Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio: From Footpaths to Expressways and Beyond

by Gayleen Gindy

Overview

Join the author in reliving Sylvania's over 180 years of history from footpaths to expressways and beyond, in volume two of an eight volume set. With 30 years of research she has included every subject imaginable that helped bring Sylvania to where they are today, with excellent schools, over-the-top parks and recreation, rich beautiful homes, commercial and industrial businesses and a quaint historical dowtown that looks like it was planned by Norman Rockwell himself. This book is a treasure trove of information for the thousands who have ancestors that once lived and helped Sylvania grow through these years. Located in northwestern Ohio, Sylvania is a suburb of Toledo, Ohio and for many years has been known as "the fastest growing suburb in Lucas County." A once rural farm community, between both the city and township they have grown from a combined 2,220 residents in 1910, to 48,487 in 2010. Over a short period of time the land has transformed into beautiful subdivisions of grand houses, so that now their subdivision names are all that remain to remind them of their once dense forests and sprawling farmlands. No longer can Sylvania be called the "bedroom community" of Toledo, because over the last 50 years they have done a lot more than sleep.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477254691
Publisher:	AuthorHouse
Publication date:	08/24/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	436
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Gayleen Gindy is a free-lance writer, author and historian from Sylvania, Ohio and for many years wrote under the name of Gaye E. Gindy. She has been researching the history of the Sylvania community for over 30 years and retired in 2010, after working for 33 years with the governmental entities of Sylvania Township and the City of Sylvania; working in the fire department, township administration offices and then the city police division. She has been a member of both the local historical society and historical commission for many years and has written numerous local history articles for many magazines and newspapers, as well as published six other books about the history of Sylvania.

Read an Excerpt

SYLVANIA, LUCAS COUNTY, OHIO

FROM FOOTPATHS TO EXPRESSWAYS AND BEYOND

---

By GAYLEEN GINDY

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Gayleen Gindy
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-4870-9

---

Chapter One

IN THE VERY BEGINNING

SYLVANIA

The Sylvania I will be referring to throughout this book is the Sylvania I know as both the city of Sylvania and the township of Sylvania and is located in Lucas County, Ohio. Today Sylvania is bordered entirely on the north by the state of Michigan. The township touches the city of Toledo (originally Washington Township) and the village of Ottawa Hills (originally part of Sylvania Township, but then made part of Adams Township) on the east and southeastern border line; Springfield and Spencer Townships and the city of Toledo (originally Adams Township) on the south border line; and Richfield Township on the west border line. (See the separate chapter on Sylvania Township's original boundaries which extended even further than this). The city of Sylvania's northern border is also the Michigan line, and then the city is surrounded on the other three sides by Sylvania Township. Sylvania is located in northwestern Ohio, and is a suburb of Toledo. It is sometimes difficult to present a clear picture of the city and township governments because in many cases the functions overlap, so we will refer to it in most cases as one community, or simply Sylvania.

The name Sylvania comes from the Latin word "Sylvan" which means abounding in woods or trees. Needless to say, trees have always been important in Sylvania, from day one, because that is what they found when the first settlers came into the area. The tradition of trees in our community has continued throughout our history, even up to current, as year after year the city is designated as a "Tree City U.S.A." by the National Arbor Day Association. With the benefit of all these trees, saw mills were established by the earliest settlers, and these mills worked hard to help start a community here. In 1867 when the village of Sylvania was established, within the boundaries of Sylvania Township, one of the first resolutions that the government officials passed was: "Resolved by council of the incorporated Village of Sylvania, that to preserve the health, promote the prospect and improve the appearance, comfort and convenience of the village, the inhabitants are earnestly requested to plant, cultivate and maintain shade and ornamental trees in front of their lands and buildings whenever the convenience of business does not prevent, and the same is to be arranged in regards to distances and uniformity, and resolved further that as a general rule American White Elm, Sugar Maple and Silver Leaved Maple are suggested as the most suitable kind to be planted." A newspaper circulated on 4-18-1903 titled Toledo Critic also suggested the following: "Sylvania inherits its name from an old tribe of the famous Miamies, known as the Sylvas or Sylvanis." (I am unable to locate any information to verify this claim).

