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Springfield is the northwestern township of the county, and
has an area of 21,788 acres. It was one of the original sixteen. The township
is bounded on the north by Lake Erie, on the east by Girard and Conneaut, on
the south by Conneaut, and on the west by Ashtabula County, Ohio.
Up to the year 1885, the south line was a mile or so further north than now,
but by an arrangement with Conneaut the latter ceded that portion of her
territory lying beyond the creek, on condition that Springfield should pay one-half the expense
of maintaining bridges along the boundary. The east line of Springfield extended to Miles Grove,
parallel with that of Conneaut and Elk Creek; until 1832, when the township
was reduced by the formation of Girard. The first officers of the township
were elected in 1811. Springfield
contained 896 inhabitants in 1820, 1,520, in 1830, 2,344 in 1840, 1,916 in
1850, 1,742 in 1870, and 1,792 in 1880. Its greatest length is about seven
and a half and its greatest width about six and a quarter miles. The villages
are East Springfield, West Springfield and North
Springfield, all of which have post offices of the same name.
The old State line of Pennsylvania, before the purchase of the Triangle,
terminated on the farm of Joseph Hewitt, in Springfield, between four and
five miles east of the Ohio boundary.
Lands, etc.
The lake shore plain is about three miles wide in Springfield, and while there is a good deal
of high broken land in the south part, the township is less marred by gullies
than is the case further east in the county. The best portion of the township
is conceded to lie along the Ridge road, in the vicinity of East
Springfield. A mile or less west of that place, on the same
line, the quality of the land deteriorates, though some excellent farms are
found at and around the village
of West Springfield. In
the eastern part of the township, the lake shore lands are generally good,
but in the neighborhood of Raccoon Creek they become sour, and from there on
to Ohio are
below the average of the county. Numerous stretches of sand are met with that
hardly pay for cultivation, and other parts are cold, swampy and difficult of
drainage. Back of the Ridge road, and from there to
Conneaut Creek, the soil is usually clay, with here and there a sand hill,
which forms a curious feature of the topography. As there are exceptions to
all rules, so there is to this statement. A valley commences just south of
West Springfield and extends clear into Ohio, with a width ranging from a half a
mile to a mile, which is one of the best portions of the township. Wheat and
other grains are raised everywhere, but the back country is best adapted for
grazing. Great quantities of potatoes are produced, and many carloads are
shipped annually from Cross's Station and North Springfield.
The lake shore farms are valued at $30 to $100 per acre, the Ridge road at
$40 to $100, and the back country from $30 to $70.
The bank of the lake is bold and abrupt along the font of Springfield Township,
ranging in height from fifty to sixty feet. The Moravian grant embraced 2,797
acres in Springfield and Conneaut, extending from the lake to a short
distance south of Conneaut Creek, and taking in a strip about a mile wide,
except at the Ridge road, where it narrowed to fifty or sixty rods. The
reason for this diversion was that the surveyors encountered a formidable
beaver swamp at that point, which has since been mostly reclaimed by
drainage. William and James Miles were long the agents of the Moravians. The
tract was bought in a body by N. Blickensderfer and
James Miles in 1849, who sold it out in pieces from 1850 on. The Ridge road
is closely settled between East and West Springfield,
and many of the farmhouses are large, neat and pleasant, giving an impression
of wealth and comfort. Several of the buildings are brick, and nearly all are
surrounded by pretty grounds. Some delightful homes are also to be seen on
the road from the lake to East Springfield.
The assessment for 1883 gave the following results: Value of real estate,
$941,410; cows, 558; value, $13,947; oxen; value, $340; horses and mules,
448; value, $28,660; value of trades and occupations, $9,750; money at
interest, $34,860.
Early Settlers
The first settler in the township was Capt.
