The Shaker Historical Society and Museum has a rich history marked by its successful establishment and resilience in overcoming challenges to secure a permanent location. The Museum presents historical artifacts and educational programs that extend beyond the North Union Shaker community, engaging Shaker Heights residents in public history. The legacy of the Van Sweringen brothers, who influenced the design of city streets and community values, is deeply embedded in the area’s physical layout and reflected in the Museum's role within the community.

Building on this foundation of historical interest, the story of the North Union Shaker community itself is central to understanding the origins of Shaker Heights. Founded by Ralph Russell in 1822, the Shaker community occupied the lands now known as Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights. Although the community disbanded in 1889, its utopian ideals left a lasting legacy that helped shape the vision of the master-planned suburb. Interest in the Shakers within the community began to grow in the mid-1920s, when the Shaker Heights School District started incorporating local history into its educational programs. Teachers Edythe Turner and Pearl Lee Stark played a pivotal role in this effort, collecting Shaker artifacts and embedding them into the third-grade curriculum, ensuring that future generations would engage with this important chapter of the area’s past.

The Shaker community attracted interest from several institutions in the Cleveland area, with Wallace H. Cathcart, former director of the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS), initiating the Shaker collection in 1911. Today, the WRHS holds approximately 900 Shaker photographs from 1860 to 1920, which were vital in shaping a coherent public understanding of the North Union Shaker community’s legacy. Caroline B. Piercy, a Shaker Heights resident, extensively studied the Cathcart collection and published The Valley of God’s Pleasure: A Saga of the North Union Shaker Community in 1951. Her research led to connections with other local residents, including Rev. John M. Schott, Cary Alburn, Benjamin Jenks, and Councilman John A. Hecker, who took a major step in preserving this history by founding the Shaker Historical Society and Museum (SHS). Elizabeth B. Nord, the Museum's volunteer curator for twenty years until her death in 1972, was also instrumental in this effort. The Society began gathering Shaker artifacts and donations, hosting its first garden party on June 11, 1948, in the Shaker Room of the WRHS.

Over the next twenty-two years, the Shaker Historical Society relocated seven times before settling into a storefront at 3488 Lee Road in 1968. However, this location proved unsustainable due to high costs, prompting the board to seek a more permanent home for the Society and Museum. In 1966, a special board meeting was held in the basement of Boulevard School to discuss the donation of the Myers mansion. Designed by architect Daniel Reamer in 1910 for Louis Myers of the Van Sweringen Company, the mansion was being negotiated by his son, Frank Myers, as a potential permanent home for the SHS. The Myers mansion was historically significant, situated on the original site of the Shaker settlers’ farm and near Horseshoe Lake, created by the settlers’ dam. Despite this, local residents and neighbors at the time strongly opposed the Museum’s move into the area. Their concerns about relocating the Museum to a residential neighborhood reflected the nineteenth-century ideals behind the Van Sweringen brothers’ vision of an ideal “utopia.” In response, Mayor Paul K. Jones decided to allow neighborhood residents to voice their opinions based on issues of zoning policies.

The Van Sweringen brothers sought to control property values in Shaker Heights through deed restrictions, a common practice in American suburban development. By promoting homeownership, they aimed to stabilize property values and prevent “undesirable” neighbors, enforcing both aesthetic standards and racial covenants. In 1925, they introduced Restriction No. 5, which encouraged residents to return old property deeds for approval before selling. Zoning regulations were also implemented, designating certain areas for single-family homes while allowing commercial use in other zones. The northern areas of South Park Boulevard and Lee Road were reserved for single-family residences, while the neighborhoods south of South Woodland Road and Van Aken Boulevard were subject to a mix of zoning types. Together, Restriction No. 5 and the expanded zoning regulations reinforced the Van Sweringen brothers' vision of a white, upper-to-middle-class "utopia."

Although Shaker was well on its way to becoming a community that embraced social diversity, the Van Sweringen vision of exclusivity and zoning control was echoed decades later when the Shaker Historical Society's proposal to relocate to the South Park Boulevard neighborhood faced resistance. Much like the earlier concerns over "social invasion" and zoning laws, opponents feared the impact of the Society's move on the residential character of the area. To bypass these objections, trustee Frank Myers donated the property to the state with vice president William R. Van Aken handling the legal complexities of the transfer, enabling the Society to contract with the State Department of Public Works and avoid city zoning regulations.

