North Ridgeville Historical Article – May 1963

The City of North Ridgeville doesn't get too much attention on this blog, so here's a historical article (above) related to that city. It's from the May 2, 1963 Journal and tells a little bit of the history of the Gilder family's business, and how it evolved from a blacksmith shop to a modern Shell service station (that at that time was located on the northeast corner of Center Ridge Road and today's State Route 83).

It notes, "Gilder's Shell Service, one of the oldest surviving businesses in North Ridgevlle, has undergone several changes since the turn of the century.

"Charles Gilder, after an apprenticeship with his brother at Field's Corners, started his own blacksmith business in 1900 when he bought the property across from the present high school.

"He shod horses and repaired wagons and carriages for residents and travelers on the Cleveland road."

The article points out that the coming of the 'horseless carriage' meant the transition of the blacksmith shop to a garage. Over the years the Gilder family kept the business going, and the 1963 version of it was the aforementioned Shell station.

What's interesting is that the house shown in the photo – referred to as the Humphrey House, the first brick house built in North Ridgeville – was razed to make way for the Shell station.

Here's a photo (looking east) showing the Humphrey House as it looked in 1905 at its location on Center Ridge Road, courtesy of the North Ridgeville Historical Society's Facebook page. It's the house on the far right.

The caption accompanying the photo notes that it was a stagecoach hotel and tavern known as the Farmers Inn, built by Joseph Humphrey in 1830. It was torn down in 1962.

The former Shell station as it looked in Sept. 2021

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Click here to read about the "Gilder Anvil" from the family's blacksmith business on the North Ridgeville Historical Society website.