Shaker Farm in the Running for National Historic District Designation

Landing a spot on the National Register of Historic Places can help cities acquire federal money and residents qualify for tax benefits.

But for Cleveland Heights residents, the designation is primarily a source of pride. Though it can take a year or more to conduct research and complete the application, residents have volunteered throughout the years to have their neighborhood honored on the list.  

The National Park Service is now reviewing the application for what could be Cleveland Heights’ eighth historic district, Shaker Farm.

Kara Hamley O’Donnell, historic preservation planner for Cleveland Heights, said cities normally hire people to handle the lengthy, complicated process.

“What’s happened in Cleveland Heights, which I think is atypical, is since I’ve been here, every district that’s been listed under the national register has been a grassroots neighborhood effort,” said O’Donnell, who also provides assistance to residents. “It’s a lot of work … We have great citizens here who are willing to do that work. We are really lucky here.”

Mary Dunbar, , took on the Shaker Farm project after her neighbors worked on it for about two years and got discouraged.

“After I lost the last election, I decided that I was still in a phase in my life that I was going to devote to community service. So I decided to see if I could promote some of Cleveland Heights’ strengths,” Dunbar said.

The map included with this article, courtesy of the Cleveland Heights Planning & Development Department, outlines the properties included in the Shaker Farm Historic District. The district’s borders include Fairmount Boulevard to the south, Fairfax Road to the north,  to the west and Ashton Road to the east, according to a press release from the city of Cleveland Heights.

Dunbar spent about a year and a half on the more than 30-page application, and about eight people helped her with the project, she said. She researched architectural styles, the history of the district, people who developed the area and other details about the neighborhood.

According to her research, the first home was built in 1906, and 60 percent were constructed between 1910 and 1919. Before, the area was farmland occupied by the Shakers, but the Van Sweringen family took over in the early 1900s and started developing and marketing the area.

The approximately 265-acre district includes homes, carriage houses, two schools, a church and detached garages, she said. About 589 homes that were built between 1906 and 1935 qualify for historic status because that was during the Van Sweringen influence, while the 80 built after 1935 do not.

"In general, Shaker Farm Historic District reflects a trend at the time in suburban development along the lines of park, with curvilinear streets and judiciously preserved natural lakes, ravines, patches of woodland and other attractive bits of landscape," Dunbar said. "Hand-hewn stone sidewalks, expansive front lawns and gardens, towering trees and upscale, architect-designed homes are characteristic features of the district."

The city is hosting an information session and public hearing at 7 p.m. Sept. 27 at the for residents to hear more about the history of the neighborhood and what the designation would mean for residents. Dunbar and O’Donnell will both speak at the meeting.  

O’Donnell said the city should find out early next year whether the neighborhood will become a historic district.

“I think it builds neighborhood pride just having your neighborhood recognized at the national level,” she said, adding that the city hasn’t received some of the monetary benefits that can come with the honor. “When we put the signs up, people have been very excited.”

Dunbar said the southern portion of the district is in Shaker Heights and already on the national register as Shaker Village. She hopes the same honor is given to the Cleveland Heights side.

“I think it will help us appreciate the wonderful homes that we have in Cleveland Heights even more, to have that kind of recognition,” she said. “The historic district makes people appreciate (their homes) as they are and want to maintain them in a historically authentic way.”