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| "Boys on Seesaw" at Summer Camp, circa 1903 - For more than a century, Hiram House has helped to open new horizons for Ohio's youth at its camp in the scenic Chagrin Valley. Urban children in the early 1900s (in photo) enjoyed nature and a welcome respite from life in the city. The original tract of land for the present day camp was donated by Cleveland industrialist Samuel Mather. |
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| Hiram House Founder George A. Bellamy, age 23, in 1896, at Hiram College. Upon graduation, with only $75, six spoons and a bar of soap, Bellamy and seven of his fellow students, established Hiram House as a place where those in need could go to learn necessary skills and enjoy wholesome, beneficial company and activity. |
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History of The Hiram House
"Character, Family, New Horizons, since 1896"
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| Hiram House's first home was at Orange Street in Cleveland's Whiskey Island. Summer camp was held for area youth at the Chagrin Valley camp every year since that time. Eventually the Camp became Hiram House's sole home.
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The Hiram House was established as Ohio's first "Settlement House" and among the first in the nation, opening on October 1896 in Cleveland's Whiskey Island neighborhood.
Founded by Hiram College divinity graduate George A. Bellamy, it sought to address the needs of Cleveland's then burgeoning immigrant and poverty stricken slum dwellers, administering a wide range of services to people of many different ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds.
Representing the ideals of the late 1800s urban progressive movement, settlement houses provided, through "service, not charity", health recreational, and self-development opportunities that were not widely available in this era. An outgrowth of Bellamy's mission was the establishment of a "Fresh Air Camp" for tenement-bound families, and especially, for their children
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| "Fresh Air Camp" in Chagrin Falls, circa 1897 - The first few years of Hiram House Summer Camp were held at the Chagrin Falls Fairgrounds (in photo) and at local farms. In the early 1900s, the Horseshoe Glen Picnic area, now part of the camp's present 172-acre site off SOM Center Road and Hiram Trail, was acquired. The camp has been in continuous operation since its founding. |
Beginning in the summer of 1897, the first Summer Camps were held at local farms and fairgrounds. By the early 1900s, Hiram House had opened a permanent site for the Camp at its present location and started its highly-respected camping and outdoor education program.
Eventually this site became the organization's sole home. In continuous operation since its founding, Hiram House has provided enriching outdoor experiences and educational programs for thousands of Ohio children for over 100 years.
Today, The Hiram House continues to follow George Bellamy's vision and mission of providing a healthy and safe outdoor experience for children, designed to meet the needs and challenges of the 21st century.
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