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While a love of agriculture has remained constant among valley farmers, farming methods continuously change through time. As technology advanced, farming became more profitable and less labor intensive. Farmers could plow extra fields, sell more products, and have more time for other jobs. With newer tractors and farming equipment, the market economy came to the farm. While families earned more money from their crops and livestock, they needed loans from banks to pay for the new technology. The local farm emerged from isolation as nationwide food and supply networks developed and dictated the choices of many farmers.
Wheat threshing with horse-drawn farm equipment.
Courtesy / Bath Township Historical Society
Technology Advances
Farming in the Cuyahoga Valley began as early as 2,800 years ago, during the Woodland Period. Indigenous peoples of the Late Prehistoric (1,100–400 years ago) Whittlesey culture, brought the first true maize farming to the region. They farmed corn, beans, and squash by clearing trees and underbrush, and then burning debris to replenish the soil.
The Cuyahoga Valley's Western Reserve farmers brought farming methods from New England to the frontier. These methods combined earlier European methods, which probably dated back to the Middle Ages, and the agricultural techniques of Native Americans on the eastern seaboard. Pioneer farmers made do with a minimum of farm implements, performing much of their work by hand. They sowed seeds by hand, cut hay with a scythe, and cut grain with a cradle or sickle and then bound it by hand.
In the late 1830s and 1840s, Cyrus McCormick and Obed Hussey introduced improved reapers and mowers. In 1837, John Deere invented the first steel plow. It required only one man and a team of horses to operate. Prior to this, farmers used wooden mold-board plows that required three teams of oxen and two men to pull.
Later in the 1800s, with the advent of the railroad and increasing industrialization, farmers developed scientific farming practices, which used knowledge of modern soil and plant science to increase agricultural productivity. With expanding markets in Cleveland and Akron, the availability of new machinery, and potential for increased production through the use of fertilizers, farming became a more lucrative business.
Explore the links below to learn about how technological developments changed the lives of Cuyahoga Valley residents.
The Valley Railway.
Courtesy/Peninsula Library & Historical Society
Railroads
The advent of railroads helped make farming more profitable in the Cuyahoga Valley. In 1852, the Cleveland & Pittsburgh opened Summit County to railroad traffic. That same year, the Cleveland, Akron & Zanesville was built to connect with the Cleveland & Pittsburgh railroad. These railroad lines transported freight and passengers between Cleveland, Akron, and agricultural markets to the East.
Rather than replace the Ohio & Erie Canal as a means to ship agricultural goods, the railroad worked with the canal. Bulk staples such as oats and grains were shipped by way of the canal to distribution and processing centers in Cleveland and Akron, where the goods were reloaded to freight cars bound for the eastern markets.
The mid-century railroads, as well as the later Valley Railway finished in 1880, rapidly increased the Cuyahoga Valley's industrial expansion. Railroads made possible the development of booming industrial centers in northeast Ohio, with many of these new industries farm-related. Unlike the canal, railroads were cheaper, faster, and gave more dependable service since they were not subject to freezing and flooding, which caused lengthy delays.
Scientific Farming
Scientific farming practices enhanced the agricultural productivity of the Cuyahoga Valley region in the 19th century, improving the lives of farmers and better protecting the surrounding landscape. These practices included better irrigation and drainage systems, the use of special fertilizers, and the use of machines like tractors and combine harvesters that made farming more efficient. The 1860 agricultural census figures indicate that Ohio was a national agricultural leader, ranking 2nd in the country in cash value of farms. Crop production rankings for Ohio were in the top four for such staples as wheat, Indian corn, and oats.
Eugene F. Cranz.
Courtesy/Peninsula Library & Historical Society
Hammond-Cranz Farm
Eugene F. Cranz, who inherited his family's farm in 1898, was an innovative farmer who experimented with both horticulture and conservation efforts. He attended The Ohio State University where he learned new scientific methods for farming. Eugene was also a member of agricultural organizations, including the Grange, a 19th century farmers' alliance that is still in operation today.
Listen and read more about how the Grange worked to protect farmers' interests.
