Defunct townships of Cuyahoga County, Ohio
The rest of the township remained unincorporated until 1951, when it was divided between Bedford Heights, Oakwood, and Walton Hills.
[5] Brecksville Township was formed in 1807 and named for Massachusetts resident John Breck, the owner of significant lands in that vicinity.
In its early years, it extended northward to Lake Erie, but most of the township incorporated into or was annexed by municipalities, the last of which was the city of Brooklyn in the southwest.
[8] In 1806, two residents of Dover, Connecticut purchased the northwestern corner township of Cuyahoga County and named it for their hometown.
A large wave of settlers primarily of the extended McIlrath family began to arrive in Euclid Township in 1804.
The early economy was based on farming, although it soon included gristmills, sawmills and boat building, and in later years grapes, railroads, stone quarries and industry became important.
Its original territory was the site of Standard Oil billionaire John D. Rockefeller's Forest Hill country estate, and was the birthplace of General Electric co-founder Charles F. Brush.
In its early years, the township was primarily agricultural, but by 1850, it possessed nationally recognized quarries.
Originally, the area's natural resources were significant enough that Newburg was the leading settlement in Cuyahoga County, causing Cleveland to be referred to as "the town on the lake, six miles from Newburgh," although Cleveland's location on Lake Erie soon led to its dominance.
It included the modern communities of Beachwood, Hunting Valley, Moreland Hills, Orange, Pepper Pike, and Woodmere, plus part of Chagrin Falls Township.
[21] James Abram Garfield, who became 20th President of the United States, was born on 19 November 1831 in a log cabin in Orange Township.
[5] Riveredge Township was organized in 1926 by residents of Brook Park, who disagreed with the village's course and seceded.
The township changed over the years; it was originally primarily a truck farm, became a trailer park in the 1950s, and expanded greatly in the 1960s.
[23] Riveredge Township was officially dissolved on July 1, 1992, when it was divided by the cities of Cleveland and Fairview Park.
Today, the township's original area is divided between several municipalities: Cleveland, a small portion of Brook Park, Fairview Park, Lakewood (incorporated as a village on August 31, 1889[26]), Linndale, and Rocky River.
[27] Royalton Township was formed on October 27, 1818, seven years after the first settlers arrived in the area.
[5] Strongsville Township was organized in 1818 and named for John Strong, an early pioneer who came from Vermont.
Agriculture was long the mainstay of the township's economy, although sawmills, a quarry, and a plant for manufacturing bricks were opened in the early years.
Their land was eventually purchased in 1904 by developers who quickly arranged for the construction of subdivisions in the township.
Today, West Park comprises four westside neighborhoods of Cleveland: Jefferson, Kamm's Corners, Puritas-Longmead, and Hopkins (formerly called Riverside).
