Railroads in Green
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Did you know that Green once had two railroad depots? Beginning in 1880 the Valley Railway ran North to South near the East boundary of Green Township. The Uniontown Depot was located in Myersville and the Greentown Depot was located in Aultman. In the 1880's a branch of the Valley Railway was added through Coventry Township that ran to Cottage Grove Lake to service resort guests (see map below). Do you know about the Cottage Grove Resort?
To learn more about the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad run by the National Park Service, click here.
To learn about the fate of Greentown Station, click here.
Grain being unloaded from a Rail Car at the Tracks at Myersville
Grain elevator dismantling 1971
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 Identified as Greentown Station, located in Aultman in Green Township, circa 1967 prior to relocation, unidentified Green Historical Society members in Bev Coss Collection, Akron-Summit County Public Library. 
Aultman Depot circa 1910, see Canton Repository Article dated 1967 transcription.
Quaker Oats elevator at Aultman
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The Valley Railway in Green Township
From the Guide Book for Tourists and Travelers over the Valley Railway from Cleveland to Canton, Ohio, 1880:
"We now leave the Plain on a curve to the right, and as we round this curve, the remains of an old saw mill can be seen to our right. As the engine whistles for Greentown we pass the Drain Tile Works of Isaac Stripe, back of which is the Sewer Pipe Works of H. & I. Stripe. On the right still further on, we pass the coal bank of Smith, Borst & Company. A side track runs off to it on the right. These firms are represented in this book in connection with the history of Greentown. The log hut on the side of the hill to the left before we arrive at the station is the birth place of Lewis Miller, Esq., now of the Buckeye Works at Akron.
We now arrive at Greentown. The depot is on the left, and the village is three-fourths of a mile to the right, and Greensburg is two and a half miles to the left. About five hundred feet north of the depot we cross the great water-shed of the State, (see page 20). In the beautiful grove to the right, (see engraving) the water can be seen to divide, part going to the Ohio River and part to Lake Erie. The elevation here is about 555 feet above Lake Erie. We now pass over the Greentown Plain, which is two miles of straight track over the bottom lands and marshes. The streams that appear between here and Krumroy feed the Tuscarawaas River. Three and a half miles north of Greentown we arrive at Uniontown. As we come to the depot, we pass a saw mill on the left. Great numbers of ties for the road have been sawed here. The village is one mile to the right. The small settlement on the left of the depot is called Myersville, which has been settled since the railroad has been built. As we leave the depot we pass a grain warehouse on our left. Grain from the surrounding country is brought here and shipped over the Valley Road to the Akron mills. One mile north of Uniontown, we pass through the Millheim mill pond, the mill being situated some distance to the right and can be seen in the distance when we get a little further on."
"We now leave the Plain on a curve to the right, and as we round this curve, the remains of an old saw mill can be seen to our right. As the engine whistles for Greentown we pass the Drain Tile Works of Isaac Stripe, back of which is the Sewer Pipe Works of H. & I. Stripe. On the right still further on, we pass the coal bank of Smith, Borst & Company. A side track runs off to it on the right. These firms are represented in this book in connection with the history of Greentown. The log hut on the side of the hill to the left before we arrive at the station is the birth place of Lewis Miller, Esq., now of the Buckeye Works at Akron.
We now arrive at Greentown. The depot is on the left, and the village is three-fourths of a mile to the right, and Greensburg is two and a half miles to the left. About five hundred feet north of the depot we cross the great water-shed of the State, (see page 20). In the beautiful grove to the right, (see engraving) the water can be seen to divide, part going to the Ohio River and part to Lake Erie. The elevation here is about 555 feet above Lake Erie. We now pass over the Greentown Plain, which is two miles of straight track over the bottom lands and marshes. The streams that appear between here and Krumroy feed the Tuscarawaas River. Three and a half miles north of Greentown we arrive at Uniontown. As we come to the depot, we pass a saw mill on the left. Great numbers of ties for the road have been sawed here. The village is one mile to the right. The small settlement on the left of the depot is called Myersville, which has been settled since the railroad has been built. As we leave the depot we pass a grain warehouse on our left. Grain from the surrounding country is brought here and shipped over the Valley Road to the Akron mills. One mile north of Uniontown, we pass through the Millheim mill pond, the mill being situated some distance to the right and can be seen in the distance when we get a little further on."
Map Indicating Railway Lines in and around Green Township, from the Atlas and Industrial Geography of Summit County Ohio, The Rectigraph Abstract and Title Company, Akron, Ohio 1910: Courtesy of the Summit Memory Online Map Room
Note the Valley R. R. line on the East Edge of Green Township, see Cottage Grove Branch
Note the Canton-Massillon-Akron Railroad to the West of Green Township running through Comet and the Lakes |
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Take to Trolley to Comet - Almost? From the 1880’s through the 1940’s, streetcars and interurban railcars connected northeast Ohio in a way that is hard to imagine now. Larger cities often had multiple competing streetcar systems, and interurban rail systems connected the cities and the towns that weren’t large enough for their own systems. Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Massillon and New Philadelphia were all interconnected. A line was graded from Akron south along the east edge of the Portage Lakes, crossing South Main just north of Caston Road, continuing through what is now Nimisila Reservoir, and to Comet between Main and Stoner Streets. A little south of Comet, the line branched to the east to Canton, to the west to Massillon.
Sadly, just before grading was completed and rails laid, the company (NOT&L - Northern Ohio Traction & Light) bought its competition, which had just opened a line from Akron southeast through Springfield, Uniontown, Greentown, and on to Canton. The line through Comet, called the Akron Canton & Massillon Railroad, lay dormant for years, with pieces of the right-of-way gradually sold. Much of it is marked by electric transmission lines. While the land was in limbo, it became known as "the world’s longest potato patch", because farmers were hesitant grow anything else or to farm and improve it as it could be claimed by the railroad at any time. Sources 1) The N.O.T.&L. Story: James Blower & Robert Korach, 1966 2) Northern Ohio Traction Revisited: James Blower Compiled by Bob Vatilla. |