The Settlers

Members of the Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Seneca tribes briefly inhabited the Cuyahoga Valley in the 17th century after being pushed out of their ancestral lands elsewhere, but most had left by the dawn of the 19th century. In the late 1700s European settlers began arriving in the valley, which was then the frontier of colonial America. Most were farmers, who cleared fields by hacking down swaths of forest and using the lumber to build log cabins for their families. Clusters of log homes slowly grew into pioneer towns with schools, churches and stores. Trade increased, facilitated by improving roads and river travel. Mills were built to harness the power of the Cuyahoga River, producing lumber and textiles and grinding grain into flour. Families like that of Steven and Mehitable Frazee, who arrived in the valley in 1816, become prosperous enough that they were able to trade their log cabin for a two-story brick home by 1825.