This effort to overcome zoning resistance marked a pivotal moment in the Shaker Historical Society's development and expansion. Drawing on this achievement, the Society began to shift its focus toward broader public engagement. The president of the SHS at the time, William Van Aken, discussed opening the Museum to all residents of northeastern Ohio, and the public was first invited into the space during a tour conducted around the Shaker Lakes in 1970. Building on this momentum, the Women's Committee of the SHS was established in June 1971 to increase interest, funding, and volunteer support for the museum. In 1972, Elizabeth Nord made a significant contribution by donating her personal library to the SHS and receiving the Golden Deeds Award from the Exchange Club of the Heights. Tragically, she passed away from a heart attack just four months later. The 1980s marked a period of expansion for the Society, which showcased four major exhibits and elected its first female president in 1988, further solidifying its commitment to inclusive public history.

The success of these early efforts laid the groundwork for the Shaker Historical Society’s continued growth and evolution. As the Society expanded its reach and strengthened its community ties, it also began to reflect the values and identity of Shaker Heights itself. The suburb, deeply intertwined with the concept of "home," influenced the Society’s transition into a single-family residence, further aligning its mission with the broader emphasis on home and place that defines the area. By broadening its focus from solely representing the Shakers to engaging more deeply with the diverse local community, the Shaker Historical Society and Museum is forging a new identity for public history in Shaker Heights—one that reflects the suburb's contemporary values while enriching its historical narrative.

Today, the Shaker Historical Society and Museum, along with the Elizabeth B. Nord Memorial Library and Archives, operates in its permanent location at 16740 South Park Boulevard. Despite past resistance, the museum now stands as a hub for public history, education, and community development, honoring the legacy of the North Union Shakers on the very land they once inhabited.

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"Urban renewal is black removal." So said 24th Ward Councilman Leo Jackson, a fiery African American politician who advocated for the advancement of his ward. This short but poignant quote summarized his feelings about urban renewal projects in Cleveland, which Jackson believed "created a market for slum operators" and forced African Americans out of their homes. The councilman is known for his efforts in fighting against slum operators and for his attempts to abolish the Board of Zoning Appeals, which unfortunately never came to fruition. The solution, according to Jackson, was to enforce strict zoning standards within Glenville in order to fight urban blight because assisting the community from within was less harmful to the well-being of urban residents than removing Glenville's existing structures and starting from scratch. For these reasons and the unsuccessful attempts to implement urban renewal in the Hough and Central neighborhoods, Councilman Jackson did not support urban renewal, especially "The Glenville Plan."

In the mid-twentieth century, African Americans were moving into Glenville and the Jewish population of Glenville, the former majority in the area, was moving out. This shift a common trend in the United States during the era of the Second Great Migration, when African Americans moved into northern cities such as Detroit, Chicago, and Cleveland. As the African American population in Glenville soared, the neighborhood suffered from overcrowding and deteriorating buildings due to the greed and neglect of the landlords who divided single-family homes into multi-family dwellings and failed to maintain their rental properties. The population shift also led to businesses leaving the Glenville neighborhood as they followed the Jewish population into the suburbs. On a national level, as urban areas decayed, plans for urban renewal emerged. Proposed in 1964, the Glenville Plan was created to remedy the urban blight that was creeping its way into the neighborhood as the demographics of the area were changing.

Like the federally funded University-Euclid urban renewal project to its south and west, the Glenville Plan claimed to be able to transform the crowded, disordered, and unplanned neighborhood to a planned, well-ordered place that was both pleasant and livable. Although the Plan claimed to preserve most residential neighborhoods, it would have altered the residential makeup of the area by reconfiguring residential neighborhoods. In addition, new housing would also have included tall-tower apartments, rowhouses, and walk-up apartments by razing the structures along the southeast corner of Glenville and along Lakeview Road.

Along with housing, other features of Glenville's urban renewal included the creation of a new shopping center, improving existing traffic patterns, and a new school that would also be utilized as a neighborhood center. To accommodate the retail decline, the Plan designed a shopping center along East 105th Street. The design of the center included two new buildings and ample off-street parking. The Plan also aimed to improve east-west travel by widening the streets of Greenlawn and Parkgate into three lanes and creating through streets to better connect the city. Finally, the Plan would have removed Parkwood School on East 110th Street and constructed a larger school with athletic fields and walkways for community use to promote student safety and community involvement. Most importantly, Glenville residents were encouraged, within the Plan, to begin the urban renewal process in their own homes by performing maintenance on their properties.

