Lakewood Lore

Old toll house remains

Old-timers long after the turn of the century talked of the Plank Road in Lakewood. Hardly anyone remembers it now.

A toll road, it covered Detroit Avenue from W. 25th Street to five miles beyond Rocky River with parallel rows of large logs, staggered to give greater strength.

The contractor for the project was Orville Hotchkiss, who operated a sawmill at Detroit and St. Charles avenues. He used oak cut from a forest near what is now Lakewood Park.

The road helped solve a transportation problem beginning in the mid-1800s when area farmers needed better access to Cleveland so they could market the bumper yields of their vineyards and orchards.

Toll charges were 5 cents for one horse, 10 cents for a team, and 15 cents for a double team.

The first toll house on the route was at W. 65th Street. It was thrice moved westward until it reached Warren Road. It stayed there until 1901 when Detroit became a free highway and tolls were discontinued.

The building itself finally wound up at 1325 Cook Avenue where it was remodeled into a dwelling. It remains at that address to this day.

This article appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post October 13, 1988. Reprinted with permission.

More Lakewood Lore