Wayne County, Macy’s in NYC have connection
The atlantids on the Wayne County Courthouse caught the attention of world traveler and blogger Stephen Garone in 2004. He remembered the structures, and 17 years later, he mentioned them in his travel blog.
Most people would have difficulty finding similarities between Wayne County and The Big Apple. But according to world-renowned traveler and blogger Stephen Garone, both places can be proud of their atlantids and caryatids or what Wayne Countians refer to as “the men holding up the courthouse.”
To be clear, “the men” that appear to be holding up the courthouse are called atlantids, and they perform the function of an architectural column. Females such as those that adorn the Macy’s building in New York City are called caryatids.
Garone, a New York native, has been traveling the world for more than 40 years and has filled up four passports with stamps from some of the most exotic places in the world. But his accidental visit to Wayne County in 2004 was so memorable that he wrote about the experience 17 years later in 2021 in his blog at www.stephentravels.com.
He ranked his top-five favorite atlantids and caryatids with Wayne County’s statues commanding a respectable “runner-up” status behind:
—The Hunchback of the Rialto, Venice, Italy.
—Bolinder Palace, Stockholm, Sweden.
—Ateneum, Helsinki, Finland.
—Ohranan House, Helsinki, Finland.
—Tyszkiewicz Palace, Warsaw, Poland.
Garone’s runners-up include the following:
—Macy’s Department Store, Herald Square, New York, New York.
—Wayne County Courthouse, Wooster, Ohio.
—Palace Hotel, Zagreb, Croatia.
—Wains Hotel, Dunedin, New Zealand.
—Jenners Department Store, Edinburgh, Scotland.
As an architecture fan, the memory of the courthouse stayed with Garone throughout his travels.
“I was spending a long weekend in Cleveland in February 2004, and I decided to rent a car and see a bit more of Ohio, this being my first time in the state,” Garone said in an email. “I remembered that a colleague of mine at the time was originally from Wooster, within striking distance from Cleveland, so I made that my destination. I started my travel blog in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2021 that I wrote the article about atlantids and caryatids. That mental note (of Wayne County) resurfaced very quickly, and I knew I had to include the courthouse on my list.”
Garone has visited most of the United States and has traveled to more than 40 countries. In his travels he always looks for similarities between cultures that remain hidden under the noticeable differences.
“Our foods may be quite different, but the social aspects of sharing a meal are the same, whether I was in an Italian cafe or around a campfire in a Namibian desert camp,” he said. “We may practice unique religions, but we all construct wonderful houses of worship in which to do that. Our landscapes may vary greatly, but there’s a shared reverence for nature. That underlying commonality not only assures me that I can feel at home in some place completely new and strange to me, but also that when it comes down to it, we’re not so different after all — a comforting thought in our especially challenging times.”
Wayne County Convention and Visitors Bureau director Marty Starkey is flattered Garone visited the area and remembered the courthouse.
“I think most people just take them for granted, and honestly, I had never heard of atlantids and caryatids or that there were people out there that looked at them,” Starkey said. “It sort of blew my mind that there is something this unique in Wayne County. Not every county has something this unique and special.”
The origin of the Wayne County atlantids is unclear. According to the Wayne County Public Library Wiki, it had been thought Italian stonemasons carved the structures. But a Wayne County Democrat newspaper article announcing their construction at the time contained contradictory information.
“I have always just thought of them as Atlases,” Starkey said. “I would say that to be a runner-up on (Garone’s) top-five list puts us in pretty good company. This really sets us apart from other counties.”
Read Garone’s blog entry about the top-five atlantids and caryatids and view pictures of them at www.stephentravels.com/top5/atlantids-and-caryatids.
Dan Starcher is a public communications specialist for the Wayne County government.