Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio
From Footpaths to Expressways and Beyond Volume Six
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QUARRIES AND FOSSILS IN SILICA According to Maynard Cosgrove, a Sylvania born and raised man who in 1933 wrote a small book telling about the history of Sylvania, he said there was an old stone quarry on the east side of Summit Street, midway between Maplewood and Monroe Street, where very early settlers chiseled out rock and stone for building the very first buildings in what became downtown Sylvania. They say that the stone in the western portion of Sylvania Township was noticed early, and the first settlers began quarrying by chiseling out small blocks of stone for buildings that were being built in Sylvania. The stone was pried from the earth by the use of shovels and crowbars. The stone was loaded into carts which were pulled by horses. A few of the family names of Sylvania that started the first quarrying businesses, as early as the 1860s, were the Coopers, Bertholfs, Yates, Lees and Shays. When railroad service was brought to this area additional quarrying began and several commercial quarries were opened. These quarry industries have served continuously as one of Sylvania’s heavy industrial businesses. The area of Centennial Road beginning at Sylvania-Metamora Road, south to just beyond Sylvania Avenue, on both sides of the road, is where these Sylvania quarries were first established and still exist today. There was one house on Brint Road, near Centennial Road, (near the SW corner) that was constructed at a very early year. The property was first purchased by Remington Cooper in the 1830s, and so we can assume that it was he that constructed this very interesting house. The house was constructed using quarried stone and had thick stone walls. Although the house was demolished years ago, back in 1956 it was still standing and there were many stories told about this stone house. Here’s what Kathryn Keller, a Sylvania historian, wrote that was published in the Sentinel-Herald newspaper dated 7-12-1956 regarding the old house and the many legends that were told: “If you vacation
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Join the author in reliving Sylvania’s over 180 years of history from footpaths to expressways and beyond, in volume six of an eight-volume set. With over 30 years of research, she has included every subject imaginable that helped bring Sylvania to where they are today: with excellent schools, over-the-top parks and recreation, rich beautiful homes, commercial and industrial businesses, and a quaint historical downtown that looks like it was planned by Norman Rockwell himself. This book is a treasure trove of information for the thousands who have ancestors that once lived and helped Sylvania grow through these years. Located in Northwestern Ohio, Sylvania is a suburb of Toledo, Ohio, and for many years has been known as “the fastest growing suburb in Lucas County.” A once-rural farm community between both the city and township, they have grown from a combined 2,220 residents in 1910, to 48,487 in 2010. Over a short period of time, the land has transformed into beautiful subdivisions of grand houses so that now, their subdivision names are all that remain to remind them of their once-dense forests and sprawling farmlands. No longer can Sylvania be called the “bedroom community” of Toledo because over the last 50 years, they have done a lot more than sleep.