Conrad Botzum Farmstead

The Conrad Botzum Farmstead.

© JJ Prekop, Jr.

On a gently sloping terrace of the Cuyahoga Valley's southwestern wall sits the Conrad Botzum Farmstead. Its winding dirt driveway crosses the Towpath Trail and the railroad tracks before climbing 50 feet to the farmstead's plateau. The Conrad Botzum Farmstead conveys a feeling of self-containment and separation from the world beyond the wooded hills above and the river valley below.

 

Conrad and Louise Botzum.

NPS Collection

Family and Farmstead History

Like all land in the Cuyahoga Valley, at one time speculators in the Connecticut Land Company owned the property. John A. Botzum and his family took a frightening and dangerous journey before finally purchasing the property in 1876. The Botzum family originally owned woolen mills along the Rhine River in Germany. Fearful that his five sons would be drafted into the German Army during the Napoleonic Wars, John George Botzum decided to flee the country. During passage to America, pirates boarded their boat and robbed all of the passengers. As a result, the Botzums landed in New York City without any money to begin their new life. In New York, a dishonest agent attempted to persuade John to migrate to South America with a guarantee of quick fortune. Before agreeing to the trip, John discovered that the agent planned to sell the family into slavery. According to family history, the Botzums were soon rescued by new friends and headed to Ohio in 1836.

After a brief stay in Cleveland, the Botzums moved to Northampton Township. John worked as a construction laborer while his wife Katherine took in boarders. John's sons purchased additional property in the area, including what is now called the Conrad Botzum Farmstead. In 1876, John A. Botzum purchased the farmstead, which was later transferred to his brother Conrad in 1883.

All of the Botzum brothers excelled at raising livestock. Whereas the average local farm had about 13 sheep and produced about 64 pounds of wool, John A. Botzum owned 65 sheep and produced 500 pounds of wool. Conrad's oldest sons, Charles and Harry, maintained ownership of the farmstead into the mid-1900s. They also operated the Botzum Brothers Company, a successful business that sold everything from planting seeds to construction materials.

 

The Conrad Botzum Farmstead bank barn.

© Jeffrey Gibson

As with other valley farms, after about 1930 the Botzum Farm succumbed to agricultural competition from elsewhere in Ohio and beyond. Charles and Harry Botzum eventually sold the farm to Sherman and Mary Schumacher, who sold the farm to the National Park Service in 1991. In 1999, the Botzum Farm was entered into the National Register of Historic Places.

For more than 25 years, from the late 1990s to 2024, Conrad's great-granddaughter, Maureen Winkelmann and her husband George worked to preserve, rehabilitate, and maintain the property through a non-profit organization. They provided opportunities for the public to enjoy the historic property through special events, concerts, festivals, and more than 700 weddings.