And finally, in a journal written by a Betsey Ann Kellogg (1813-1904), who was an early resident of Lucas County, she wrote the following in 1898 at the age of 85 years old: "One General White favored the side that wanted the Maumee River for a dividing line and Michigan, named one of its Townships for him and called it Whiteford. Sylvania was named after the wife of one of the men that favored Ohio."

William Wilson was the founder of the name "Sylvania" and he was the one who platted the original "Town of Sylvania." The first section of Wilson's town was known as "Block 30" and was platted in 1830. Somehow Wilson was related to the Hawley family of Sylvania and one of the Hawley family first names was "Sylvanus." Maybe this is what Mrs. Kellogg was referring to.

Sylvania's only original body of water when settlers moved into the area was the Ten Mile Creek and Ottawa River. These were formed thousands and thousands of years ago, and as the last glacier to move down from Canada and across Ohio finally melted, it left a huge lake behind which covered all of today's northwest Ohio and southern Michigan. The lake slowly, over another period of thousands of years, receded and eventually created Lake Erie. As this receding occurred it left behind some beaches of yellow/ginger colored sand. In Sylvania a good example of what was beach area during those thousands of years would be at the intersection of Laskey and Flanders Road. As the water and glacier moved from what became Sylvania it left the southwestern portions of the township a sandy Oak Openings and the northwestern portion swampy and loaded with elms and cottonwoods. It also laid down beds of limestone in the western portion. The Ten Mile Creek and Ottawa River became the water shed, and took care of draining this swampland, establishing itself in boggy areas and around sand dune areas. The bottoms of the old lakes became cottonwood swampland and thick dark forests of elm trees that once cleared and drained made rich farmland. Later, man-made ditches and tile helped the drainage even more.

Some of the wild animals that reside in our woods today include raccoons, opossums, squirrels, skunks, woodchucks and deer. Years ago, in this black swamp region of mud and bogs, there were malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Until the early 1800s bison grazed the wet prairie land and elk could be heard during the autumn mating season. Mountain lions, lynx, boars and bobcats could be heard in the night outside of the pioneers' cabins. Wolverines, black bears and timber wolves prowled the forests in search of prey, and the rivers, creeks and streams were home to beavers and river otters. Settlers also could run into porcupines, wild turkeys and prairie chickens, but almost all of these had disappeared before 1900. After the swamps drained, much of the original forest was converted into farmland. Then homes, roads and industry soon followed. These things drove off most of the wild animals that had required large tracts of primitive land to survive.

Sylvania is characterized as being in the Great Lakes region, and consists of gently sloping flatland with the westernmost line of the township having a general height of 675 feet above sea level, while the eastern border falls to 650 feet above sea level. Sylvania is also part of what was originally known as the Great Black Swamp, because water covered its surface for most of the year, in its earliest days, when travel was almost impossible and horses could sink in mud up to their chests. Sylvania Historian Kathryn M. Keller referred to Lucas County in the early days as "a big bowl of mud, that only frogs and water birds found congenial."

There are six other communities in the United States that I am aware of that share the name "Sylvania" with us, they include: Sylvania, Alabama; Sylvania, California; Sylvania, Georgia; Sylvania, Indiana; Sylvania, Missouri; and Sylvania, Pennsylvania. Do you know of others?

Sylvania started out slow with primitive man-made roads and within just over 130 years later we were expecting our first high-speed expressway; which disrupted many already established housing developments, but was a welcome addition for the travelers. Interstate 475/U.S. 23 highway runs in a northern and southern direction through the middle of Sylvania. When travelling on the Interstate 475/U.S. 23 expressway, heading north, you can get on and off this expressway in Sylvania at Central Avenue, in the southern portion of the township, or Monroe Street in the northern portion. The 475 Interstate ties into U.S. 23 in the middle of the township, and parallels Sylvania Avenue, running east of the U.S. 23 highway. On that portion we have an exit and entrance at Corey Road and at Talmadge Road, which is now in Toledo, but was originally in Sylvania Township. At the Corey Road interchange travelers can only get on to head west and can only get off if they are heading east. Officials have often wished for a complete interchange at this location, or at Holland-Sylvania Road, just south of Sylvania Avenue, but the state declares not enough spacing between interchanges.

