Peter Miller House Will Receive City's First Historic Landmark Preservation Plaque

The Peter Miller House Museum, which received the city’s first Ohio Historical Landmark plaque in 2010, will be the recipient of the city’s at a ceremony at the house June 24 at 1:30 p.m.

Historic Landmark Preservation plaques are issued by the Avon Lake Historical Preservation Commission (ALHPC) an Ohio Historical Society sanctioned Certified Local Government (CLG).

Bernie Baka, the chairman of the ALHPC said as a CLG, the Commission is able certify a property as historical on behalf of the state.

“The Ohio Historical Society allowed us to certify properties in Avon Lake as certified historical landmark sites,” Baka said.

led the effort to make the Commission a CLG in Avon Lake and with the assistance John Shondel, the former chairman of the Commission, designated the Peter Miller House as the city’s first Historic Landmark Preservation site. Shondel stepped down after being appointed to City Council.

The plaque presentation will be in conjunction with the Peter Miller House Museum “Civil War History Sunday.”

Baka said the bronze plaque will likely be placed inside the building.

The city only recently became an Ohio CLG after completing a lengthy process. The Commission is currently reviewing the Avon Lake Cemetery and the Thomas Folger Home as properties that will most likely receive the plaque.

“We don’t certify these arbitrarily,” Baka said. “(Property owners) have to fill our a CLG proposal. The we submit it to planning commission and then council has to approve it.”

He said it was important to recognize historical properties, which can include commercial buildings and private residences.

“This is great for Avon Lake,” Baka said. “Some people have heritage that goes all the way back.”

He noted it was too late to save some historical properties in Avon Lake that were torn down.

“There’s a rich history in Avon Lake,” Baka said. “We need to preserve it.”

Peter Miller House Museum history

Peter Miller was the youngest child of the Adam Miller family who in 1819 was the first founding family to be permanent residents of what is now Avon Lake. Peter Miller built his house in 1830 just six years after Lorain County was officially created in the State of Ohio.

The Peter Miller House Museum located at 33740 Lake Road, Avon Lake, Ohio is owned by the City of Avon Lake, and is leased to the Peter Miller House Museum Board of Trustees who oversees the building and its activities. The Peter Miller House Museum remains one of only three pre-Civil War homes in Lorain County open to the public.