Scott, Yes, the building is at the northwest corner of the intersection of Main St. and Whittlesey Ave., in downtown Norwalk. Its actual address is 2 W. Main St. Philip On 6/24/2021 2:51 AM, Scott Holmes wrote: > Thank you for confirming the identity of the railroad. You mention > that the Whittlesey Hall building now has a Chinese restaurant. Would > this be the "Peking House" on Whittlesey Avenue? Along with railroads > I am attempting to locate Twain's venues. > > On 6/23/21 4:10 PM, Philip Bauer wrote: >> Scott and others: >> Mark Twain spoke in Norwalk OH (near where I now live) on Jan. 21, >> 1869 on his American Vandal speaking tour. The previous night (20th) >> ) he had lectured in Toledo and the next night (22nd), he returned to >> his Cleveland base for another engagement. >> At the time, the existing railroad that would have connected the >> three cities was the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad. It also had a >> locomotive facility in Norwalk which became the town's largest employer. >> >> The brick building where Twain spoke still stands as a two-story >> building with a Chinese restaurant on the lower level. The third >> floor was a large community room where Twain spoke and it was >> removed some time later after wind damage. >> >> Twain, of course, was not widely known at the time so he warranted >> only a squib in the weekly Norwalk Reflector five days later: >> >> "Whittlesey Hall was crowded to its sitting capacity on Thursday >> evening, on the occasion of the lecture by "Mark Twain." His >> discourse was a fine one of its kind. ---- Its humorous points >> convulsing the audience with frequent laughter --- while its >> occasional burst of eloquence showed the author to be a prolific >> writer and one thoroughly conversant with the subject which he >> treated. On the whole, Mr. Twain's lecture was a decided success." >> >> Nowalk's local historian has told me that during the day before the >> lecture, Twain had visited the home of a prominent local banker but >> found no one home so he left his calling card on the porch. >> Another interesting coincidence is that Henry Wheeler Shaw (later >> known as Josh Billings) lived with an uncle in Norwalk for a time >> when he was about 20 years old. >> >> Philip Bauer, Sandusky OH >> >> >> >> On 6/11/2021 2:18 PM, Scott Holmes wrote: >>> For those interested in such things, I have been trying to map >>> Twain's travels associated with his 1868-69 American Vandals Tour. >>> The University of Nebraska has a collection of kmz files for >>> railroads up to 1870 and it is these that I have most relied on. >>> Many segments don't have names and many are approximations of >>> routes. It's not possible to accurately compare these with the USGS >>> maps of the regions as the government maps are more recent and >>> railroad companies have been unstable in regards to ownership and >>> locations. Many of these reported railroads do not seem to be known >>> to Google. >>> >>> I have often seen remarks on Mark Twain becoming >>> fatigued/disenchanted with touring. Examining these maps may >>> provide some indication just why this happened. He covered a lot of >>> miles. I have divided the tour up into 6 arbitrary sections for my >>> Twain's Geography site, mainly to lessen confusion with the maps. >>> >>> http://twainsgeography.com/content/american-vandal-abroad-1868-69