Tours From the Crypt

04/03/2025

This sad chapter of Cleveland’s history is buried at Lake View. We include this story in a number of our tours.
https://www.facebook.com/share/15zUbmCKjq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

On this day in 1908, 172 children and two teachers were trapped inside Lakeview Elementary in Collinwood and died in what started as a closet fire. Nineteen of these children could not be identified and were buried in a mass grave at Lake View Cemetery. On October 23, 1910, a twelve-foot monument was unveiled in honor of all of the victims of that tragic day.



https://collinwoodfire.org/7-monuments-and-memorials/

📸DRONE OHIO

24/01/2025

When Wade Chapel’s Tiffany window went to Paris for the 1900 World’s Fair, it was on display with another Tiffany window, Four Seasons, as seen on the left of the entrance in this picture. I snapped this while at the Morse Museum yesterday. Both windows were awarded gold.

22/01/2025

Here doing off-season research on Louis Comfort Tiffany, the designer of the interior of Wade Chapel. This museum has one of the the largest collection of Tiffany art in the world, including the “Tiffany Chapel” an interior of a chapel Tiffany designed for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

The founder of this museum, the late art historian Hugh F. McKean, stated that Tiffany likely designed the interior of Wade Chapel himself, as many elements of the chapel reflect those used in Tiffany's chapel for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

The chapel is roped off so I cannot get close to much to inspect for comparison, however, I immediately recognized the similarity between these candlesticks and the ones at Wade.

06/12/2024

Thank you for visiting this past fall. So glad you enjoyed the tour. It was a pleasure.

11/11/2024

To all our veterans: Thank you.

09/11/2024

Yesterday was my last day at Wade Chapel for the season, and I had the honor of assisting in this beautiful celebration of life service. Man began as the artwork of God, fashion by the Almighty in perfection in the Garden of Eden. Wade Chapel is the ideal setting, with its stunning Tiffany-designed interior & artwork, to celebrate the masterpiece of each life. ❤️ Wade will close for the season on Nov. 19th. Hours are 10-4pm daily.

01/11/2024

If you have any spare change, the Clifton Lagoons home of legendry lawman Eliot Ness (whose headstone is near Wade Chapel at Lake View) is on the market. Ness served as Cleveland's Safety Direction from 1935-1942.

Ness lived at this home with his second wife, Evaline McAndrews, whom he married in October of 1939. Evaline was a well-liked and popular socialite in Cleveland and had a career as a fashion artist.

They moved into "a boathouse" in the Clifton Lagoons that was owned by the Stouffer brothers. The third floor has windows on all sides and afforded Evaline a comfortable place to work on her sketches for the major department stores in Cleveland.

The historic castle-like home is one of the Lagoons’ most famous residences. It began as a boathouse for the 145′ yacht, La Belle, that belonged to Alexander Winton, (buried in Section 17 at Lake View). Winton was one of Cleveland’s auto pioneers --he later added the building and living quarters to the boathouse.

Sometime later, it was owned by Vernon Stouffer of Stouffer Foods who briefly rented it to Ness and his new wife. (Interestingly, Stouffer was a key witness in a mob shakedown trial -- read more about that in the link in comments.)

Ness bought Evaline a speedboat that she loved to crank up to its 35-miles per hour limit. She'd sometimes zip over to E. 9th St. in the boat to pick up Eliot after work and ferry him home.

Take a virtual tour at this link. It can be yours for a cool $3 million dollars (just 3 bedrooms and 2 baths -- but that view!)

Photos and Property Details for 830 BEACH ROAD, LAKEWOOD, OH 44107. Get complete property information, maps, street view, schools, walk score and more. Request additional information, schedule a showing, save to your property organizer.

26/10/2024

Oh deer! Look who I found tip toeing through the tombstones with me at the Haserot Angel late this afternoon.

22/10/2024

Great group on my last Twilight Tour of the season.

21/10/2024

What a spectacular weather weekend it was for trolley tours at Lake View! I had two great groups Sunday afternoon to end the season. Be sure to look for trolley tours next Spring!

18/10/2024

This morning at Wade Chapel we had students visiting from Edgewood Senior High School in Ashtabula. They were inspired by Tiffany’s work to sketch some of images. ❤️

18/10/2024

To the two guys on my Twilight Tour last night who were asking about the stunning Wesley masoleum in Section 32, here is a link to photos as it was being installed at Lake View.

I will also link in comments the Find a Grave listing I created with his obituary and also a link to another news story. By all accounts just a really wonderful man. Thanks for joining us last night!

https://www.facebook.com/100057080935557/posts/852259476686742/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

18/10/2024

Great Twilight Tour last night at Lake View and ended the evening with an amazing win by the Tribe!

To the lady who asked me about our international travels, the tour companies I have used are EF Tours, Pilgrim Tours, and Gate1 Travel. When planning my own trips, I have used a variety of local tour companies/guides to coordinate day trips, always reading reviews (TripAdvisor) to get feedback on the quality of the tour. This picture is from our trip to Bora Bora. (Didn’t see any graveyards there!)

14/10/2024

Lake View opened a Fall Foliage Trolley Tour for this Sunday at 9:30! I will not be the tour guide (my tours at 11:30 & 1:30 are sold out) but this is the last of the season! Tickets are $35/pp

Board the trolley and enjoy the beauty of Lake View’s urban forest while an expert guide highlights Lake View’s dynamic history. Water bottles are welcome on the trolley, but no food or other beverages. This tour will start from the Euclid Avenue Gate and last approximately 75 minutes. Boarding ...

14/10/2024

This Sunday I'll have lots of tombstone tourists on two trolley tours I'm leading at 11:30 & 1:30. We'll be highlighting the beautiful fall foliage and our seven Moses Cleveland Trees which you can read more about here:

Representing the Native Forest in a Garden Setting

13/10/2024

Help wanted:

13/10/2024

Spooky Season is here! Celebrate by attending these fun and informative talks & tours with Cleveland History Days: Buried Edition. Sponsored by Canalway Partners.

https://www.canalwaypartners.com/events

12/10/2024

Tiptoe through the tombstones at twilight with me! We had more than 50 on our Twilight Tour last night!! We each took half the group and then switched. Worked great! Loved sharing tales of Cleveland’s history buried at Lake View!