The First West

The Cuyahoga River once served as the western boundary of the United States. Long before this line divided the frontier, Native Americans realized the abundance of natural resources within the Lake Erie region. Earliest inhabitants, however, came just after the last glacier retreated some 10,000 years ago. At first, these settlers visited only seasonally to hunt. As temperatures rose and forests replaced tundra, wildlife and year-round inhabitants called this region home.

The earliest European explorers hailed from France, as these trappers and explorers concentrated on exploring the Great Lakes while Spain conquered Central and South America. Great Lakes trading posts soon appeared. After Great Britain colonized New England states and parts of Pennsylvania, British soldiers build forts along the Great Lakes. Soon, France and Britain began fighting for control.

In 1787, Ohio became part of the Northwest Territory. A large tract of land stretching from the Pennsylvania border to west of Sandusky was named the Connecticut Western Reserve. The Connecticut Land Company purchased this land in the late 1700s and sent surveyors. The far west reaches of this territory, known as the “Firelands,” was deeded to Connecticut landowners burned from their homes by Tories during the Revolutionary War. It took awhile for permanent settlement to begin, as Native American conflicts still brewed. By 1820, 500 pioneers called Cleveland home, and permanent settlements appeared along most rivers. Visit the Western Reserve Historical Society Museum in Cleveland to learn more about the lives of early Connecticut Western Reserve settlers.

Hale Farm and Village in Bath replicates the town of Wheatfield in 1848. This town began in 1796 when Connecticut Land Company surveyors began dividing land east of the Cuyahoga River into townships. After the survey was complete, representatives of the Connecticut Land Company sold off land, mainly to New Englanders seeking the fertile, inexpensive land of the new west. Not all land along Lake Erie was as hospitable, however.

The Great Black Swamp -- a wet, soggy and dark swampland -- once stretched throughout most of northwest Ohio. Nearly half a million acres, the Great Black Swamp was not a friendly place, but one with swamp forests, soggy soil, and huge trees casting dark shadows. It's no wonder this area was avoided. Native Americans entered the area primarily for hunting, and European traders ventured within the swamp in pursuit of riches. Among the first settlers within the Great Black Swamp was a group of Amish-Mennonite people who settled near Archbold in 1834. They eventually dug ditches for draining the swamp and cleared land for farms. It is their story that is interpreted at Sauder Village, a 40-building experience of pioneer life.

One can experience pioneer way of life at several historic homes in the region. Believed to be the oldest remaining dwelling in the Western Reserve, Loghurst in Canfield was built in 1806. Shandy Hall, located in Madison, is an 1815 home once owned by a pro-slavery attorney who aided southern slaveholders. Among the other historic structures now interpreting pioneer life is the 1810 Blakeslee Log Cabin in Ashtabula and the 1900s Shadybrook Farm of the Lake County Historical Society Museum in Kirtland Hills.

Architectural styles reflect both the resources of the land and the cultural influences of its settlers. In places like Sandusky, the area’s rich limestone base fostered one of the nation’s largest collections of limestone buildings, including the Follett House Museum. The historical richness of the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail region is further demonstrated by the more than 950 homes and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Settlements tended to concentrate near river valleys or transportation routes. Benjamin Bacon arrived at the “oxbow” of the Vermilion River when he was 19, building the 1868 Bacon House and supporting his family through power generated by the river. The Dunham Tavern Museum is an 1824 home that served as a stagecoach stop on the Buffalo-Cleveland-Detroit post road.

The resources of the land and the lake contributed to strong and culturally diverse communities. Covered with native prairies, the land surrounding Milan was fertile, perfect for grazing cattle and growing crops. The prairie grasses contributed to Milan becoming larger than Cleveland in the mid-1800s, as farmers shipped produce to Eastern seaports via the 3-mile Milan Canal. Farmers found the landlocked Milan more convenient because it was closer to home, and Great Lakes vessels preferred to load wheat right from the source. Brokers in Milan purchased the wheat, corn, livestock and "hard" cider and shipped them to New York where they sold them for a ten-fold profit. Loaded up with items to sell back on the prairie, these ships brought nails, fine woods, window pane glass, mortar and putty back to Ohio's settlers. Exquisite homes were built, some of which are now part of the Milan Historical Museum complex, although architectural styles tended to be about five to 10 years behind those of the East.

Regardless of where and why they settled, most settlers came in search of new opportunities. James Wolcott was one such man. A gentleman from Connecticut, Wolcott heard rumors of a new canal to be built connecting Lake Erie to Fort Wayne. He and his wife, Mary Wells, began building a home along the banks of the Maumee River in 1827. Wells was something of a legend herself. She was the granddaughter of the famous Miami Chief Little Turtle and daughter of William Wells, who aided Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne with his dealings with Native Americans of the Maumee River Valley. Visit their homestead at the Wolcott House Museum Complex in Maumee.