Understanding the Two Federal Historic Designations at the Shaker Lakes

The Shaker Lakes Parklands are protected by two related — but distinct — National Register historic designations. Understanding the difference between them is important because they recognize different aspects of the landscape and its history.

The 1974 North Union Shaker Site Listing

The first federal designation came in 1974, when the United States Department of the Interior placed the “North Union Shaker Site” on the National Register of Historic Places. That listing focused directly on the historic Shaker landscape along Doan Brook.

The nomination specifically identified the following as historically significant features of the site:

• the Upper and Lower Lake dams

• the lakes themselves

• Doan Brook

• mill sites

• archeological resources

• and the surrounding open-space corridor

The nomination described Doan Brook as “the vital center, the life of the valley” and emphasized that the open landscape was essential to maintaining the “continuity and integrity” of the historic site. In other words, the water landscape itself — the lakes, dams, brook corridor, and connected open space — was recognized as part of the historic resource.

Because the current NEORSD project directly affects those same landscape features, the 1974 listing provides the foundational historical context for understanding the Shaker Lakes Parklands today.

Read the 1974 National Register nomination and historical materials.

The 1984 Shaker Village Historic District Listing

A decade later, in 1984, a broader historic district was added to the National Register recognizing much of Shaker Heights as a nationally significant planned suburban community.

That nomination emphasized:

• Garden City planning

• architecture

• boulevard systems

• rapid transit

• neighborhood design

• schools

• and the overall planning vision of the Van Sweringens

The Lakes remained an important part of that district and were specifically referenced as environmental features of the planned community.

The two listings therefore work together. The 1974 designation recognizes the historic Shaker landscape centered on the Lakes and Doan Brook; and the 1984 designation recognizes the later planned suburban community that developed around and incorporated that landscape.

Together, they help explain why the Shaker Lakes Parklands are widely understood not simply as infrastructure or open land, but as a historically layered cultural landscape with environmental, civic, recreational, and community significance extending across generations.

Read the 1984 National Register nomination and historical materials