Geneva

The area’s first settlers, Theobalt Bartholomew and his family, left Charlotte, New York, and arrived on South Ridge Road near Cowles Creek in 1805. Geneva, however, was named by another early settler, Maj. Levi Gaylord, who suggested naming it after the small, beautiful town of Geneva, New York. By the mid-1800s, word traveled back to the East Coast of the fertile soil in Ohio, and soon many farmers came on horseback, in oxcarts, and on foot, driving herds of cattle to the area, and the population grew to about 150. The area along Lake Erie soon became a popular tourist destination with its grape-growing industry, Ohio’s first resort, and fishing in the Grand River. The area prospered into a community united by work, recreation, and sport. This collection of historic images highlights the histories of Geneva, Geneva on the Lake, and Harpersfields from 1805 to the present day.