However, the Glenville Plan became just another urban fairytale. Not only did Leo Jackson spearhead opposition, so did the black professional class who had moved up into the large homes of the East Boulevard and Wade Park sections, which they tended to see as separate from Glenville. Fearing that Glenville might become "another Hough" if subjected to urban renewal, they spoke out. Ultimately, however, the plan faltered because after 1966, Cleveland had fallen out of favor with the federal government for its abysmal record of urban renewal failures, and then the Glenville Shootout turned the neighborhood into a war zone in the summer of 1968, dashing any lingering hopes of action. Like the plans for the Hough and Central neighborhoods where there were good intentions on paper, the Glenville Plan never became a reality.

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Shaker Square is neither located in Shaker Heights nor shaped like a square, but ask for directions to the coffee shop at "Cleveland Octagon" and you'll most likely receive only confused looks in return. Shaker Square has always been shaped like an octagon. And Shaker Square is indeed located in the city of Cleveland, just west of its border with Shaker Heights. Strict zoning regulations originally prohibited the construction of apartment complexes and commercial buildings in Shaker. Thus, the dense residential neighborhood and bustling shopping center the Van Sweringen brothers developed would serve as a gateway to Shaker Heights, but remain apart from it.

The origins of Shaker Square date to 1922, when real estate developer Josiah Kirby purchased land along Shaker Boulevard from the Van Sweringens. Kirby began building the upscale Moreland Courts apartment complex and planned to build shops and more apartments, but he soon went bankrupt. The Van Sweringens subsequently reacquired the land and planned a retail development of their own, as well as a high-density residential neighborhood and the completion of the Moreland Courts. Their original intent, developed during the height of the streetcar era, was to place this shopping village inside Moreland Circle, a roundabout where South Moreland (later Van Aken) Boulevard split off from Shaker Boulevard. But this design did not leave enough room for automobile parking, so what might have remained a circle instead became an octagon – not a square.

Architect Philip Small – a favorite of the Vans who also designed their Daisy Hill estate and a series of Demonstration Homes on South Woodland Boulevard – designed Shaker Square with four buildings set around a "village green" which the Shaker Rapid ran through. Each building featured a two-story center section flanked on either side by a one-story wing. Small designed the buildings in the Georgian Revival style with red-brick exteriors, white trim, and slate roofs. After more than two years of construction, Shaker Square opened in 1929 as the nation's third-oldest planning shopping center (after Market Square in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Country Club Plaza in Kansas City). It contained a variety of high-end shops, restaurants, and professional offices.

After the construction of Shaker Square, Shaker Heights' zoning restrictions were eventually eased to allow apartments and shops in a number of areas of the city. Thanks to its rare status as one of Cleveland's only truly transit-oriented developments, Shaker Square remained a popular shopping and dining destination, and the apartment buildings surrounding it continued to attract residents. The Colony Theater opened on the Square in 1937. The Halle Bros. Co. opened its first suburban branch in a new building adjacent to the original Shaker Square in 1948.

However, the shopping district began to struggle with rising vacancy in the 1970s as a result of growing competition from suburban malls. The nonprofit Friends of Shaker Square (later Shaker Square Area Development Corporation) formed in 1976 and undertook the first of several attempts to revitalize Shaker Square. One of these efforts involved attracting national retailers, a controversial move that favored a wealthier clientele and seemed to ignore the total community that looked to this node. In 2000, Wild Oats Market, Chico, Ann Taylor Loft, and The Gap joined the locally owned Joseph-Beth Booksellers in a short-lived answer to mall competition, but within a few years these stores departed.

Beginning in 2004, a new owner, the Coral Company, operated Shaker Square for the next eighteen years, adding new signage and bringing in businesses that reflected the Square's location astride neighborhoods with increasingly divergent incomes. Popular restaurants such as Fire, Zanzibar, Yours Truly, Balaton, and Edwin's became a more important part of the retail mix, while a Dave's Supermarket and CVS Pharmacy ensured that the Square remained a vital resource for surrounding neighborhoods. The North Union Farmers Market further enlivened Shaker Square every Saturday during the growing season.

