American Travel Journal: Village of Boston - Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Monday, December 14, 2020

Village of Boston - Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Most of the village of Boston is located east of the Cuyahoga River. From the new visitor center on the west bank of the river, it is a short walk of a couple of blocks to reach the Ohio & Erie Canal and its towpath trail. At least five buildings on both sides of Boston Mills Road are owned by the National Park Service as part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We visited in November 2019.

First on the south side of the road at 1556 is the M. D. Garage, a former gas station and automobile repair shop operated by Marjan Dzerzynski. This has been used by the park as an art gallery.

Second on the south side, behind the garage is a former house with an attached garage that has been used for storage.

Finally on the south side at 1550 is Boston Store. The park service website provides the following history of this two-story building:

Speculating on the rising fortunes of the Ohio & Erie Canal, the Kelley brothers built the Boston Store around 1836. Built as a store (literally to "store" objects, today's warehouse), the building's second floor was a warren of 13 rooms built to be boarding rooms for workers in the area. The building went on to become a post office, a private residence, and a visitor center before the Boston Mill Visitor Center opened.

Boston Store is now closed to guests, but still has some rocking chairs on the front and side porches. The side porch is also immediately adjacent to the towpath trail.

Crossing the street to the north side, the building at 1565 now houses Trail Mix Boston a gift shop and snack bar operated by the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Immediately west at 1571 is the two-story Volunteer Center management office.