• Image of bluebells in the spring

    Cuyahoga Valley

    National Park Ohio

There are park alerts in effect.
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  • Canal Visitor Center Closure

    Canal Visitor Center will be closed for construction, starting Monday, May 6, 2013. It will reopen with new exhibits in early 2014.

  • Riverview Road Closure

    Riverview Rd from the Cuyahoga Falls line north to the Peninsula line will be re-paved, beginning the week of April 22. Expect delays. Flaggers will direct traffic. Final resurfacing and striping will take place following the Memorial Day holiday.

  • Bald Eagle Closure in Effect

    RR tracks, and 30 foot right of way on either side, are closed to all foot traffic from the Rt. 82 Bridge at Station Rd, north to the RR tracks at. The Cuyahoga R. downstream of the Brecksville Dam to the Fitzwater Rd Bridge is closed to water activities.

Electricity, Paved Roads, and Model Ts

Earl car for sale.
Earl car at Ozmun Garage, Peninsula, 1930s.
NPS Collection
 

General technological advancements dramatically changed the living conditions of Cuyahoga Valley residents in the 20th century. When electricity and running water came to the valley, families could buy new household appliances and easily refrigerate food.

New pavement on valley roads meant easier and faster transportation of both people and goods. Road construction also served as a secondary job for many farmers who needed additional income to survive the Great Depression.

Irene (Szalay) Kusnyer remembers when Everett families began to get electricity and running water:

"It was '39 maybe '40 that electricity came in that area. And we immediately got an electric stove and an electric refrigerator. And running water… we could take showers. Life was beginning [to get] easier."
Irene (Szalay) Kusnyer, former Everett resident, 2011

 
Oral history audio.
In Their Own Words
Click the topics to hear stories about Cuyahoga Valley life.

Household Appliances (27 seconds)
Jan Thomas describes the new appliances her family could purchase once electricity came to Everett.

WPA Road Improvements I (38 seconds)
George Dittoe describes how the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Kendall Park/Truxell Road in the 1930s.

WPA Road Improvements II (27 seconds)
Model-T Fords (46 seconds)
Lights and Phone Lines (1 minute 51 seconds)
Willis Meyers and his son Ronnie describe WPA projects between Cleveland and Akron in the 1930s. Willis also talks about his experiences using Model-T Fords, rechargeable batteries for light bulbs, and 12-party phone lines.



Did You Know?

Photo of Bald Eagle taken in Cuyahoga Valley National Park where an eagle pair built their first nest in 2006. Photo by Martin Trimmer.

November is the time to be on the lookout for bald eagles performing aerial courtship displays. Once eagles have selected each other, they plunge through the air in very high dives, locking their talons and breaking apart just when it looks as though they will crash to the ground.