Remarkable Ohio

Results for: agriculture
OH 81
Dola

, OH

Comprising 8,000 acres of Brookston-Crosby soils, the marsh is named for Hog Creek which drains it. Once a shallow lake, cranberries, wild flags and grasses flourished here. Reclamation (1868) cost $13.00 per acre. Dredging was done by steam scow; lateral ditches were hand dug by spade. The original grade of 1/3″ in 100′ proved ineffective for onion, beets and potatoes. In 1949 restored drainage outlets breathed new life for today’s soybean and corn agriculture.

1680 Madison Avenue
Wooster

, OH

The Ohio General Assembly established the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station in 1882. From its inception until 1892, the Station occupied 17 acres on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University before relocating to 470 acres in Wayne County. In 1965, the Station changed its name to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) to more accurately reflect its mission and programs. In 1982, the Center formally merged with The Ohio State University. Today, the Center encompasses nearly 2,100 acres in Wayne County with 10 branches located across the state for a total of approximately 7,100 acres dedicated to agricultural research.

14373 N. Cheshire Street
Burton

, OH

The Great Geauga County Fair is the longest continuously operating county fair in Ohio. The fair is a major county gathering event each year, pulling together people from the whole county. Geauga’s settlers imported the idea of the county fair with them from New England. The fair’s parent organization, the Geauga County Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, began holding fairs on Chardon Square in 1823. Since then, the Geauga County Fair has served as a gathering place and form of education to promote local agriculture and introduce farmers to new farming developments and each other. Controversy arose between 1840 and 1854 after Lake County ceded and Chardon, Claridon, and Burton vied for the permanent fair grounds. Burton’s proposal was accepted, improvements began immediately, and the fair grew quickly. The Great Geauga County Fair continues as a time-honored tradition.

Cedar Hill Farm, 05091 Co Rd C-75
Edgerton

, OH

The Cedar Hill Farm Homestead story began in 1864 when John Burchard purchased the farmland. It has been in the Kisseberth family since 1903 and gained centennial status in 2003. In 2008, the Ohio Centennial Farm of Cedar Hill became the first farm in Williams County to be accepted into the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Program. The fourth generation farm now owned by Jason Allomong, will be preserved forever for agricultural use.

Wendy Lane
Waverly

, OH

The Ohio and Erie Canal, built between 1825 and 1832, had a significant influence on Ohio’s economy. In the early 19th century Ohio was largely rural and dependent on subsistence agriculture as the primary business. The canal, which cost nearly $8,000,000 to construct, provided a transportation route from Cleveland on Lake Erie to Portsmouth on the Ohio River. Ohio farmers were encouraged to increase production and ship surplus produce to more profitable markets. Industry became more prominent as manufacturers produced building supplies for the canals and shipped products via the canal. As an internal improvement, the Ohio and Erie Canal expanded the economy, increased the population, and ended the feeling of isolation in Ohio. The canal continued south from here for about a mile until it met Water Street, now Emmitt Avenue, and ran along Water Street through Waverly.

37700 Detroit Road
Avon

, OH

A progressive farmer, physician, and legislator, Norton S. Townshend lived in Avon from 1830 until his death. His introduction of field drainage tile significantly increased the productivity of Avon farmland. A well-educated country doctor, he served this district as a U.S. congressman (1851-1853) and later as an Ohio state senator. As a legislator Townshend, a member of the antislavery “Free Soil” Party, espoused civil rights for women and free blacks. Later he was instrumental in the founding of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College in Columbus, serving on the first board and as its first professor of agriculture. In 1878, this land-grant college became Ohio State University, where Townshend Hall stands in honor of his founding role. He is interred in Avon’s mound cemetery.

Beverly

, OH

Settlement came to Round Bottom in early 1795 following the end of the Indians Wars in what would become Ohio (1791-1795). Pioneers Allen Devol, David Wilson, Nathaniel Cushing, Peter Shaw, and Andrew Story came down the Muskingum River to this rich and extensive alluvion shoreline where agriculture became a way of life for them and later settlers. They built the Round Bottom Schoolhouse in the fall of 1795 from bricks fired in nearby fields. The school is one of the oldest one-room brick schoolhouses in the state.

4050 Bromfield Road
Lucas

, OH

Acclaimed author, conservationist, and farmer Louis Bromfield was born in Mansfield in 1896. A graduate of the city’s schools, he went on to study agriculture at Cornell University in 1914, but left in 1915 to help run his family’s farm. In 1916, Bromfield enrolled in Columbia University to study journalism. As America entered World War I, he enlisted in United States Army Ambulance Service and saw action in seven major European battles. Determined to become a writer, Bromfield finished his education after the war and became a reporter. In 1921, he married Mary Appleton Wood and they would have three daughters. Bromfield’s first published novel, the Green Bay Tree (1924), was a critical and commercial success; his third novel, Early Autumn, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927. The Bromfields moved to France in 1925 where they lived until 1938. In all, he published thirty books and authored numerous stories, articles, and screenplays during his writing career.