Samuel Holliday, of Franklin
County, who came on in
1796, located 700 acres at the mouth of Crooked Creek, built a cabin, and
returned to his former home in the fall of the year. Soon after his arrival,
he was joined by John
Devore, of Bedford County, John
Mershon, of New Jersey,
and William
McIntyre and Patrick
Ager, natives of Ireland,
but residents for a time in Eastern Pennsylvania,
all of whom became permanent settlers. Capt. Holliday married in Franklin County in April, 1797, and the young
couple started immediately on a wedding tour to their new home, Mrs. H.
riding on horseback and her husband walking by her side with his gun over his
shoulder. Their route was by a trail through the woods from Pittsburgh
to Erie, and
from there along the beach of the lake to the mouth of Crooked Creek. Their
goods came some time after, in boats up the Allegheny and French Creek to Waterford. During the
year 1797, the little colony was increased by the arrival of Oliver
Cross, from Vermont, and of Thomas
and Oliver
Dunn, from Ireland.
The Dunns remained but a few months, when they
changed to McKean, where they settled permanently.
Other pioneers reached the township as follows: In 1798, Nicholas
Lebarger, of Bedford County; in 1800, Matthias
Brindle, of Franklin County, and a Mr.
Bruce; in 1801, Robert
McKee, of Cumberland County, and Oliver
Smith, from Massachusetts; in 1802, Isaac,
Jesse, John
D. and Thomas
R. Miller, John Eaton and John
Law, all of Franklin County, Henry Adams, of Massachusetts, John
Hewitt, of Connecticut, and John Rudd,
Jr.; in 1803, Andrew
Cochran and Abraham
Eagley, of Dauphin County, George
Ferguson, of Cumberland County, and William Ferguson, of Ohio; in 1804, Samuel
Rea, of Franklin County, and John Rudd, Sr., and family; in 1806, John
Hall, of Mifflin County, in 1808, Erastus DeWolf, of New
York; in 1810, Joseph Ware, of Vermont; in 1813, Zachariah Thomas, of Vermont; in 1815, William Gould,
of Chautauqua County, N. Y., Anderson Hubbard, of Ohio, and Luke Thayer, of
Massachusetts; in 1816, Benjamin Carr, of Essex County, N. Y.; in 1817, John
Albert, of Cattaraugus County, N. Y.; in 1818, David Ellis, of Massachusetts,
and Derby Walter and Ezekiel Currier, both of Lyme,
N. H.; in 1819, Andrew and Henry Mallory and Thomas Ivory, all of New York;
in 1820, James, Benjamin and Lucius Bond of Massachusetts,
John S. Sherman, of New York, and James Anderson, of Virginia; in 1824, A. Whiton, of Ashtabula County, Ohio; in 1826, John Monell, of Otsego County, N. Y., and Peter Simmons; in
1829, Geo. Simmons, of Saratoga County, N. Y.; in 1830, Lorenzo Harvey, of
New York, William H. Townsend, of Washington County, N. Y., and Selah
Walbridge, of Vermont; in 1831, I. Pond, of New York, and Seymour Devereaux, of North East; in 1832, Scott Keith, of
Girard, Penn., Stephen Warner, of Genesee County, N. Y., and Matthew Gray, of
Lockport, N. Y.; in 1833, R. R. Robinson, of Sparta, N. Y.; in 1834, William
Marsh and E. Smith, both of Wyoming County, N. Y.; in 1835, Clark Baldwin, of
Vermont, Thomas Potter, of New York, and E. B. Hedden
and William Church, both of New Jersey; in 1836, Thomas Webster, of
Washington County, N. Y.; in 1839, T. S. Cowles, of Connecticut; in 1840, C.
Lindsey, of New York; in 1841, Joseph Strong, of Massachusetts; in 1842,
Gilbert Hurd, from Rock Stream, N. Y.; in 1846, L.
W. Savage, of Genesee County, N. Y.; in 1854, Joel Day, of Wyoming County, N.
Y.; in 1863, Humphrey A. Hills, of Conneaut Township. Mr. Brindle, like Capt.
