The secret history of my hometown

Avon Lake, Ohio, was once a sailors’ hideout on the Great Lakes.

Me and my neighbor in front of my childhood home in Avon Lake, Ohio. We grew up to be friends in college.

I grew up in a town on Lake Erie that was once known by its Native American name, Xeuma. It was later known, along with other neighboring towns, as the French Creek District, followed by its present name, Avon Lake. If you grew up in the Cleveland area, you probably know Avon Lake as a “new” suburb. But Avon Lake is not new, and its history…