second kent house
Another large, well-appointed hotel, the Kent House, was built in 1875. It stood to the of east of the beach area, near the present Yacht Club. Its entrance opened directly on New York Avenue where it joined East Terrace. Both of the early hotels were replaced in the late 1880s. The Kent House burned in 1887 and a Second Kent House was built in 1888. The Lakeview House was demolished and rebuilt as the Sterlingworth in 1889. The number of permanent residents increased in response to the needs of the summer visitors at the resort hotels.
The eastern section of the village developed slowly. In the 1870s and 1880s several prominent families from Jamestown built comfortable summer homes in a lakeside section called Shadyside, just east of the Kent House. Inland there was a little settlement east of Lakeview Avenue until near the turn of the century. Clement Park, east of Shadyside, developed in the 1890s with new homes being built along the lake on Parkside Avenue, today known as Front Street. At Beechwood at the far eastern end of Lakewood, there was a trolley stop and station on the extension of The Jamestown Street Railway Company, and later of the Chautauqua Traction Company. In this area an ambitious developer, Ziba Squier built several homes created a canal called Subway, which ran on course between, and paralleling East Summit and East Terrace Avenues. Mr. Squier’s summer cottages built along the lake and along the canal were placed on narrow lots, with 25 foot frontage. Today many of them remain, although the canal has been drained for many years and the early homes stand facing a grassy field.
In 1893 the small settlement was incorporated as the Village of Lakewood. Through most of the year, it was a quiet residential area with a permanent population of 600. The arrival of as many as 1500 summer visitors provided boom times for the local residents. However, the first municipal government which included a President and a Board of Trustees, was faced with year-around problems of public health and public safety. Ordinances were passed to make the streets safe – no sledding or skating allowed; to protect the innocent – no swimming without bathing suits; to protect buyers – peddlers and merchandise solicitors were required to be licensed. In the earliest years of the village the Trustees were called upon personally to keep law and order. Firefighting was a general community activity until the first Lakewood Bucket Brigade was organized in 1898. Education was another municipal responsibility and in 1893 the early government officials authorized the building of a 3-room schoolhouse on Highland Avenue, to be financed by homeowner assessment.
The first church in the village, the Union Congregational Church, was organized the same year as incorporation, 1893. The congregation met first in a small chapel on Ohio Avenue until its own church was built in 1895 on East Summit. From this early community, non-denominational beginning, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1913.
The eastern section of the village developed slowly. In the 1870s and 1880s several prominent families from Jamestown built comfortable summer homes in a lakeside section called Shadyside, just east of the Kent House. Inland there was a little settlement east of Lakeview Avenue until near the turn of the century. Clement Park, east of Shadyside, developed in the 1890s with new homes being built along the lake on Parkside Avenue, today known as Front Street. At Beechwood at the far eastern end of Lakewood, there was a trolley stop and station on the extension of The Jamestown Street Railway Company, and later of the Chautauqua Traction Company. In this area an ambitious developer, Ziba Squier built several homes created a canal called Subway, which ran on course between, and paralleling East Summit and East Terrace Avenues. Mr. Squier’s summer cottages built along the lake and along the canal were placed on narrow lots, with 25 foot frontage. Today many of them remain, although the canal has been drained for many years and the early homes stand facing a grassy field.
In 1893 the small settlement was incorporated as the Village of Lakewood. Through most of the year, it was a quiet residential area with a permanent population of 600. The arrival of as many as 1500 summer visitors provided boom times for the local residents. However, the first municipal government which included a President and a Board of Trustees, was faced with year-around problems of public health and public safety. Ordinances were passed to make the streets safe – no sledding or skating allowed; to protect the innocent – no swimming without bathing suits; to protect buyers – peddlers and merchandise solicitors were required to be licensed. In the earliest years of the village the Trustees were called upon personally to keep law and order. Firefighting was a general community activity until the first Lakewood Bucket Brigade was organized in 1898. Education was another municipal responsibility and in 1893 the early government officials authorized the building of a 3-room schoolhouse on Highland Avenue, to be financed by homeowner assessment.
The first church in the village, the Union Congregational Church, was organized the same year as incorporation, 1893. The congregation met first in a small chapel on Ohio Avenue until its own church was built in 1895 on East Summit. From this early community, non-denominational beginning, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1913.