Browsing through the early newspaper from the 1850's and 1860's many advertisement for all sorts of services are found. Some of them promoting H.G. Blake's interests:

Medina County Gazette 26 May 1859, page 2.

Medina County Gazette 19 May 1859,page 2.

Medina County Gazette, 17 May 1872, page 1.

So clearly, Blake believed in advertising to promote his businesses. Why not promote a stage stop?

The answer might lie in this 1877 article criticizing the Palmer Hotel for selling liquor:

This wording seems to indicate that only land exchanged hands.
There was no building included, and no stagecoach stop.
Medina County Gazette 23 Feb., 1877, page 5

While this does not meet the standard of proof that there was never a stagecoach stop at that location, the lack of proof that there ever was one, does cast doubt on it.

What do you think?


SOURCES:

• Colton, G. Woolworth. Colton's railroad & township map of the state of Ohio, drawn by George W. Colton, engraved by J M. Atwood. New York, 1854. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . 
• Geil, John F. Map of Medina Co., Ohio. Philada.: Matthews and Taintor Publishers, 1857. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, .
• Hyde, Robert, "Beyond the Storefronts" MedinaSquare.org, accessed online September 2019.
• King, Joann, Medina County Coming of Age, 1810-1900, Angstrom Graphics, Cleveland, OH, 2016.
• Medina County Gazette
• "Blake, Booth, Tyler & Co., advertisement", 19 May 1959,page 2, Medina County Gazette microfilm at the Medina Library, accessed September 2019. 
• "Dr. Palmer & Son, advertisement, 3 May 1872, page 4, Medina County Gazette microfilm at the Medina Library, accessed September 2019. 
• "H. G. Blake, advertisement", 26 May 1859, page 2, Medina County Gazette microfilm at the Medina Library, accessed September 2019. 
• "Old Miller House Hotel", 5 July 1968, page 7, NewspaperArchive, accessed online through Akron Library, September 2019.
• 23 May 1968, page 3, NewspaperArchive, accessed online through Akron Library, September 2019.
• "Local Items", 23 February 1877, page 5, NewspaperArchive, accessed online through Akron Library, September 2019.
• "Palmer House, advertisement", 12 Nov., 1875, page 2,  NewspaperArchive, accessed online through Akron Library, September 2019.
• "Phoenix Bank, advertisement", 17 May 1872, page 1, Medina County Gazette microfilm at the Medina Library, accessed September 2019. 
• "Roepers Steak House, advertisement", 2 Nov., 1945, page 4, NewspaperArchive, accessed online through Akron Library, September 2019.
• Medina County Sentinel
• "The Miller House, advertisement" 11 June 1925, page 5, NewspaperArchive, accessed online through Akron Library, September 2019.
• Medina Post
• McManus, Kevin "Steakhouse Shuts Down", The Medina Post, 14 March 2015. http://www.thepostnewspapers.com/medina/local_news/medina-steak-seafood-shuts-down/article_6857006b-d74c-585a-8d03-1b0b5b9b9f04.html , accessed online September 2019
• "Medina Steakhouse" on PHDelicious.com circa 18 March 2011, accessed online September 2019. 
• Mershon, Peggy, "Stagecoaches Were A Familiar Sight", Mansfield News Journal, https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/history/2016/07/22/history-stagecoaches-were-familiar-sight/87432230/  , accessed online September 2019.
• Perrin, William Henry, History of Medina County and Ohio. Containing a History of the State of Ohio, From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Baskin & Battey, Chicago, IL, 1881. Accessed on Internet Archive September 2019. https://archive.org/details/historyofmedinac00perr/page/n6 
• "Record of deeds, 1818-1871; index to deeds, 1790-1923", Medina County Recorders Office, accessed online at FamilySearch.org September 2019.
• Shapiro, Eleanor, ed., Historical Highlights of Medina, Meyers Lithographers, Medina, OH, 1966.
• "Stagecoach Routes In Northern Ohio", Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western University, https://case.edu/ech/articles/s/stagecoach-routes-northern-ohio , accessed online September 2019.