The history of Ohio movie locations begins long before any movies were ever even filmed, let alone before movies as entertainment were ever a thing. Daeida Wilcox Beveridge was born in Hicksville in 1861. She went to school both in Hicksville and Canton and spent her formative years in the area. After marrying Harvey Wilcox, the couple moved around a bit before ending up in Southern California in 1886. There, they purchased a 200-acre ranch outside LA.
The following year, in 1887, the couple started to subdivide their land in order to lay out a brand new town. The town’s name was Hollywood, a name they supposedly came up with while visiting family in Ohio. Daeida may have gotten the name from what a Chicago friend called her country estate, but this is not the only legend around the name, so who knows how true it is. In any case, it was Daeida who helped name many of the city’s most famous streets, including Sunset Boulevard.
Until her death in 1914, Daeida spent her life promoting her new city, and she was instrumental in helping the city gain many of its amenities. This included the nascent focus on the arts. By the end of her life, she was known as the Mother of Hollywood, and she is now a part of the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame.
Despite all of this, Ohio has only occasionally been the location for movie shoots, though that seems to be increasing in recent years with several high-profile projects filming around the state. The link of the day is a site that gives maps, photos and other information on movie locations around the state. Take a look and remember that Ohio helped give the world the movies that they enjoy (not to mention native Ohioan Thomas Edison’s contributions to cameras, lighting and sound).
