• Image of bluebells in the spring

    Cuyahoga Valley

    National Park Ohio

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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.

Farmers' Markets

West Side Market, 1947.

Vendor selling beets at Cleveland's West Side Market, 1947.

Courtesy/Cleveland Press Collection

Nineteenth-century improvements in transportation allowed Cuyahoga Valley farmers to take advantage of markets in Cleveland and Akron. Before the canal was completed in 1827, farmers had to take their produce by wagon to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River to be shipped to larger markets. Often, a farmer's produce would spoil on the way to Cleveland, left on shore waiting for a delayed boat. With the canal and later the railroad (in use by 1852), farmers could more easily ship products and buy machinery. For example, dairy farmers could ship milk and cheese to the growing consumer markets with less risk of spoilage.

From the 1840s onward, many regional farmers traveled to Cleveland's West Side Market to sell their products. The city contained additional markets in operation during the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Central Market (later the New Central Market), and the Sheriff Street Market. The farmers' market in Akron operated on Beaver Street from the 1920s through the 1970s.
 
Farmers' market.

Countryside Farmers' Market at Howe Meadow.

©Denny Reiser

Modern farmers currently take advantage of the increasing popularity of farmers' markets, both in and outside of the Cuyahoga Valley. To prepare for the market, farming families work hard to pick and polish fruits and vegetables for sale. On market day, farmers get up early, drive their products to market, and interact with crowds of customers. Farmers' markets also offer exciting venues for farmers to exchange ideas, and for customers to support local and healthy foods.

Click to learn more information about Countryside Farmers' Markets and how farmers prepare to sell their products.

 
Oral history audio.

In Their Own Words
Click the topic to hear stories about Cuyahoga Valley life.

Cleveland Markets (34 seconds)
Irene Kusnyer, who grew up on the Szalay farm in Everett, describes how her relatives spent long hours travelling to the Cleveland markets, waking up at 2 a.m. and returning later that night.

Farmers' Market in Akron (36 seconds)
Lee Darst, who worked with her father on the Bender Farm in Northampton from the 1950s through the 1970s, shares her memories about the farmers' market in Akron.




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.