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Residents in Medina County pushing to stop house museum from being demolished

Posted at 6:21 PM, Jun 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-27 20:38:10-04

Financial hardships are threatening to tear down a piece of history in Medina County, but a group of local residents are working to stop the demolition.

The Worden Heritage Homestead is expected to be demolished as soon as Friday. A community group committed to preserving the building and its history has created a Facebook page urging more people to join their cause.

Inhabited by four generations of the Worden family, the Worden Heritage Homestead in Hinckley was built back in the 1860's.

The history behind the home fascinates residents like David Stetz and his family.

“I think it's just a shame, because it's been here for 157 years,” he said.

The rock carvings that surround the home make it a unique part of history. Stuart Noble, a relative of the Warden family, lived in the home and created the rock carvings in the 1940's and 50's.

Noble's carvings included events, people and hobbies he enjoyed. Karen Stetz calls the old rock carvings "Facebook posts" carved in stone - they are like a Facebook timeline of events carved in stone instead of typed out on the Internet.

“My parents brought me here in 1965, so that's how I knew of it, and I brought my children,” said Stetz.

The Stetz family says the house museum is a much more interesting way for children to learn about history, rather than reading about it in a book.

“I just think that we need to preserve this for future generations,” said David Stetz.

News 5 found a few of the future generations visiting the home on Tuesday.

“It's just sad that it's going down, because there's so much history here,” said Alaina Tennant, student.

The students, who visited, were unaware that the house museum was set to be torn down. They were saddened by the news.

“People won't know why they did the carvings, and they don't know how they got here,” said Kylie Campbell, student.

Right now, the land is owned by the Cleveland Metroparks, but the actual property is managed by the Hinkley Historical Society.

The Hinckley Historical Society reportedly cannot afford to maintain it.

Cleveland Metroparks Spokesperson Jacqueline Gerling said the historical society made efforts to secure a new owner or reuse the facility, but were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the residents said once a piece of history is gone, it’s gone forever. They hope to raise enough money to keep the home from being torn down. Here is a link to their Facebook page.