[From an advertisement in the
American Rose Annual 1926, p. xiv:] The Storrs & Harrison Co., Painesville, Ohio, where there are acres and acres of Roses in full bloom... A sight never to be forgotten...
[From an advertisement in the American Rose Annual 1927, p. xvi:] The Storrs & Harrison Co., Painesville, Ohio... 'Betty Uprichard', 'Edel', 'Elvira Aramayo', 'Mme. Alexandre Dreux', 'Mrs. Prentiss Nichols', 'Templar'... Established 73 years...
[From "Storrs and Harrison Lake County Nursery Hostory", by Mark Gilson, March 12, 2014 on the Lake County Blog:] "The nursery industry in Lake County began in 1854 with the arrival of Jesse Storrs and his three sons. The railways were constructed the year before and he believed that access to transportation and the beneficial climate near Lake Erie made Painesville an excellent site to begin his new enterprise. An English Immigrant, JJ Harrison, arrived some years before and worked with his father clearing trees from the Mentor Marsh for use as railroad ties. By 1858 Harrison was beginning his own nursery and he decided, along with Jesse Storrs, that Lake County was not big enough for two nurseries. Within several decades, the resulting partnership, Storrs & Harrison Nursery, became the largest nursery in the world .
All three sons of Jesse Storrs fought in the Civil War but only two returned to the business. Early crops included fruit trees and berries and an increasing number of ornamental shrubs, trees and perennials. A cold winter in 1872 almost put them out of business, as did a financial ‘panic’ the following year. But by the 1880s they were thriving as the largest ‘departmental’ nursery in the world. Their main farm extended from Bacon and Bowhall Roads westward to Fairport Nursery Road and beyond. Barns and other facilities, including the largest barn in Ohio at the time, rose to the South of North Ridge Road, while fields and growing frames extended northward to the Lake Erie Shore. A railway stop at the nursery helped workers commute from Cleveland. Hale Road School originated as the Nursery School for children of nursery workers. The nursery clock chimed the hours for local communities and the thermometer provided official highs and lows. Painesville Post Office expanded to handle the mail-order shipments to a growing country.
One of the Storrs sons perished moving a planting machine near the turn of the century. Other nurseries rose and prospered, often fostered by the Storrs & Harrison operation. By 1940 the operation was slowing down and all properties north of Route 20 were sold to Fasson (now Avery Dennison)."