Jyurovat Farm
Scientific farming improved sanitation as well as efficiency. During this "progressive farming" period, from the early 20th century through 1944, changes in federal legislation prompted companies to design safe and sanitary barns and outbuildings. Improved sanitation and ventilation provided more comfort for animals, which then produced higher yields. Located on State Road 303, the Jyurovat farmstead's house, barn, and chicken coop were all examples of these newer and more efficient buildings. The Jyurovat's house and barn were designed by the James Manufacturing Company, which used innovative equipment to facilitate care and maintenance. The company's Jamesway Books offered farmers complete information on the most efficient manner of construction and maintaining outbuildings, specifically dairy barns, hog houses, and poultry houses. In the national park today, the Jyurovat Farm serves as the Woodlake Environmental Field Station.
Modern tractors help farmers work quickly and efficiently.
NPS/Arrye Rosser
Farming Equipment
Using the railroad, manufacturers of farm implements and fertilizers could showcase their wares to all farmers in the area over the course of several days. These fairs encouraged a more scientific approach to farming, rather than simple reliance upon tried, but less-than-true, inherited farming practices.
The C. Aultman & Co. of Canton, Ohio, which manufactured a popular and highly successful harvesting machine called the Buckeye, opened up a branch in Akron in 1863. In 1865 and 1880, John F. Seiberling began production of mowers and reapers for making straw and hay. By 1890, Seiberling's company, the Empire Mower and Reaper Works, was one of the world's largest manufacturers of harvesting machines.
In spite of all these advances, farmers were slow to abandon practices which their ancestors had used for hundreds of years. The county fairs, as well as farmers' institutes, served an educational role to reduce fear of change and to encourage innovation. It was not until the Civil War, when the labor supply diminished, that agricultural improvements began to take hold. The introduction of the thresher in the 1850s, for example, enabled a farmer to thresh a ten-acre field in a day or two, a task that previously would have taken most of the winter with the use of a flail.
Tractors came into popular usage in the 20th century after World War II. After 1945, within two or three years, the majority of farmers in the Cuyahoga Valley began to use tractors instead of horses. Tractors, which enabled farmers to complete a previous week's worth of work in just a couple days, increased the trend towards "weekend farming."
Tractors
2011 Oral History Project: Carl Boodey, from Northfield, explains how tractors became popular in the valley and made farming much more efficient.
“Well during the war, it was all done with, you know, horses and a man, you know. Then after the war, a year or two after the war, they all worked, you know like I told you, in the rubber shops, Cleveland or an industrial place, and they all bought tractors. You could plow more on a Saturday than they could in ~laughs~ a week or more with a horse, and it just changed drastically like that. They all become part time farmers but did as much or more growing stuff than when it was done with horses.”
Quickly Plowing Fields
2011 Oral History Project: Daniel Schneider, who grew up on the Schneider Farm (now Coonrad Ranger Station), describes how new tractors made plowing a quick and easy process.
“We used to take us, like the sixteen acres across from the farm, it used to take us four days to plow that field. And then later years, when my dad done it, they'd plow sixteen acres in four hours with them big tractors and plows. So it just went so much faster, you know. But years we had them old tractors, and you're only pulling the two bottom plow, then it seemed like it took forever to do that, but you just ride all day forever every day, ~laughs~ and plow when it wasn't raining or whatever.”
Hay Baler
2011 Oral History Project: Jan Thomas, from Everett, talks about the efficiency of the hay baler.
“Well it changed everything because they worked for days and days and days pitching hay. I mean, my grandmother, my grandfather, my father, my uncle. Even we did as children. I mean, we couldn't do a whole bunch but we still, we'd be on the wagon and we'd move the hay forward because the horses would pull the wagon and they'd throw it on the back and then we would move it forward. So then when the baler came . . . the tractor came and then the baler . . . it spit out those bales, you know, and we could just pick the bales up and put 'em on the wagon. There was no hours and hours and hours of pitching hay.”
Ozmun Garage in Peninsula, 1930s.
NPS Collection
Electricity, Paved Roads, and Model Ts
General technological advancements dramatically changed the living conditions of Cuyahoga Valley residents in the 1900s. When electricity and running water came to the valley, families could buy new household appliances and easily refrigerate food.
