North Ridgeville Review The Community That Cares
Courtesy North Ridgeville Historical Society, northridgevillehistoricalsociety.com
Barton Road
Today we’ll explore the history behind Barton Rd.
Barton Rd. was named for Peter Barton, a native of Massachusetts. He was born in 1791 and moved with his family to New Hampshire a few years later. It was here that he met and married his wife, Sarah Wheeler in 1818, and they moved to Ohio shortly after. Peter purchased 74 acres on the eastern end of town and started his farm. He and Sarah had seven children including a son Peter, who fought in the Civil War as part of the 71st regiment of the Ohio Infantry. Peter’s father (who was also named Peter) was a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
Not much is know about the life of Peter and Sarah, although he continued to purchase land in the area, and by 1896 his daughter and sons owned all of the area of Barton Rd- both sides of the road to the North Olmsted border- about 130 acres!
One of the most interesting things we have found in researching the life of Peter Barton is a list of his farm inventory, on which his tax bill was based in 1860. At that time he had 80 acres- 65 improved and 15 unimproved and it was valued at $3,000. In addition to the land, the farm also had: 2 horses; 4 milch cows (milk cows); 2 other cattle; 38 sheep; 1 swine; 150 bushels Indian corn; 175 pounds of wool; 100 bushels of Irish potatoes; 5 bushels of buckwheat; 500 pounds of butter; 12 tons of hay; 50 pounds of honey
Peter died in 1863 and Sarah died in 1873. They are both buried in the Center Ridge Cemetery in a family plot with a large monument stone.
Root and Bainbridge Roads
Today we’re moving to the center of town- Root Road and Bainbridge. Garry Root came here in October of 1810 as an 8 year old child with his mother, Eunice and his four siblings. His father, Lyman who was one of our original settlers, had arrived earlier that same year. The family stayed here through the winter of 1810, then moved to Dover Twp. (the Westlake area) in the spring of 1811. They returned to Ridgeville in 1815. At some point he became owner of 19 acres of land on the west side of what is now Root Rd. – running from Center Ridge to where Bainbridge road currently starts. The 1851 map shows a road running alongside his property that would become Root Rd. Garry was distantly related to Ephraim Root Esq., a Connecticut lawyer who purchased all or part of many townships here in the Western Reserve. He later sold parcels to our pioneer families, but, strangely enough never came to Ridgeville!
On the eastern side of Root Rd. a family named Bainbridge owned many acres. We will assume this family would become the namesake of Bainbridge Rd. The Bainbridge family owned many acres on both Bainbridge and Chestnut Ridge. A little research shows William S. Bainbridge, who was born in England, marrying Hannah Lounsborough- a family name from the nearby landowners in the early maps. Was she the “girl next door”? When the street was drawn up they would have lived across the street from each other. Imagine their life almost 200 years ago!
For those of you who are newer to town, Bainbridge Road originally only connected Root Rd. and Chestnut Ridge. It was decided in the early 1970s to extend it to Avon Belden Rd. as it is today. That section is now widely used by us all to travel across town or to visit the park or library.
Next week- more history on your hometown!
To be continued in next month’s North Ridgeville Review.