Holliday, first came on in 1800, located lands, went back and brought his
family the next spring. He was a soldier of 1812, and the father of thirteen
children. Jesse Miller removed to Mercer
County in a few years,
and remained there the balance of his life. Mr. Smith reached the county by
an open boat from Canada,
where it was his original purpose to locate.
Incidents of the Pioneers
Mr. McIntyre died in 1867, at the ripe age of ninety-five. He brought the
first potatoes planted in the township, carrying them in a sack thrown over
his back the entire distance from Pittsburgh.
In 1802, a barrel of salt cost Robert McKee fifty Spanish dollars; it had to
be brought from Buffalo to Erie
in small boat, and from the latter place to Springfield on pack horses. In 1800, the
only route to Erie
was along the beach of the lake or by a bridle path through the woods. At
that period, there was a wide beach along the whole lake front of the county.
Andrew Cochran was Captain of a company of soldiers during the last war with Great Britain,
who volunteered for the protection of our coast, and remained in service till
the declaration of peace. It was attached to the command of Col. Wallace, at Erie; was frequently
called out, but was never actually in an engagement. Some time during the
campaign, a rumor reached the township that the enemy had landed at the mouth
of Conneaut Creek, which created the utmost consternation in the infant
settlement. Several families fled, and other had preparations made for a
hasty departure. Luckily, the report proved to be false. The first female
which child was Elizabeth Holliday, born May 14, 1798; the first mile white
child was Joseph Brindle, born March 1, 1800; and the first funeral is said
to have been that of the wife of Isaac Miller, whose grave, some assert, was
the first in the old Presbyterian Graveyard. This is disputed, however, by
one of the old residents, who is positive the
interment of a Mr. Davis took place earlier. Mr. Simmons is the oldest man
who has ever resided in the township, and one of the oldest in the county. He
was still living in 1881 in his ninety-eighth year.
Streams, Mills and Factories
The chief stream of Springfield is Conneaut Creek, which forms its entire
southern boundary. The stream does not receive a single tributary in the
township; on the contrary the high but tillable hills which border its channel, are the head-waters of two or three creeks which
flow northward to the lake. Next in importance to Conneaut Creek is Crooked
Creek, which rises within the borough limits of Lockport,
runs in a general northwesterly course, through the southern portion of
Girard and the northeastern of Springfield,
and falls into the lake about a half a mile beyond North
Springfield, having a length of some ten miles. Raccoon Creek
heads on the farm of J. Cross, near Conneaut Creek, and flowing north, after
a course of about ten miles, reaches the lake at Eagley's
Grove. Turkey Run takes its rise on the Gleason farm, a little south of West
Springfield, and flows about four and a half miles within the township and a
mile or more in Ohio.
It falls into the lake east of Conneaut harbor. Two or three small streams
run into the lake which are not of sufficient
importance to have a name. The channel of Crooked Creek, from the Girard line
to the lake, is wide and deep, but the banks are less precipitous through the
lake shore plain than those of Elk and Walnut Creeks. Five substantial
covered bridges span Conneaut Creek, built, owned and maintained by the tow
townships. The Lake Shore Railroad culvert and embankment over Crooked Creek
at North Springfield is one of the most
solid and costly pieces of work in the county The
embankment is ninety feet above the water, and from 700 to 800 feet
long. It was through this culvert that a house was washed in the fall of
1878, during the greatest flood ever known on the stream. The manufacturing
concerns of Springfield Township are Forter's grist
and saw mill, on Conneaut Creek, half a mile north of Cherry Hill; H. V.
