Canfield to place markers of history

The city was founded by settlers from Litchfield, Conn.

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — Cast of aluminum, seven signs have arrived in the city to cast a light on its history.

They are going to mark seven sites designated as significant by the Ohio Historical Society, and together with two sites already designated, they will become a “Walk of History” around the city’s Village Green.

What a long history it is, too, for Town One of Range Three of the Western Reserve — Canfield, settled mostly by Revolutionary War veterans in the late 1700s.

If the city reminds you of a historic Connecticut town, with its quaint center Green and its proper little shops and houses, there’s a reason for that.

Its six original founders came from Litchfield, Conn., getting together to buy the area that would eventually become known as Canfield and Canfield Township, explained Pat Sabo of the Canfield Historical Society.

The eastern seaboard, she said, was economically depressed at the time. Connecticut had claimed a lot of frontier land in Ohio, and was selling it to keep its economy going.

If you’ve ever wondered what the Connecticut Western Reserve actually was, it was that chunk of land owned by Connecticut that includes much of what’s now Northeast Ohio.

Because the land was being sold in large tracts, individuals couldn’t afford it, Sabo said. That’s why the six men got together to buy it. Judson Canfield, Elijah Wadsworth, Nathaniel Church, David Waterman, James Johnston and Frederick Wolcott were investors who parceled off the land to settlers. Because Canfield invested the most money, the village was named after him.

The men spent $12,903 to buy what’s now the city and township.

It’s costing more to buy the seven markers from Sewah Studios of Marietta, Ohio. They range from $2,010 to $2,150 each. The historical society has paid for only one, said Sabo — the rest are being paid for by donations.

The markers will be dedicated at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Bandstand on the Green.

Markers for five sites — The Mahoning Dispatch, the Township Hall, the Congregational/United Methodist Church, The Canfield Christian Church and the War Vets Museum — were donated by Robert Neff, a former resident who now lives in Florida.

The Green will have its own marker as well. That one is being donated by the local historical society.

Another site, the WPA Memorial Building, will have a marker donated by its owners — Sabo and her husband, James.

The historical society applied to the state last spring for the designations, Sabo said, after researching each site and documenting why it is historically important. The society also had to submit text for the markers.

The markers do not give the sites protection from being razed or altered, she said. Even the National Register of Historic Places doesn’t give that protection, she said, “if you have enough money and lawyers.”

“But this brings to the forefront sites of historical significance,” she said. “People drive by every day and don’t know anything about them.”