Despite its many bright spots, Shaker Square began to show the effects of deferred maintenance, and the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a crisis that brought a district to the brink of foreclosure. In 2022, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Burten Bell Carr Development partnered to buy Shaker Square with plans to undertake its revitalization. As its centennial approaches, Shaker Square remains an essential space where the city and suburbs meet.

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Accompanied by a photograph of the recently constructed home at what is now 17400 South Park Boulevard, a 1910 Cleveland Plain Dealer article muses: "Shakers Would Be Surprised Were They To Return and See The Van Sweringen Home". The image centers on a stone pathway leading through a beautifully maintained and vast lot. A mansion can be seen in the distance, hidden away behind a grouping of well-placed trees. The brief article continues to ooze over the country home, exclaiming it to be "as large...as the royal stable of the czar, and as elegant as a genii palace in the Arabian nights, yet as homelike and refined as...a Maxfield Parrish drawing." Moving beyond the author's assertion that the residence was sufficient bait for the bachelor Van Sweringen boys to enter into a married state when they became ready, the massive home was a reflection of the elite suburban community envisioned and sold by the brothers.

Ten years prior to the publication of the Plain Dealer article, Oris Paxton and Mantis James Van Sweringen, 21 and 19 respectively, were just entering the business of real estate. Having worked a series of odd jobs since their early teens, neither had much experience in land speculation. This quickly culminated in a failed first effort to develop land in Lakewood, where a foreclosure judgment was entered against them after they overextended their debt. Soon after, however, they would try their hand in the real estate business again. The Shaker Land Co. - a group of Buffalo real estate developers - had purchased land on the outskirts of Cleveland's east side in 1892. The grounds had previously been owned by the United Society of Shakers. The syndicate of developers did little to develop the area beyond extending preexisting boulevards to the Gordon Park. In 1904, it was announced that the land would be subdivided and sold for building lots. The Van Sweringens approached the land company with a deal. Having little money, they would take an option on a small piece of land for 30 days. If they chose to exercise their option, they would be given a second option for double the amount of land. Each time they exercised their option, they would be allowed to continue this process. Employing the expertise of F.A. Pease Engineering Company, the brothers quickly cleared, surveyed, platted and sold the land. After two years, the Van Sweringens had created their own land company and purchased the Shaker Land Co.'s remaining property in what was to become the Village of Shaker Heights.

The Van Sweringens were not just selling land, they were developing and marketing a product. The affluent community was to be the antithesis of the crowded, polluted, chaotic City of Cleveland. Possibly influenced by the Garden City Movement - or just observant of the successes and failures of rail suburbs that had found increased popularity throughout the United States at the turn of the century - the brothers intertwined romantic ideals of rural life, nature, and order to develop an elite suburban community. The area was to be primarily residential, with commercial establishments segregated from the housing. There was to be no industry. Land was divided into sections, each with its own set of standards. This promoted some diversity in housing stock, but ensured the value of the more affluent districts. The bucolic neighborhoods were characterized by large lots of land, winding boulevards, and plentiful green spaces. Houses lining the boulevards were set back between 50 and 2,000 feet. Development standards and restrictive building codes ensured the conservative and visually appealing character of the structures. In addition to the education standards required of all architects, the Van Sweringens reserved the right to refuse any building plan or potential home owner. This planned community was designed for the affluent. Even the transportation into and out of the suburb was envisioned for use by the social elite as electric trains would provide transit directly to Cleveland's business and commercial district. No plans were made to provide connections to industrial or residential areas.

The Van Sweringen mansion on South Park was a gleaming example of everything that the brothers desired in their community. Designed by architect H.T. Jeffrey in a Tudor Revival style, the massive structure offered visions of country estates in far-off European villages. The fairly asymmetrical building captured the conservative, simplistic character of this style while also maintaining its symbolic rejection of mass production. Obscured by trees and tucked away from the boulevard on an expansive, well-maintained lawn, the setting contradicted realities of city life. These contradictions were the foundation from which the Van Sweringen brothers successfully inscribed meaning and economic value to their land holdings, laying the groundwork for the successful development of an exclusive suburb. The Van Sweringen brother's home was designated a Shaker Heights Landmark on September 27, 1999.

