Lakewood Lore

"Lakewood" Moniker Was A Natural For City

Our community in 1889 dropped its name of East Rockport and became the hamlet of Lakewood.

Pioneer citizens Ezra Nicholson and A.B. Allen had been appointed to find a proper name. Arlington was first proposed but postal officials advised there was already a hamlet by that name in Ohio.

The moniker Lakewood was finally chosen, and it was a natural because of our many trees and the proximity of the lake.

Three trustees were elected as an official executive board to govern the hamlet. They chose one of their members, I.E. Canfield, as first board president and mayor.

In 1893, Canfield was succeeded by C. L. Tyler. He remained until '97. Third mayor was Otto C. Berchtold, who served during '98 and '99.

Berchtold was a butcher. He came from Hamburg, Germany, in the 1880s, formed a partnership with Hugo Hildebrandt and made the first wieners in Cleveland, according to his grandson, Arthur J. Berchtold, a former Lakewoodite who now lives in Fairview Park.

Later the Berchtolds--father, two sons and grandson, all in the business--became famous for their pork sausages. They were made from a secret family recipe, one of the ingredients of which was ginger.

Grandson Art, who is 74, said Mayor Berchtold lived at Detroit and Hird avenues in Lakewood, retired in 1910, bought property at Put-in-Bay and raised flowers as a hobby.

"I remember how as a child I spent many memorable summers on the island, helping Grandpa in his garden," Art recalls.

This article appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post December 29, 1988. Reprinted with permission.

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