Fun with Maps – Condominiums all over the Globe

 In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson explains a new meaning of a common word that applies to maps and international law – condominium. (No, it's not what you think)

He looks at maps of Antarctica, Pheasant Island, Sudan, the Gulf of Fonseca and Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, Colombia, Jamaica, Andorra, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, New Hebrides – Vanuatu, Hans Island, Togo and even the Oregon Territory in the US.

He also looks at some proposed new condominiums that would involve Australia, England, Spain, Gibraltar, Israel, Palestine and Northern Ireland. He predicts that you will never again hear the word ‘condominium’ again and just think of a building with shared units.

See more Fun with Maps episodes   

Annual Magnum Holiday Lunch

 Each year we like to gather an eclectic group of friends and business associates for a holiday lunch. Media, non-profits, politicians, business and, of course, lots of our ethnic cultural friends were all represented.

The food and atmosphere at Emperor's Palace in Old Chinatown is always terrific and they opened up just for our 70 or so guests.

See lots of photos of attendees

Who do you recognize?

Margaret Wong

Dawn Kendrick and Ingrida Bublys

Dick Pogue and Alex Machaskee

Nela Park GE Lighting Holiday Light Display 2022

 Nela Park is the headquarters of GE Lighting, located in East Cleveland, Ohio. Nela Park was the first industrial park in the world and was home to most of the lighting breakthroughs of the last century.

Thomas Edison was a founder. Albert Einstein and other notables visited. Dan Hanson was raised in East Cleveland and his family visited the world-famous Christmas lighting display every Christmas season. You used to be able to drive through the campus but in recent years the display is all along Noble Rd.

He takes us on a video tour of the 2022 display.

See more photos from the NELA Park Christmas Display

Fun with Maps - The Underground Railroad

 In this episode of Fun with Maps host Dan Hanson looks at a very special map – a map that wasn’t recorded because it was dangerous to do so.  It’s the map of the Underground Railroad. 

 The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early 1800s to help slaves escape into free states and Canada.  It was run by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause of the escapees.  Ohio had many stops on the Underground Railroad.  Canada was an ultimate destination since they had abolished slavery in 1793. The short distance across Lake Erie from Cleveland to Canada made the city a popular destination.  Cleveland was codenamed Hope on the Underground Railroad and the ultimate destination was Port Stanley in Ontario Canada which was codenamed Praise the Lord. 

 We recorded this episode at the Cozad-Bates House at the corner of Mayfield and East 115th Street in University Circle (just north of the Little Italy Neighborhood) in Cleveland. It is the only surviving pre-Civil War building in University Circle. The house has been restored by a non-profit called Restore Cleveland Hope and we spoke with board members and docents Kevin Cronin and Kathryn Puckett to examine the maps.  

We began with a map of Cleveland Ohio in 1957 and then widened to a map of the Western Reserve which shows how close (50 miles!) Canada is to Cleveland.  Then we looked at Underground Railroad maps in Ohio. Experts say there were more routes to Canada through Ohio than anywhere else.  This included the town near Cincinnati which was the setting for the book which influenced Abraham Lincoln, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  

We looked at St. John’s Church, still in existence at West 28th and Church in Cleveland.  This Church has been documented as a site that house slaves on the Underground Railroad.  We heard about John Brown the black barber who operated on Cleveland’s Public Square.  And Kathryn reminded us that where her family came from in Oklahoma was very different than in Ohio because Ohio was a free state and Oklahoma wasn’t a state until 1907.  

Finally we see how the geography played a role.  The slightly elevated terrain let people spot slave catchers and the location on Doan Brook which emptied into Lake Erie was ideal for escaping. 

 See more Fun with Maps episodes