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The Fairmount Temple in Beachwood was the last home of Anshe Chesed, a Reform congregation of more than 1,500 families, prior to its 2024 merger with Temple Tifereth Israel to form Mishkan Or. Fairmount Temple, bearing the name of the street on which it was located, followed the tradition of Cleveland's original Jewish congregation of German immigrants. Percival Goodman, a New York architect was assisted by Clevelander Sigmund Braverman to design the facility following World War II when congregation members were moving eastward from their downtown neighborhoods. In 1948, 32 acres of land was purchased along Fairmount Boulevard for a new synagogue location. Following a long zoning battle which ended in the Ohio Supreme Court, the City of Beachwood issued a building permit in 1954 to erect the Fairmount Temple. The expansive facility served the congregation's mission of "lifelong learning, worship, social action, and deeds of loving kindness."

Fairmount Temple was the last of four temples providing a home for the congregation since 1842. In 1837, Simon Thorman was the first German from Bavaria of Jewish faith to settle in Cleveland. Gathering fellow Jews, he formed a minyan and initiated the organization of a congregation of worshipers. By 1845, the cornerstone of Cleveland's first Jewish house of worship was laid. It was supported by Leonard Case, a non-Jewish Cleveland philanthropist. The Eagle Street Temple was built and dedicated in 1846 on the site now occupied by Progressive Field. The congregation experienced significant growth and splits during the next forty years before the reformed congregation moved to a new site on Scovill Avenue and Henry Street (near East 25th). Dedicated in 1887, the Scovill Avenue Temple served the congregation until further expansion fostered another move to the Euclid Avenue Temple at East 82nd Street in 1912.

The Anshe Chesed congregation continued to thrive at this location for more than forty years into the mid-20th century. The Euclid Avenue building is the home of eight Tiffany windows. When the congregation moved, however, the windows were deemed too old-fashioned for the newer Temple. Families moving to the eastern suburbs, combined with limited access and parking, prompted the congregation leaders to build a new facility in Cleveland's eastern suburbs. The Euclid Avenue Temple has been occupied by the Liberty Hill Baptist Church since 1956, when it became the first Black church on Euclid Avenue.

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From its founding, Shaker Village was planned as a highly-regulated residential district. Promotional literature distributed by the Van Sweringen Co. offered prospective land buyers the security of a community that existed outside the influence of the urban environment. A strictly defined and governed landscape promised safety and order in a village that was both designed and advertised as a contrasting vision to the City of Cleveland. The Kingsbury Building, designated a Shaker Heights Landmark in February 1998, is an example of the small commercial zones that were integrated into this vision for the Van Sweringen's suburb. These centers of commerce were carefully designed to meet the needs of a growing population without undermining the residential character of the surrounding community.

In an era coinciding with the emergence of formal zoning, urban centers were characterized by their mixed use. Much of the urban core of Cleveland was a clutter of industry, homes, and commercial buildings. Those with the means to leave these polluted and congested spaces moved from the city center. Elite residential districts, most notably the row of mansions lining Euclid Avenue, found themselves susceptible to the continuing advances of the physical city. Little could be done to prevent Cleveland from swallowing these exclusive neighborhoods – homes were often converted into businesses or fell into disrepair. Within this context, the Van Sweringen Co. created a community that would stand the test of time through strict regulation. Standards imposed by the real estate developers were meant to ensure the financial soundness of land purchases in their utopian residential retreat.

The Van Sweringen Co. first busied themselves with promoting the development of amenities that would act as the foundation for their elite community, including schools, public transportation, green space, churches and recreational facilities. Apartments, industry, bars and corner shops were initially excluded due to their association with urban life. By the 1920s, however, the need for commercial structures and more diverse housing stock became apparent. The costly rapid transit system built by the Van Sweringens not only provided new opportunities for people to relocate to Shaker, but also necessitated a larger population to sustain its existence. The Van Sweringen Co. quickly integrated the development of apartments and business districts into their planned community. Staying true to their vision of a residential suburb, these structures were strategically placed on the outskirts of the community along heavily used transportation routes.

