Before any of the Van Sweringen-era schools graced Shaker Heights, there was the Hornet’s Nest.
By Nate Paige
The signs in front of each Shaker school building list the date that each was built, so you’d think it’s just a process of elimination to find the oldest. But that’s not the case. You have to travel back to the mid-19th century to a long-gone school, the Hornet’s Nest School.
When what is now Shaker Heights was part of Warrensville Township, the Township supported a school system initially made up of four districts. District 1 consisted of Hornet’s Nest School, a one-room brick schoolhouse, located at the corner of Lee and Kinsman (now Chagrin Boulevard), and across the street from the Warrensville West Cemetery. The land on which the school sat was leased to the district in 1834 by Daniel Warren, whose family members were the first permanent white settlers of the township.
“I remember when the old schoolhouse on Lee Road across from the Warrensville West Cemetery was just an old brick building with an old wooden floor and a potbelly stove that had to keep us warm. All grades were taught in this one room until a wooden addition was added in back of the brick structure, and then the grades were separated, the first four in the old building and the last four in the new one.” — Priska Kubach Ellacott, 1970
While the exact year of construction is unclear, the school was likely built sometime in the mid-1850s, as it was included on an 1858 map of Cuyahoga County. One of the school’s first teachers was Mary Litzel, who lived on a farm where City Hall now sits. By the late 19th century, the student body included children of one of the first Black families to reside in Warrensville Township.
As the area became more populated, a new, larger school, East View, was built behind Hornet’s Nest in 1910. In 1926, the Moreland School was built and East View School was turned into a warehouse. Moreland School closed in 1987 and was later transformed into the main Shaker Heights Public Library.
So why the uninviting name? In 1933, Shaker resident, philanthropist, and former suffragist Selene Corlett submitted a letter to the editor of The Cleveland Press with her recollection. She explained the school was nicknamed Hornet’s Nest on account of the students at that school who were notorious for fist fighting in the 1860s. “These boys fought each other to the degree that it was dangerous to permit them to go out at recess together,” Corlett recalled. A hornet’s nest indeed!
If you’ve had a burning question about Shaker’s beginnings, transitions, or unique landmarks, let us know at shaker.mag@shakerheightsoh.gov. We might not be able to answer all questions, but your curiosity will help us start the digging.
Shaker Life appreciates research assistance for this article from staff of the Shaker Historical Society and Shaker Heights Public Library.
