EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series on our region’s history coordinated by the Trumbull County Historical Society.

The early settlement of Bazetta Township was not like most other townships in Trumbull County.

When you explore rural Trumbull County, you will often find a settlement with a township hall and green or crossroads that are near the center of a township. In Bazetta, the earliest settlers established themselves in the northeast corner of the township. This happened for several reasons.

Early American settlers often chose locations based on access to natural resources. In the case of Bazetta Township, Benjamin Rowlee, Henry K. Hulse and another man were told about a stream north of Warren that could power a mill. The wilderness was so dense, the roads unmarked, and the signs of civilization so undefined that they became lost, but eventually found their way to what we now call Walnut Run, a substantial creek that could power mills to grind grain and mill lumber needed for a settlement.

The township was heavily forested, which made travel and farming difficult. The soil in the eastern part of the township is a mixture of sand and gravel and is generally productive. This, and access to Walnut Run, attracted the earliest settlers in the area they called Leroy in the northeast region, now mostly Cortland.

Pioneers often settled near others from their home regions or families, forming small clusters in one part of a township before expanding outward. The northeast corner of Bazetta quickly established schools and churches, providing social or religious gathering places, and encouraging more settlers to choose that location.

However, in the case of Bazetta, another factor strongly influenced early settlement. Five men purchased the more than 17,000 acres of land for Bazetta Township in 1798 and formed a company from which settlers purchased their homesteads. The partners owning the northern and eastern parts of the township made their property available for settlement early. However, in western and southern Bazetta, the land belonged to heirs of the original buyers who were still underage, so it could not be sold at that time. Settlers were drawn not only by the available features, but also by the opportunity to acquire land and relocate their families to the northeastern area of the township, encompassing the settlement of Leroy.

As the remaining land became available, the excellent farmland in the remainder of the township could be cleared and settled. Most of the business activity remained in the northeast corner and became the village of Cortland and eventually grew into the city of today.

You can learn more at www.CortlandOhiohistory.org or visit the Cortland Opera House on Friday afternoons from 1 to 3 p.m.