Lines' grist and saw mill, on the Ridge road, a mile east of East
Springfield; J. M. Strong's grist and saw mill, a
mile north of East Springfield; Reed's saw mill, on the Ridge road, half a
mile west of West Springfield; a cheese factory at the latter place and an
extensive tile works. Lines' and Strong's mills are
both in the valley of Crooked Creek, and propelled by the water of that
stream, in connection with steam. The Porter Mill was built by Comfort Hay
about 1823, and the West Springfield Tile Works were started in 1869. The
cheese factory at the latter place was established in 1874, has run
successfully from the first, and is still well patronized. The Strong Mills
were built by Andrew Cochran about 1820, and rebuilt by Thomas Webster, about
1841 or 1842, who ran them till his death, in 1860,
when they fell into the hands of Joseph M. Strong. He has recently overhauled
them, and they are in as good condition as any similar property in the
county. The first saw mill where Lines' mills are was built by Amos Remington
and Oliver Cross about 1814, and rebuilt by Nathan Cass about 1824 or 1825,
who managed it jointly with Willard Pope. The firm sold the property to Mr.
Case, who built the grist mill about 1832. After Case, the mills changed
owners frequently, being sold in succession to Tucker & Woodruff, Justin
Nash, William Cross, Scott Keith and Walter and Henry Keith, who rebuilt them
in 1857 or 1858. Two or three years after they were put up at Sheriff's sale,
and bid in by Judge Cross, who gave the title to Jonathan Keith; from him
they passed into the hands of Oliver & Brecht,
of Mr. Finkinger, and finally about 1870, of Mr.
Line. They were burned in 1871 and rebuilt in 1872. The very first mill owner
in the township was Capt. Holliday, who built a saw mill about 1801 or 1802, and a grist mill in 1803, near the mouth of Crooked
Creek, both of which have gone down. This grist mill was erected a little
later than the Silverthorn Mill in Girard, contrary
to the usual belief.
Burial Places
The cemetery at East Springfield is the principal burying place of the
township, though small graveyards are attached to the Christian Church in the
same village, at West Springfield, at the
Town House, and in other localities. The inclosure
takes in eighteen acres of high and dry gravel and loam on the north side of
the village, is tastefully laid out, contains some fine monuments, is
carefully kept, and is deservedly the pride of the people. It was originally
the burial ground of the Presbyterian Church, to which other land was added
by purchase. The cemetery was surveyed and graded in 1864, John H. Miller
being the engineer and Robert P. Holliday the contractor. The first sale of
lots was in October of that year, and the fires body interred was that of
Henry Keith, which was placed in the inclosure in
August, 1864, before the work was completed. The original officers were:
William Holliday, President' I. Newton Miller, Secretary; T. Webster,
Treasurer; William Cross, Samuel Holliday, Henry Teller, J. M. Strong and
Samuel H. Brindle, Managers. Judge Cross was elected President in January,
1878, and still retains the position. Messrs. Miller and Webster have been
officers from the day the cemetery originated to the present hour. Funerals
come from Girard, Elk Creek and Conneaut. In the northeast part of the
cemetery are still to be seen traces of one of the series of ancient
earthworks, four in number, which extended from the western part of Girard to
the southern portion of Springfield. The other mounds in Springfield are on
the M. Oney farm, about a mile southwest of East
Springfield, and on the Thomas McKee place, half a mile further west. They
are all in a direct line from northeast to southwest, and are similar in
character, each one covering over half an acre, being circular in form, and
having earthen embankments two to three feet high by six feet thick at the
base.
During the war for the Union, Springfield
sent about 150 men into the army. Every one of the departed patriots has a
headstone at the township expense.
Public Men
The following is a list of citizens of Springfield
who have held State and county offices: Assembly, thomas
R. Miller, 1836; David a. gould, 1843 and 1846; L.
Newton Miller, 1870. Associate Judge, William Cross, November 22, 1861, to
November 8, 1866; elected without opposition, his name being on the Union and Republican ticket. Prothonotary,
Maj. S. V. Holliday, January 2, 1882-85. County superintendent of Public
Schools, L. W. Savage, 1860-63. Register and Recorder, Samuel Rea, Jr.,
November 17, 1863, to November 16, 1866; Henry G. Harvey, November 16, 1866,
to November 19, 1872. county treasurer, Thomas J.
