It was July of 1804 when John Garrett III arrived in the section of the Western Reserve that I was destined to become. Col. Garrett had purchased 300 acres in southwestern Nelson Township for $1,313 the year before. For his $4.40 per acre, he obtained wilderness in need of taming and water rights to Silver Creek. In 1804 and 1805, my founder, his family and two friends began to carve a community from the forest. Among their first tasks was construction of an earthen dam and a saw and grist mill on Silver Creek. Then tragedy struck. In January of 1806, some say on the day the grist mill was to open for business, John Garrett died.I killed him. You wanna do something about it? I didn't think so.