By 1950 the village of Sylvania had just under 2,500 people living in its boundaries, and most were content on remaining a small village with small businesses and homey streets. But, without notice, the town began to grow, and as Toledo industries boomed, managers and executives liked the idea of working in the "big city" and living in the shaded streets of the smaller village. As a result the village's population doubled by 1960, and without even trying officially became a city in 1961. And then by another ten years it doubled again, and before they knew it the fields where wild flowers once grew became streets and subdivisions in order to accommodate all the growth. City officials scrambled to keep up by 1970. Once the city of Sylvania was filled with these residential subdivisions, the developers started moving into the cornfields of the rural township. Through all this growth Sylvania's school system has been one of the leading selling points to potential new residents. Our education has been consistently superior to many in the entire state. Don't get me wrong, at times the residents say "no" to wasteful spending, but in the long run they support their schools.

In 2010 Sylvania Township is one of eleven townships located in Lucas County, Ohio. As of the census year 2000 the total population of both the city and township was 44,253; making it the second most populous subdivision of Lucas County, as well as the third most populous in all of northwest Ohio. When you include the city's population, Sylvania Township is the sixth most populous "township" in Ohio.

Sylvania Township's population grew by 10.7% between the 1990 and 2000 censuses. In 1990 the population of both the city and township together was 39,983. Excluding the city of Sylvania, the township had a population of 22,682 in 1990 and 25,583 in 2000. The 2010 census shows 18,965 people in the city and 29,522 in the township, for a total of 48,487. This growth, year after year, has brought many residents from our "big sister city," Toledo, and therefore Toledo has been experiencing a decrease in population, although there are other reasons for Toledo's decrease in population. Sylvania must always keep "a step above" the other surrounding communities in order to compete, and keep our residents. Sylvania has always been very well-known for our public and parochial schools and our parks and recreation. For years these features have been drawing new residents to our community.

The northern arm of the Ottawa Creek and the western arm of the Ten Mile Creek join together in the city and flow into the Ottawa River, which then flows into Maumee Bay and then into Lake Erie. At the end of 2008 the property where these two creeks and the river join was purchased by the officials of the City of Sylvania with plans to expand Harroun Park and allow the public to enjoy the same view that our founding fathers enjoyed when they first arrived in Sylvania. By 4-15-2009 city council made tentative plans for a bicycle and pedestrian trail along the Ten Mile Creek near downtown Sylvania. According to early preliminary plans for the "Sylvania Greenway," it would include the area from the Alexis and Monroe area, along the south bank of the creek, between U.S. 23 and Harroun Road tying into an existing trail through Harroun Park. They planned to build a path along the creek's north bank, between Harroun Road and Main Street, and then extend the trail along the creek's north fork, and possibly a perimeter trail around Flower Hospital. By the end of October 2009 the City of Sylvania officials had purchased additional parcels of land along the south side of the 6400 block of Monroe Street where the creeks and river meet.

One of the parcels was purchased from Schwerkoske Family Limited Partnership for $735,000. The purchase included the building well-known as the Nelms Building (built in 1975 while Meredith L. Nelms owned the property) and a small strip shopping complex in the front of the Nelms Building. The officials said that they planned to demolish the Nelms building at 6465 Monroe Street in 2010. The building was a wood-frame building (nicknamed "The Plywood Palace" by several old-time members of the fire department) and was nearly empty of tenants when the City officials purchased it. The existing leases for the front strip stores would be honored. The purchase of these parcels by the City would move their goal of redevelopment to the next phase. For many years the City of Sylvania officials had been working to acquire these properties in order to complete a large enough parcel for a new development in downtown Sylvania, but city officials assured that public access would be retained along the creeks for the Sylvania River Trail project, to include a bridge across Ten Mile Creek near these properties.

The property along the north side of the creek, south of Monroe Street, where the Nelms Building is/was located, has a long and interesting history. It was part of the land that our founders called "the flats," it is where our earliest settlers first met to organize, it is where Peleg T. Clarke's horses and cattle grazed and drank from the creek, and as the years went on became the "beautiful" lawn of Ray and Flora (Hubbard) West, where numerous early school reunions, carnivals and public events took place.

