Marker #6-52 Liverpool Township
Posted by: 
theents
N 41° 14.280 W 081° 55.527
17T E 422448 N 4565590
Quick Description: Ohio Historical marker located at the Valley City Depot.
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 10/21/2009 6:52:09 PM
Waymark Code: WM7G4D
Views: 0
Long Description:Side A : "Liverpool Township"
Seba Bronson Jr. left Columbia Township in early 1810 and followed
the Rocky River to an area one and a half miles north of here. He
built a cabin and planted a crop and thus started what became known
as the village of Hardscrabble in Liverpool Township. The village
was centered around the Columbia/Grafton Road area, and the
township is the oldest continuously inhabited township in Medina
County. The Potawatami Indians occupied this area and camped
annually along the Rocky River. For five silver dollars, they
showed Seba and a partner a hidden salt springs which they sought
to exploit. Other men also scrabbled to own it and Justus Warner
succeeded. Seba was turned out. Warner operated the Liverpool Salt
Works beginning in 1811. The first industry in the county, salt was
a necessity and eagerly sought by setters in the area.
Side B : "Liverpool and Valley City"
Hardscrabble grew slowly. Some say that the struggle to gain wealth
and influence inspired the name. When the War of 1812 ended, the
British and hostile Native Americans left and people felt safe.
Tradesmen, settlers with families, and even a doctor arrived, and a
post office was established. The Erie Canal opened in 1825 making
it easier to send goods to market, but a better quality and price
for salt brought an end to the Liverpool Salt Works. As more people
came, English first and then Germans, the population center moved
south to where you are now, and a manufacturing base was
established. Hardscrabble faded. The railroad arrived with this
train depot built a mile and a half east of here, circa 1895. In
1910, the Post Office was renamed Valley City. The township remains
Liverpool in this place with a strong legacy of German churches,
families, and road names.