Devore, December 23, 1878, to December 20, 1860. county
commissioner, Thomas R. Miller, 1831-34; Richard Robinson, 1852-55.Directors
of the Poor, Thomas R. Miller, 1840-42. John Spaulding was elected in 1856,
but refused to serve. Co9unty Auditor, John Eagley,
1848-51. Mercantile Appraisers, Samuel Rea, Jr., 1858; Perry Devore, 1862.
County Surveyor, Robert P. Holliday, November 5, 1863, to November 12, 1866,
and February, 1869, to November 11, 1872; George M.Robison,
January, 1879, to May, 1879. Hon. Humphrey A. Hills, County Commissioner from
1847-50, Deputy Marshal for taking the census in 1850, Commissioner to fix
the boundary between Erie and Crawford Counties in the same year, and
Assemblyman in 1852-53, has been a resident of East Springfield since 1863,
moving there from Conneaut, his former home. E. B. Ward, the Detroit millionaire, was a native of the
township, where he began life as a fisherman and sailor. The citizens of Springfield who have become residents of Erie City
are Samuel Rea, Jr., Col. E. P. Gould, Carl Walbridge, Joseph Patterson and
A. E. Sisson.
Academies and Schools
The township possess no less than three Academies, one each at the villages
of East, West and North Springfield. The
first of these, at West Springfield, was
founded in 1853, and had a hundred and sixty-five pupils in 1855, with four
teachers. Among its Principals were John A. Austin, W. H. Heller, Joseph H.
colt and C. c. Sheffield. It was burned down
in December, 1859, and rebuilt of brick two or three years subsequently. The East Springfield
Academy, once an
institution of high repute, opening with 150 scholars, grew out of rivalry
between the two villages, and was built in 1856. The first Principal was B. J.Hawkins, and L. W. Savage held the position in 1858.
Neither school has been maintained distinctly as an academy for some years.
The one at East Springfield is now used wholly as a public school, and the West Springfield one as a select and public school, the
former having two and the latter three teachers. The North
Springfield academy was established in 1866, after the two
others had rundown, and is still maintained as a select school. The other
schools of the township are the Depot, at North Springfield; Anderson, on the
Lake road, three-quarters of a mile north of Strong's
mill; Weed, two miles south of East Springfield, on the Albion road; Baldwin,
on the Ridge road, a mile west of East Springfield; Moon, on the road from
West Springfield to Albion; Center, near the Town House; Brockway, one mile
north of the Town House; Brindle, on the Lake road, a mile and a half west of
North Springfield; Devereaux, near Devereaux Corners; Hubbard, on the Ridge road, beyond
West Springfield; Blickensderfer, on the Lake road,
one mile west of Raccoon Creek, and Hewett, in the
southwest. One of the first schoolhouses was built at an early day on the
Joseph Eagley place, near the lake. The material
was logs, with chimney of stones and sticks. In 1818, a log schoolhouse was
standing in what is now the village
of East Springfield, in
which James Porter was teaching school. William Clark, a Mr. West and a Mr.
Smith were other early teachers in the East Springfield
settlement. About the year 1822, Louisa De Wolf kept a school in a vacated
log cabin located in the Ferguson
neighborhood, about three miles southwest of East Springfield.
Not long after this, another school was held in a similar building, probably
a mile east of East Springfield, in the
summer by Jane Ferguson and in the winter by William Branch. About the year
1827, a frame schoolhouse stood in the Vanderventer
neighborhood, some two and a half miles southwest of East
Springfield. Hiram Dixon was one of the early teachers in this
house.
Railroads, Common Roads and Hotels
Springfield has the advantage of two through lines of railroad -- the Lake
Shore and the Nickel Plate -- which cross the township from Girard into Ohio,
the first at a distance of half a mile to a mile from the lake, and the
second farther south. The Lake Shore has a station at North Springfield, and the
Nickel Plate one each for East and West Springfield.