The property that the city purchased in December of 2008 from the Neumans, also on the south side of Monroe Street, with the property line that runs along the west side of the creek (behind the old Scripture Supply Shop) has gone full circle. The Village of Sylvania officials purchased that property back in 1909 from Ray and Flora West, and constructed the Village's first sewer system filter beds here. These filter beds existed on that property until 1958 when a new sewage treatment plant was constructed off Harroun Road. In 1958 the Village officials held a public auction and sold this property to Jesse Crandall for $100. Then a year later in 1959 Mr. Crandall sold the property to Howard V. Neuman, who moved two houses to the property and built a Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio; From Footpaths to Expressways and Beyond brick apartment unit here as well. These structures occupied this property for 50 years, and then in December of 2008 the City officials purchased the property back again. They purchased this property from the Howard Vernon Neuman Trust and demolished the structures. Although this property had an appraised value of $585,000, the City officials purchased the property for $360,000, and according to the agreement the seller acknowledged the difference between the appraised value and the actual purchase price to be a gift to the City.

In February of 2010 Mayor Craig Stough wrote the following in his "Mayor's Message" regarding this Sylvania river front project: "Sylvania City Council continues to work on improvements in and around the downtown area, and here is an update. In a continuation of work started almost two decades ago, the city has purchased properties south of Monroe Street and east of Main Street to clear and ready for redevelopment. The current city council has named this area the "SOMO" district for "South of Monroe." Prior to earlier city purchases, the former Howard Gas & Oil property at the southeast corner of Main and Monroe streets included a bulk oil storage facility along Ten Mile Creek, and the Carroll Motors building on the south side of the creek had been long abandoned. Purchased, cleared and resold by the city, those properties are now the Wingate Hotel, the Root Office Building, a Medical Clinic on the west side of Main Street and River Center Park. Within the last year the city has purchased the old Nelms Building, the old apartments east of that building, the stores in front of them along Monroe Street, together with a few other parcels being discussed, that property can serve to expand our downtown with sites for new office buildings, a hospitality district near the hotel including a river-front restaurant, and renewed retail space along Monroe Street. Further, the construction plans for the Sylvania River Trail project are being finalized and will provide a walking and bicycle path along Ten Mile Creek from Silica Road east to Monroe Street on the other side of US 23, and runs right through the SOMO district. Three grant applications totaling $575,000 have recently been submitted to the state of Ohio to help fund the project, and $200,000 was awarded last year by the State of Ohio with the help of our Ohio Representative Barbara Sears ..."

In December of 2010 the city announced that the first phase would be undertaken in 2011. The development of the River Trail was to begin between Harroun Road and Main Street and would go through the SOMO (SOuth of MOnroe) area. Eventually the SOMO district would connect with the Wingate Hotel property. Also in 2011 it was proposed that streetscaping improvements would be made on Monroe Street between US 23 and Harroun Road.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from SYLVANIA, LUCAS COUNTY, OHIO by GAYLEEN GINDY Copyright © 2012 by Gayleen Gindy. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgements....................xi
Introduction....................xiii
In The Very Beginning....................1
Sylvania....................1
The Maps....................10
Timeline Of Events Before And After The Establishment Of Sylvania Township....................16
The American Indians....................24
The Ohio-Michigan Boundary Dispute....................40
Lucas County....................53
Settlers, Boundaries And Early Events....................58
The First White Settlers In Sylvania....................58
Sylvania Township Original Boundaries And Annexations....................67
1859 Pioneer Meeting....................93
Initial Events....................95
What Is A Township?....................98
How Did Townships Begin?....................99
Elected Positions....................100
The First To Purchase Land In Sylvania....................100
Colonel OrlaNdo Bushnell....................102
Sylvania Government....................103
The First Elections Under The Name Of Sylvania....................103
Minute Books Of Sylvania Township And Other Township Records....................116
Government Meeting Places In Sylvania....................254
Voting In Sylvania....................262
List Of Sylvania Township Officials....................268
The Incorporation Of The Village Of Sylvania....................280
What Is A Village?....................284
First Minute Book Of The Village Of Sylvania....................284
What Is A City?....................320
List Of Village/City Officials....................322
Merger Attempts....................348
Sylvania Village/City And Township Populations....................351
1960 Census Makes The Village Of Sylvania A City....................353
Sylvania's Population More Than Doubles From 1960 To 1970....................354
1977 Was A Year Of Large Growth In Sylvania Township....................358
Postmasters And Post Offices....................358
Creeks, Rivers And Public Water....................367
The Ten Mile Creek And Ottawa River....................367
Water In Sylvania....................381
References Used In All Volumes....................409
About The Author....................413