Columbia Station History

Founded in 1807, Columbia Township was the first settlement west of the Cuyahoga River.  The land was a section of the Western Reserve owned by the Connecticut Land Company.

Previously, it had been inhabited by the Native Americans, who fished along the banks of the nearby Rocky River and utilized other rich resources such as chestnuts, deer, and beaver.

In 1805, two years after Ohio became a state, The Federal Government made a treaty with the remaining Indian Nations.  The Treaty of Fort Industry opened the area west of the Cuyahoga to settlement.  The Connecticut Land Company structured the land into townships of five square miles with 100 lots of 160 acres.

Residents of Columbia Township are often referred to as "gamblers" because they acquired their land in a lottery system by which all Lorain, Medina, and Huron County acreage was sold.  The Bronson and Hoadley families of Waterbury, Connecticut formed the Waterbury Land Company, made their purchase of $20,087 on April 4 1807, and then drew a piece of paper to see which township would be theirs.  Township 5, N. Range 15W became their new home.

Bela and Sally Bronson and their baby, Sherlock were among the township's first settlers.  The Bronson's and the rest of their party set out from Connecticut in September 1807.  While a large portion of the group spent the winter in Cleveland, the Bronson's, Hoadley's, and eight additional men forged ahead to the new settlement.  Sally the "chief cook and bottle washer" during the long trip, made the journey on an oxen-pulled sled with her baby.

Sally and her family lived under a sled propped against a tree until their cabin was completed.  As the township grew, Sally and her husband became the first schoolteachers.  Bela Bronson was the township's first clerk.  Sally's contributions to the settlement earned her the right to name it.  She called it Columbia, in honor of her Connecticut hometown.

The official name of the township is Columbia Township, although it is known as Columbia Station, actually the mailing address of the Columbia Township and some parts of Eaton Township.

Columbia Station Historical Society