The Erie & Pittsburg Railroad branches off from
the Lake Shore
in Girard Township,
half a mile from the Springfield
line, which it follows southward into Conneaut, at about the same average
distance. Crosses' Station, in Girard
Township, a mile and a half from East Springfield, was established for the accommodation
of the township. The principal common thoroughfares are the Ridge road, which
runs nearly through the center of the township, forming the main streets of
East and West Springfield; the Lake road, which is half a mile from the water
at North Springfield, and follows the lake front to the Ohio line; the Middle
Ridge, which leaves the Lake road not far from North Springfield, runs
southwest and strikes the Ridge road a mile beyond West Springfield; the
Kingsville, which branches off from the Ridge road two-thirds of a mile west
of East Springfield and continues to Kingsville, Ohio; and the roads from
East and West Springfield to Albion, which come together at Sherman's
Corners, near Conneaut Creek, in the southeast.
From the close of the last war with Great Britain to the opening of
the railroad, the travel on the Ridge road was very extensive, requiring
numerous public houses on the route. Scott Keith opened a house at East
Springfield for the accommodation of the public in 1832, which became one of
the most famous and popular between Erie
and Cleveland. It is still open. In 1822, William Doty removed to East Springfield from North East, and took charge of
the old Remington stand, which he kept till his death in 1864. The Keith
House is still kept open. The East Springfield Post Office, the first in the
township, was established many years ago. The post offices
at West Springfield was established in 1838 or 1839, with Samuel
Castle as the first Postmaster, and the one at North
Springfield some time after 1860. That at West
Springfield was long kept by Riley Potter. On the night of the
6th of December, 1874, this office was broken into and robbed, set on fire by
the burglars and destroyed with the store to which it was attached. Two of
the guilty parties were caught, convicted and sent to the penitentiary.
Churches
The churches of the township are Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal and
Christian at East Springfield, and Methodist Episcopal, Baptist and Universalist at West Springfield.
The Universalist and the two Methodist Episcopal
buildings are brick; all the rest are frame. The Methodist congregations are
one charge, having their parsonage at West Springfield.
John Mershon was married to Miss Bathsheba Brush, of Greene County,
in January, 1799, three years after his settlement in this county. When the
bride came to her new home she brought with her a church letter from the
Methodist minister at the place of her former residence. By her inducement,
Rev. Joseph Bowen, a local preacher of the denomination at Franklin, Penn.,
held services in the Mershon house in September,
1800, and later in the same year he came again. These were the first
Methodist services in the county. In the spring of 1801, a class was
organized by James Quino, near Lexington,
and in 1804 a church building was erected about a mile south of West Springfield, which was long known as the Brush
Meeting-house. During the latter year, nearly a hundred persons were
converted under the ministry of Rev. Andrew Hemphill. In July, 1810, nearly
forty persons were awakened through the instrumentality of a powerful sermon
preached by Rev. John Gruber, Presiding Elder. A second society, with
fourteen members, was formed on the 7th of January, 1815, at the house of Mr.
Webber, in what is now Girard, but was then a part of Springfield,
which has since been known as the Fair
Haven Church.
This congregation divided in 1821, in consequence of a personal difficulty
between two of the leaders, and twenty-one of the members formed what they
styled a "Reformed Methodist Church." In 1825, a fourth society was
organized in the east part of the town, which was the beginning of the church
at East Springfield. The Cottage Church,
which stood on the Ridge road, about half a mile west of West
Springfield, was commenced in 1830, but was not finished till
1836. The present church at West Springfield was built in 1854, and the one
at East Springfield about 1866. The second
parsonage in eRie
Conference was built at Springfield.
