The Rich Heritage of Shalersville, Ohio

Shalersville, Ohio

For a township with less than 6,000 residents, Shalersville sure has a lot of cemeteries – three to be exact. Why? The history of the village explains one of the reasons (a cholera epidemic), while a land expansion that added surrounding towns to Shalersville explains some of the others. No matter which way you look at it, there’s a story to be told.

It All Starts With Hiram

Hiram, named after the King of Tyre in the Bible (the original settlers of the area were Freemasons), was founded in 1800. At the time, it consisted of a large tract of land that eventually was split into numerous townships, including Windham, Mantua, Garretsville, and of course, Shalersville.

The initial founders of Shalersville, which included Joel Baker, who moved into the area in 1806, named the town after General Nathaniel Shaler, a resident of Middletown, Connecticut, who gave 160 acres of his own property to Baker. For a few years, the area remained a part of Hiram, even though settlers started the move from Connecticut to the newly formed starte of Ohio.

By 1812, there were enough residents for the village of branch off on its own, and 16 people (all that could vote in the area at the time) voted in favor of it becoming Shalersville. On April 6 of that year, it became official. Shalersville was its own, independent township, no longer a part of Hiram.

Adding on Feederdam

1857 Map Courtesy of the Portage County Historical Society

On the western side of Shalersville, where the Cuyahoga River and later the canal came through, was a tiny township called Feederdam. The township took its name from, of course, a feeder dam located on the banks of the Ahasuerus Weaver farm. Filled with mills that harnessed the power of the river, Feederdam grew in size as the canal continued to be dug, until the unthinkable happened. A cholera epidemic swept through the area, requiring the need for a cemetery. This cemetery later became Fairview Cemetery. The township of Feederdam became an official part of Shalersville shortly later.

The feeder dam that exited between 1837 and the late 1860s. Photo courtesy of the Portage County Historical Society.

Expanding Westward

As expected of a village in an area filled with popular transportation methods (the Ohio and Erie Canal and later, Route 303), Shalersville cotinued to grow. It hit a population high of 1,190 in 1850, shrinking down to around 900 30 years later.

However, things continued to expand westward, with the creation of two more cemeteries on Route 303; Riverside, seen above, and Hillside, seen below.

Once known for its cheese production (the C.R. Doolittle factory produced over 419,000 pounds of cheese in 1873. Unfortunately, the factory burned down in 1921.), Shalersville is now one of those villages that most people drive through. Except for the 5,200 people who call it home, of course.