Olde Fashioned Christmas at The Mill

[ November 29, 2008; 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. November 30, 2008; 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. ]

Mill Creek Park is Youngstown’s crown jewel. The result of a forward thinking Volney Rogers who helped the park become established in 1891, Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District encompasses 2,600 acres within urbanized Mahoning County. Including 20 miles of drives and 15 miles of foot trails, Mill Creek also boasts a rare collection of gardens, lakes for canoeing, and woodlands to explore. Though the park has much to offer year-round, at the end of November one special location, Lanterman’s Mill, pulls out all the stops as it welcomes the holiday season to the Valley.

Lanterman’s Mill is considered one of Mahoning County’s most historic landmarks. The present mill (and all mills that came before it) built in 1845-1846 by German Lanterman and Samuel Kimberly is located at Lanterman’s Falls.  The Mill was restored from 1982 to 1985 through a gift from the Ward and Florence Beecher Foundation. However, there were a few mills at this location prior to the one standing today.

John Young, the founder of Youngstown, once owned the land surrounding Lanterman’s Falls. He sold 300 acres that included the falls to Phineas Hill at the end of the 18th century with the stipulation a saw and grist mill be built at the site of the Falls within 18 months of purchase. This mill which operated from 1799 to 1822 was built from logs found on-site and millstones were cut from granite in the area.

In 1823, Eli Baldwin built a mill to replace this original, with this…

Bocce and Pasta, Welcome to the MVR

Immigrants are the backbone of the nation and of Youngstown as well. In the early 1800s many flocked to the Mahoning Valley searching for work with large numbers of immigrants setting up residence on the west side of Crab Creek; an area that became know as Smoky Hollow – earning the name from the smoke-filled skies compliments of the nearby Mahoning Valley Iron Company. Though the diversity of people who came to Youngstown at this time was extensive, the Italian-American community was drawn to Smoky Hollow. It was in the 1920s when the Cassesse family opened the Mahoning Valley Restaurant – fondly called the MVR by the locals. Great Italian food was its trademark then as it is today. The Smoky Hollow region of the city was a very viable area up until the early 1960s when the neighborhood began to deteriorate, but the MVR hung-on.

Today Youngstown State University butts up the Smoky Hollow region and a local group of merchants has vowed to revitalize the area by creating the Wick District-Smoky Hollow retail corridor with the MVR acting as its anchor. And while the area strives to renew itself – the University Courtyard Apartments; a $22 million public-private partnership project catering exclusively to YSU students is located nearby – no matter the progress, the MVR is thriving.

When hunger hit Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign entourage while in Youngstown this fall, the group placed a call to Cassese’s MVR and within the hour John and Cindy McCain were…

2008 Election Results

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