There is an old trope, that people of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s often were better, smarter, or more entrepreneurial than the people of today. While this is largely just a tired trope that can be explained away by financial and political changes in the United States, largely starting in the 1980’s, there is still something to it. This is called a “Renaissance Man” People like Murray S. Parker simply could not exist today. This is a guy who lived 4 or 5 lifetimes.

Murray S. Parker was born in Ohio in 1888, but lived until 1987. Having lived for 99 years, Murray made good use of his time. He grew up in Ashtabula, working on a farm. He sold a horse to save up enough to move out to Wyoming, only to come back to Ohio a few years later. He bought a car without a license in Cleveland and drove back to Ashtabula. During World War I he founded a trucking company to support the war effort. Shortly after the war, he went on to open up a chain of successful grocery stores that were later acquired. He moved to Summit County to study law and became a Ohio Senator in 1941 and 1942. He retired from the Ohio senate to become Summit County’s first commissioner. It was during this time that he purchased the house shown here. More information on the house is below.

Perhaps what Murray S. Parker was best known for a stirring up trouble, his obituary claims as much. He volunteered as the county’s first tax collector, a job that no one would want to do unless they enjoyed stirring up trouble. In 1970, he got into an argument with the zoning committee over a 10 foot wall he had built. When he would not remove the wall, a case was brought against him for operating illegal BINGO games. Yes, operating illegal bingo games, at the age of 82. This case made it all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court where he was able to get it dismissed.

If this wasn’t all enough, he also started a chicken farm that he later turned into a 17 room resort where the ashtrays were the chickens water dishes. This resort operated as the Hillcrest Inn until at least 1972 when he sold. He was also a freemason for 78 years before he passed away at the age of 99 in 1987.

Murray S. Parker, or Mr. Parker as he was commonly known, did not build this house, but he is the most interesting resident. It was built in 1912 for M. S. Long. Long was a prominent businessman in the areas and founded the Highland Park Land Company. The house was built and architected by Hagloch and Porter. It sold in October of 2021 and seemed to be in good condition at the time despite being largely vacant for years. Now it sits in this condition.