S. Ayers and J. C. Ayers were the first pastors in 1830, and latterly E. M. Kernick, 1882-83.
The first Presbyterian edifice was a small log structure which stood on the
old portion of the cemetery grounds. A preaching point was established at Springfield in 1804, by
Rev. Robert Patterson, of North East, who was then the only regularly settled
minister in the county, and the building referred to was put up the same
year. The congregation was organized in 1806, by Rev. J. Eaton, pastor of the
church at Fairview, who assumed the same
relation to the Springfield
Church June 30, 1808.
His relation with the Springfield
Church continued until
November 8, 1814. The original congregation consisted of about thirty
members. Isaac Miller, James Blair and James Bruce were the first Elders. The
present church edifice was built in 1844, at a cost of $4,000.
The christian church at East
Springfield was organized with twelve members in 1826 by Rev. Asa C. Morrison, and had Rev. Joseph Marsh for its first pastor.
The church was built in 1839, and cost $700. A graveyard is attached to it,
from which the bodies are gradually being removed to the cemetery. Elder H. Crampton is the present incumbent.
The Baptist congregation was organized in 1826, and erected a church in 1833,
which cost $1,600. This building, which stood on the Ridge road, about two
and a half miles west of East Springfield, was sold to the township, and a
new one was erected at West Springfield in 1858, at a cost of $1,600. Rev. Asa Jacobs was the first pastor of the congregation. The
old edifice is used as a Town House. The present pastor is Elder Telford, who
has served the congregation for three years.
The Universalist congregation at West
Springfield was organized January 10, 1848, and built a house of
worship in 1850. The pastors of the congregation have been as follows: Revs.
P. P. Fowler, J. S. Flagler, B. F. Hitchcock, A. J. Patterson, C. E. Shipman,
I. George, H. S. Whitney, and the present incumbent, C.L. Shipman.
Villages
The village of East Springfield occupies a high and beautiful site along the
Ridge road, three miles south from the lake, two and a half from North
Springfield, on the Lake Shore Railroad, one and a half west of Cross's
Station, on the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad, four and a half southwest of
Miles Grove, five west of Girard, and twenty-one by common road from Erie.
The country around is the best portion of the township, and the village is
the largest settlement. East Springfield
comprises three churches, one academy, one hotel, one general store, two
groceries, one hardware store, one millinery store, one drug store, one
harness shop, one tailor shop, one meat market, one wagon shop, one furniture
store and undertaking establishment, one cider mill, three blacksmith shops,
and about forty buildings. The population in 1880 was 102.
West Springfield has grown up at the junction of the Albion with the Ridge
road, three miles east of the Ohio line,
four west of Each Springfield, and twenty-five by common road from Erie. It is not as
large as its sister village, but contains some neat residences and other
buildings. The institutions of the place are three churches, an academy, a
cheese factory, hotel, general store, tile works and two blacksmith shops.
The village sustains one physician and one minister. The old cemetery has
fallen pretty much into disuse and the bodies are being removed to the more
attractive burial ground at East Springfield.
North Springfield has sprung up within the last thirty years o the Lake Shore
Railroad, just west of the Crooked Creek embankment, about half a mile south
of Lake Erie, and twenty by railroad from Erie.The
railroad company have at this place a station house, two water tanks and an
engine house to pump the water up from Crooked Creek. Besides these there are
an academy, an old hotel building, now used as a boarding house, a general
store, a grocery and a public school. The village consists of perhaps twenty
buildings and sixty inhabitants. It stands mostly on a portion of the John Holliday
farm.The station was established in 1852, the year
the railroad was opened, ground for the purpose being given by Samuel
and John Holliday.
On the M. H. Gould farm, near the residence of Seymour Ware, in the valley of
a branch of Turkey Run, is a famous salt spring, the water of which is so
strongly impregnated with the mineral that the cattle on the place need no
salting. Some sixty years ago Judge Gould drilled a well at this spot to the
depth of 200 feet, but in putting the well down a fresh
water spring was struck which diluted the salt water to an extent that
rendered it valueless.
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