Squires Castle

In the 1890's a Cleveland oil pioneer by the name of Feargus B. Squire purchase a 525-acre plot of land atop a big hill right off of Chagrin River Rd. Shortly after moving back to Cleveland from England, Squire joined Frank Rockefeller and became his co-manager. Squire had quite the amazing journey from working as a desk boy at an oil company to owning and operating his own oil refinery. His most notable accomplishment was his invention of the first tank wagon which was used to transport the oil for shipment. Many say that Squire's cart was invaluable in paving the way of successfully transporting oil. Squire retired from the oil industry in 1909 and barely visited the castle and further sold it in 1922.

Squire was amazed with the beautiful landscape of Chagrin Valley and purchased the land. His idea was to build two building on the property with the styles of English/German baronial halls in mind. The name Squires Castle is sort of misleading because the building that stands there today was only meant to be the gatekeeper's lodge. The lodge later became referred to as a castle because of the styling aspects that resemble that of a castle. The castle was constructed out of Euclid blue-stone, which was excavated very close to where the castle was built. The interior of the castle was much like that of a regular home, it included several bedroom, a kitchen, a porch, and most notably Squire's library and hunting room. He later sold the property in 1922 and the Cleveland Metroparks purchased in in 1925.

Today there are many misconceptions and theories about what happened in the castle. Most of which revolve around Squire's wife, Rebecca. It has been said that she suffered form insomnia and hated the country, and one night found herself in his trophy room and got scared form something she saw and tried to run away. In doing so she fell and broke her neck, however this isn't true. Rebecca died at a young age in their home in Wickliffe. To this day people report that they have seen a women standing in the windows of the castle with a lantern and believe that it is Rebecca's ghost. Due to vandals the basement of the castle has been filled in and all the glass has been taken out along with everything inside the castle. It is noting more than a barren building exposed to the elements now, but is a major tourist attraction due to its immense beauty and history.

1. Timsydell. Squires Castle - Inside , Deviant Art. September 1st 2008. Accessed April 26th 2020. https://www.deviantart.com/timseydell/art/Squires-Castle-Inside-96763028.
2. Leonard , Kailee . PHOTOS: Squire’s Castle in North Chagrin Reservation, The News-Herald . September 7th 2017. Accessed April 26th 2020. http://media.news-herald.com/2017/09/06/photos-09062017-squires-castle/#1.
3. Cleveland Metroparks. SQUIRE'S LEGACY, Cleveland Metroparks . October 23rd 2014. Accessed April 26th 2020. https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/parks/education/blogs/notes-from-the-field/2014/october-2014/squire-s-legacy.
4. Roy, Chris . Squires Castle , Cleveland Historical . May 29th 2018. Accessed April 26th 2020. https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/836.
5. Chojnacki , Linda . Do you know the Legend of Squire's Castle?, Cleveland.com. January 13th 2012. Accessed April 26th 2020. https://www.cleveland.com/our-town/2012/01/do_you_know_the_legend_of_squires_castle.html.