New pavement on valley roads meant easier and faster transportation of both people and goods. Road construction also served as a secondary job for many farmers who needed additional income to survive the Great Depression.
Irene (Szalay) Kusnyer remembers when Everett families began to get electricity and running water:
"It was '39 maybe '40 that electricity came in that area. And we immediately got an electric stove and an electric refrigerator. And running water… we could take showers. Life was beginning [to get] easier." Irene (Szalay) Kusnyer, former Everett resident, 2011
Household Appliances
2011 Oral History Project: Jan Thomas describes the new appliances her family could purchase once electricity came to Everett.
“Well first of all, we didn't have the oil lamps. And then we had kerosene lamps all over. And then we got a furnace so we didn't have to haul wood and coal and build a fire every day. Before that we actually had fuel oil space heaters, and then we got a furnace. And we got a refrigerator. And we got an electric stove. So electricity was a big deal. Big, big, bigger than you'd think.”
WPA Road Improvements
2011 Oral History Projects: George Dittoe describes how the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Kendall Park/Truxell Road in the 1930s.
“Our road was a dirt road all the way from Old Route 8, well it's Route 8 then, to the valley down here, to Akron-Peninsula Road. Impassible down that way going west in the wintertime. It was mud and ruts and real bad shape. And also the WPA, they did a lot of road work then too, coming like from the valley up, they took part of the road and rebuilt it and straightened it out a little bit and added . . . so finally it got paved, you know, it got paved there. Then it was great. But up to Route 8, like I say, that was all ruts and dirt and mud and terrible in the wintertime.”
WPA Road Improvements, Part 2
Willis Meyers and his son Ronnie describe WPA projects between Cleveland and Akron in the 1930s.
Ronnie: “Route 8 was paved with pavement brick at the time and that was done by WPA guys during the Depression. That road was paved to Steels Corners Road. From there on it was dirt and gravel and . . .
Willis: “They built that road out of red brick. They laid them all by hand from Akron to Cleveland. So you know how much . . . how long that would have took.”
Ronnie: “There's still a lot of that pavement brick in Akron. And Cleveland!”
Model-T Fords
Willis Meyers talks about his experiences using Model-T Fords.
My uncle was a mayor of Hudson for, oh a good many years. We might be invited up there for Sunday dinner, and we had a Model-T Ford. Well that was eight mile, and that was a long trip. He'd get things ready, you know, ~laughs~ buckets to dip water out of the crick on the way up there in case the motor got hot, you know. Spare tires and bands. Model-T run on bands. He carried a new set of bands in the . . . they could make a stop along the road and repair it and go on then, you know. They had enough stuff with them to repair anything that would break down in the Model-T Ford.
Lights and Phone Lines
Willis Meyers and his son Ronnie talk about their experiences using rechargeable batteries for light bulbs, and 12-party phone lines.
Willis: We had a light plant of our own in the basement. It was batteries is what it was. They'd last about a week, the batteries would, maybe they'd be fifteen, twenty batteries, all hooked together and they would last probably a week, and then you had an outfit that would charge the batteries. And you'd start that up and it would run all day long and then them batteries could last for another week.
You had a telephone. They had what they called "party lines" and maybe they'd be twelve people on one party. Maybe they'd be two or three or four wanted to use it at the same time. Them women would get in a squabble over that, you know. They'd lie about they needed the phone to call a doctor or somethin’, in order to get on it you know, and all they wanted to do was talk to the neighbor or somethin’. And you had a bell on it and a little crank. You could call the people that was on your line. You could call them yourself. You didn't have to have an operator. If you had long distance, well then, you had to get ahold of the operator. And what you did, if it was a twelve party line, maybe they was twelve rings for that . . . to get that party to talk to 'em, you know. With this crank you'd make them rings. If they had twelve rings, you had a list of all of 'em. So that's the way the telephone worked at that time.
Ronnie: Also, a twelve-party line, there were very few secrets in the community because whoever was talking, anyone could pick that receiver up and listen in.
