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    Aurora
    Aurora
    Aurora
    Ebook164 pages36 minutes

    Aurora

    By Marcelle R. Wilson and Richard Fetzer

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    About this ebook

    Located in northeastern Ohio, Aurora began as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve and drew many of its first settlers from New England. The city was founded in 1799, with its residents making their living from hunting, farming, and milling. As settlers cleared the land, planted their crops, and raised their animals, they retained their New England heritage, reflected in the many century homes found in the town. The area remained largely rural until the mid-20th century, with dairy farmers shipping cheese all over the country and to Europe from 1850 to 1910. Aurora has served as a bedroom community from the 1900s to the 1960s, and Geauga Lake has been a vacation destination since the 1860s. Currently Aurora retains much of its rural charm with Audubon lands, nature reserves, and many lakes and wetlands.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJul 18, 2007
    ISBN9781439618714
    Aurora
    Author

    Marcelle R. Wilson

    Marcelle R. Wilson, who has a doctorate in American history, serves as the director of the Aurora Historical Society and is a part-time faculty member at Youngstown State University. Richard Fetzer has a bachelor of arts degree in history, coauthored Aurora: From the Founding to the Flood, and is an honorary life trustee and in charge of historical records for the Aurora Historical Society.

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      Book preview

      Aurora - Marcelle R. Wilson

      archives.

      INTRODUCTION

      To many Americans, lands beyond the settled states of Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, New York, New Jersey, and the New England area were wild, barren, and fraught with dangers. Some people were not as inhibited by such images and had a desire to explore and settle the newly opened areas, which might offer opportunities not available in their present hometowns. Aurora began in 1799 as Ebenezer Sheldon became its first resident. Sheldon encouraged his friends and family to follow his example, and the population slowly but steadily grew. A majority of its earliest residents came from the Connecticut and New England regions of America and thus Aurora has maintained its Western Reserve sense of architecture in its many historic homes.

      Aurora has always been known for its rural beauty, and perhaps that is what swayed many to settle here. Its history is largely agricultural, being mainly composed of farming families for decades. During the mid-1800s Aurora made a name for itself for its cheese manufacturing and shipped its product all over the country. This business continued as others in the community ran mills, stores, schools, and other concerns. The floods of 1913, which devastated so many Ohio towns and villages, also affected Aurora, wiping out its largest and most successful cheese manufacturers. Aurora and its people were able to recover and continued to pursue the business of agriculture but also modernized and diversified.

      Today one can still see farms and rural areas around Aurora, as well as industry and a thriving building boom. The city maintains its bucolic beauty through local government initiatives, the Moebius Nature Center, its many parks, and the Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland’s three sanctuaries.

      I hope that the images in this book help capture the imagination of the reader, helping him or her see how life has evolved over the years. Many of the images evoke a sense of family, recreation, community, and pride. They help us visualize who lived in Aurora, the types of work, play, and environment that molded them and made the city what it is today. Aurora today is a diverse 21st-century town where one can fulfill the dream that drew so many early pioneers west to settle in a beautiful area, soon to be known as home.

      One

      FRIENDS AND FAMILY

      When thinking of Aurora, whether about its history or how it exists today, one theme that is consistent and ever present is that of family and friends. Aurora began as a serene spot of wild beauty. Once discovered by restless Easterners, Aurora drew both the family and friends of its newest settlers, as well as those adventurous souls willing to journey out to the virtual edge of civility and begin their lives anew. The following chapter contains the images of many of the descendants of Aurora’s earliest inhabitants and the scores of Americans whose pioneer spirit drove them to settle here.

      Even though Aurora was largely an agricultural village, its residents maintained their New England heritage through their mores and religious beliefs. The Lewis Cochran family lived on what is now Cochran Road and were farmers. They are pictured here from left to right: (first row) Alfred Cochran; (second row) Grace Cochran, Pearl Cochran, and Carrie Cochran; (third row) Mary and Ossie Cochran. The sheep was called Sippy Baa.

      The Harmon family traced its Aurora roots back to the early 19th century. Here Calvin Harmon stands in the back of his barn at 1157 Page Road. Harmon, a fourth-generation Auroran, was a longtime member of the Aurora School Board. Harmon School is named in his honor.

      Pearl Cochran, daughter of Lewis and Phoebe Ann Stafford Cochran, smiles brightly as she steadies herself on a chair. She is in

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