Boston, Summit County, Ohio Explained

Boston is an unincorporated community in Summit County, in the U.S. state of Ohio.

History

The community takes its name from Boston Township.^[1] The first settlement at Boston was made in 1820.^[2] A sawmill was built at Boston in about 1821. An early variant name was Boston Mills.^[3] A post office called Boston was established in 1825, and remained in operation until 1957.^[4]

In 1974, a significant portion of the area near Boston was added to what would become Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Owing to delays, several private homes and other buildings purchased by the US park service to be added to national park stood vacant for decades until demolished in 2016.^[5] The area is also known as Helltown or Hell Town^[6] in relation to this event.

References

41.2633°N -81.5594°W

Notes and References

1. Book: Overman, William Daniel. Ohio Town Names. 1958. Atlantic Press. Akron, OH. 16.
2. Book: Perrin, William Henry. History of Summit County: With an Outline Sketch of Ohio. 1881. Baskin & Battey. 542.
3. Book: Doyle, William B.. Centennial History of Summit County, Ohio and Representative Citizens. 1908. Biographical Publishing Company. 102.
4. Web site: Summit County . Jim Forte Postal History . 23 January 2016.
5. Web site: Evon . Dan . 25 November 2019 . Does ‘Helltown’ Film Document Weird Happenings in Abandoned Ohio Town? . 20 December 2020 . .
6. Web site: Bhatia . Kabir . 29 October 2021 . If Hell Town exists, where in Cuyahoga Valley National Park is it? . 27 May 2023 . . en.