Blackburn Home Celebrating 90 Years of Serving Seniors

POLAND, Ohio – The Blackburn Home, 6 Botsford St., is celebrating 90 years of service to area seniors.

The home was established by Sylvester Fitch Blackburn, a farmer from Coitsville. Blackburn, while in his seventies, struggled to care for his aging mother and began to plan a place where she and other seniors could live in comfort and security.

After his mother, Elizabeth, died in 1911, Blackburn drew a will and hired attorney Charles Koonce, who became executor of the will when Blackburn died two years later at age 75. For 19 years, seven of Blackburn’s nieces and nephews contested the will. It was upheld in court in 1933. The relatives were appeased with settlements – part of the farmland – given by the established Blackburn Home for Aged People Association.

The Coitsville homestead was to be the site of the new home, but by the 1930s it was determined to be unsuitable. According to the home’s documents: “Great volumes of smoke, dust, and acid fumes from steel mills and blast furnaces nearby rendered it unhealthful.” 

With nearly $9,000 from the estate, $38,000 from the sale of the remaining 40 acres to Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., and money given by Henry H. Stambaugh, the association purchased a tract of land. The Blackburn Home would be built “at the corner of Water and Botsford Street in the Village of Poland” that had been part of a fruit orchard owned by the Morse family.

The cornerstone was laid May 11, 1934, and the home opened to residents Nov. 15, 1934.

After 50 years, 124 people had lived in the home, often helping with gardening or pursuing hobbies in their leisure time. Many more were to follow after the “lifetime plan” had been replaced with monthly charges. 

Today, 15 rooms and suites are offered at the home, each with a private bath. Some of the antique furnishings and artwork can still be seen.

Residents at the Blackburn Home enjoy home-cooked meals and activities. A monthly calendar of events provides a variety of opportunities for interaction in the home and community. Exercise, musical entertainment, student visits, table games, discussions and favorites such as bingo and trivia are scheduled weekly. Regular outings include shopping trips, senior socials, luncheons, community concerts, local drives, movies and stops for special treats.

Residents also enjoy special events with their families and friends, such as the Spring Bonnet Tea, the themed family picnic and a holiday party.

For more information about the home or to request a personal tour, call Michelle Rudge, director, at 330 757 2240.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.