The Kingsbury Building was one of the early commercial structures and apartment buildings in Shaker Heights. The self-contained business district was conceived and designed using similar standards as those imposed by the Van Sweringen Co. upon residential construction. Erected by the Leemore Company between 1926-1927 at what is now 3427-55 Lee Road, the prestigious architectural firm of Walker and Weeks was employed to design the multipurpose building. Similarly to other commercial structures concurrently being constructed at Shaker Square, the Kingsbury Building was designed in the Tudor style. Prominently located at the intersection of Moreland Boulevard (now Van Aken) and Lee Road, the angled corner building presented a unified vision from the front with its recessed entrances and symmetrical design. Bounded by comparatively smaller residential lots on the southern edge of the city, the business district was placed near a Rapid station and away from more prestigious residential neighborhoods. The three-story edifice provided space for ten storefronts, eight offices and sixteen apartments.

During the early years of growth in Shaker, the Kingsbury Building was one of only a few locations where residents could purchase commercial goods and employ professional services. Early tenants included the Fisher Bros. Co., a jewelry shop, a beauty shop, a florist, the Village Drug Store, the Shaker Heights Electric Co., a fruit shop, a shoe repair shop, a dry cleaner, a delicatessen, and the Western Union office. Offices were regularly occupied by dentists, physicians, and real estate agents.

While the Kingsbury Building was an inevitable response to the needs of a growing population, its form, placement, and usage were dictated by the standards created by Shaker Height's developers. In this manner, the Van Sweringen Co. promoted growth and provided conveniences to the residential community while maintaining their promise to keep the influences of the city at bay.

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William J. Van Aken (1884-1950) served as Mayor of Shaker Heights from 1915 until his death in 1950, overseeing its transition from rural farmland to one of the nation's wealthiest and most well-regarded suburbs. The opening of a new city hall in 1930 symbolized a turning point in this transition, as the city moved out of a modest structure on the site of the old Shaker religious community's meeting house at the northeast corner of Shaker Boulevard and Lee Road, and into a grand brick building featuring an imposing semi-circular portico framed by six two-story high Corinthian columns. The building at 3400 Lee Road--designated a Shaker Heights Landmark on July 26, 1993--was designed by Charles Schneider (who also designed Shaker Heights's Plymouth Church, Fernway School, Ludlow School, and Lomond School) in Georgian Revival style. The Village of Shaker Heights officially became a city the next year, capping twenty years of tremendous growth.

While the Van Sweringen brothers may be the best known figures in Shaker's history, the "third Van" also deserves credit for the city's rise. William Van Aken grew up being friends with O.P. and M.J. Van Sweringen. All three worked as paperboys for the same Cleveland newspaper. Van Aken worked the "country" route, beginning near his mother's farmhouse at East 125th Street and Larchmere Boulevard. During the first decade of the 20th-century, both Van Aken and the Van Sweringens were working separately to develop farmland on Cleveland's east side. Speaking to a reporter, Van Aken remembered this as "a rugged job, but I loved it. Carving a city out of wilderness is the most satisfying of experiences."

Van Aken rekindled his friendship with the Van Sweringens during this time, using their help to win a seat on the Cleveland Heights Village Council. The three men then worked together to successfully have the old North Union Shaker lands (owned by the Van Sweringens) detached from Cleveland Heights, giving O.P. and M.J. firm control over their investment. Indeed, the first three councilmen for Shaker Township (incorporated in July 1911 after approval by Cleveland Heights) were Van Aken, O.P. Van Sweringen, and the Van Sweringens' attorney. The Van Sweringens could now feel confident that their vision of a highly-planned, "Garden City" suburb would take shape.

William Van Aken became mayor of Shaker in 1915 and soon after started his own real estate firm. During his tenure as Mayor, he oversaw the construction of the Rapid Transit line to Downtown in the 1920s, and helped the city through the potentially catastrophic bankruptcy of the Van Sweringen Company in 1936, all while Shaker's population and land values continued to rise. From 200 in 1911, Shaker grew to over 28,200 residents by 1950. Van Aken also created one of the nation's first municipal architectural review boards and stringently enforced the city's zoning regulations, actions which surely pleased the Van Sweringens, who viewed high design standards and careful planning as the best ways to maintain Shaker Heights's upper-class appeal, differentiating it from the crowded, smoky big city to its west.

It was therefore quite fortuitous that the three former paperboys renewed their friendship in adulthood: the Van Sweringens saw their investment blossom, Van Aken became an influential and respected community leader, and out of sparsely populated farmland grew a city that today continues to retain its original charm and beauty.

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