By Kevin Greer
Lakeside Communications Manager 

Lakeside is full of history and iconic places. Now you can learn about the community’s past and get some exercise at the same time. 

The Heritage Trail takes guests to 31 locations around Lakeside with a marker designating each one that contains a QR code linking to a description on the website. Since the information is available on your computer, tablet or cellphone, you don’t have to walk the trail to learn about each location. 

Mark Carle, a retired physics teacher who has been coming to Lakeside for nearly 50 years, is Co-Chair of the History Subcommittee, which is part of the Sesquicentennial Steering Committee. He says the idea was a group effort. Kaysie Harrington at the Lakeside Heritage Society helped the team find the information and photos needed for the project. Their goal was to highlight the places that have been a big part of building and growing Lakeside. 

“We looked at places that have stood the test of time,” Carle said. “Some show how the community has grown and changed, and some show how it’s been for 150 years.” 

The project started two years ago when the Steering Committee started brainstorming ideas that they thought would be fun to do or worthwhile for the Sesquicentennial. It originally started as a history trail but morphed into a plan that dealt more with the heritage of Lakeside rather than just artifacts.

Carle said Linda Huber was instrumental in generating ideas to get things rolling. The trail got a boost from Gretchen Curtis and George McCormick, two of Lakeside’s foremost historians. Harrington, the History Subcommittee Co-Chair Dave Bowling, Bill Carlson, Pollie Miller and Tom Campbell are authors for the location descriptions and Gretchen Colon did the marker designs. Carle said close to 50 volunteers gave their time to the trail, led by Sesquicentennial Committee Co-Chairs Randy Snow and Cindy Grimm.  

The committee chose these places for the Heritage Trail: Dock and Pavilion, Hotel Lakeside, Lakeside Volunteer Fire Department (now Lakeside Laundromat), the Carroll Building, Orchestra Hall, Green Gables, Lake Park (now Bettinger Park), Steele Memorial Bandstand, Bell Tower, Ross Row, Perry Park, Keystone Guest House, Methodist Episcopal Chapel (now Heritage Hall Museum), Richards House (now Same Time Next Year), Administration Building, The Brick Store (now The Fine Print), Carrie Barge Cottage (now the Legacy House), the Lakeside Post Office (now Maxwell Hospitality House), Central Auditorium (now Hoover Auditorium), Abigail Tea Room (now rental cottages), the Gill House, Bradley Temple, the Lakeside United Methodist Church, Wesley Lodge, Wo-Ho-Mis, German Auditorium (now South Auditorium), Epworth Lodge (now the C. Kirk Rhein, Jr. Center for the Living Arts), the Lakeside & Marblehead (L&M) Railroad Station, Stone Schoolhouse, Chapel in the Woods, and the South Gate and Pillars. 

Funding for the project came from different directions. In addition to corporate grants, the Sesquicentennial Committee came up with a variety of business sponsors. There’s a group that donated money directly to the Sesquicentennial.  

“The fundraising arm of the Sesquicentennial Committee has been very good at getting sponsors,” Carle said. “Lakeside has been very supportive of this.” 

The thing that excites Carle most about the Heritage Trail is that it’s not just a part of Lakeside’s 150th Anniversary, it will be a new staple of the community. 

“This is something that will benefit Lakeside for years and I like the fact that it’s not just going to be a one-off deal,” Carle said. “I think it’s going to be an important part of Lakeside and I’m glad that we’ve been able to do that.”