History Timeline

Date	Fact
August 3, 1795	The Greenville Treaty is signed, permitting U.S. settlement of the Western Reserve located east of the Cuyahoga River.
September 1, 1795	The Connecticut Land Company offers for sale a 17,247 acre tract of land now known as Bazetta Township.
1804	In the winter of 1804/1805 Edward Schofield, originally from Connecticut, and John Budd became the first settlers in Bazetta, having moved there from Hubbard. Schofield built his log cabin at what is now the corner of Hillman and High streets in Cortland.
ca 1808	John Hulse, son of Henry K. Hulse, was the first white child born in the township.
1811	Edward Schofield and Jeremiah Brooks built a gristmill in “Courtland.” along Walnut Creek. It was the second frame structure built in the town, a milk house being the first.
1812	Most of the Native American population had left the area by this time.
1813	The first school in Bazetta was built on Walnut Run and administered by Charlotte Bell. Many area settlers were called upon to defend their country in the War of 1812.
1816	Samuel Bacon came to Bazetta Twp. where his family operated a sawmill (and/or the gristmill?) from 1816 to 1850. As Bacon built some of the first frame store buildings in the community, the Cortland area was called Baconsburg.
1819	The Baptist Church in Warren granted permission to form a congregation and church in Bazetta.
January 22, 1820	Formation of the Baptist Church congregation in Baconsburg.
ca 1824	Construction of the Presbyterian Church.
1841	Arriving from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, Nathaniel Lowry is said to have left his wife and child in Conneaut and walked from there to Bazetta, Trumbull Co., Ohio where he selected land on which to build a cabin. He purchased Lot 29 and built a home for his family that eventually included 7 children.
December 30, 1845	Death as reported in the Western Reserve Chronicle, 14 Jan. 1846: "In Bazetta, on the 30th ult. (previous month) Joseph Booth, in the 17th year of his age."
1848	The Bazetta Christian Church was founded by Calvin Smith, a veteran of the War of 1812.
1851	Christian – Disciples Cemetery established behind the Christian (Disciples) Church
1853	Cortland Christian Church was constructed to replace their first building constructed in 1837. The land was donated by Samuel and Enos Bacon.
1856	This 1856 map of Trumbull County included the village of Leroy now know as Cortland. The population of Bazetta in 1856 was 1302.
1871	James McCleery is interred in the Christian Church Cemetery in Cortland. He was born in Mecca Township, December 2, 1837. Was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War, and lost his right arm. Died in New York, N.Y. on November 5, 1871 during his term as the U.S. Representative from Louisiana 4th District.
1874	The village of Cortland became a reality when the railroad built a depot there.
1875	The Village of Cortland's first Mayor is W. C. Kennedy, Served 1875-1876. H. Robinson is the first Marshal of the Village of Cortland and serves until 1878.
1877	Henry Scoville is elected Mayor and serves until 5/1/77. H. Robinson replaces Scoville and serves until the end of the year.
1878	D. P. Camp is elected Mayor and serves one year.
1879	H. Robinson is elected Mayor and serves for 2 years.
1881	Thomas Willock is elected Mayor and serves for 4 years through 1884.
1882	The population of Cortland village is 614 people. There are three churches, two newspapers, stores, and mills.
1885	H. D. Colcomb is elected Mayor and serves until 1892. The Cortland fire Department is formed in 1885.
May 22, 1886	The Village of Cortland purchased a 418 pound bronze town bell for $ 128.60 from Burnes & Lynn.
October 1888	Cicero Case a shoemaker and farmer born in Hartford Co., Conn. died in Cortland at age 79 and is buried in the Disciples of Christ Cemetery, Cortland, Trumbull Co., OH. His wife Nancy (Hungerford) was also laid to rest there after her death in 1904.
1892	J. L. Christy is elected Mayor and serves for one year.
1893	Wells F. Horton is elected Mayor and serves through 1895.
1896	Wells D. Holcomb is elected Mayor and serves for 2 years. An ordinance is passed against Ice and Snow on Sidewalks.
1898	Nelson Cowdry is elected Mayor and serves through 1903.
1911	Lewis C. Hutton is elected mayor and serves through 1914. He is again elected in 1918 and serves for 8 additional years until 1925. 'Lew" Hutton is a Civil War veteran born in Chester county, Pa. August 8, 1845. He enlisted at the outbreak of the Civil War and served to the end of the conflict. He married Ella Post of Cortland after moving to Cortland after the War.
1915	Establishment of the Trumbull Co. branch of the Ohio Agricultural and Development Center, located at the site of the present fairgrounds.
1916	The foundation for the barn currently standing at our (Don Brobst Jr) farm was poured on September 1, 1915. In the spring of 1916 a tornado blew the barn over before anything could be stored there. Tin from the roof was found beyond Johnston station (Since this was the only thing hit in the area they knew where the tin came from). Enough tin was salvaged for the west side of the new roof and the good lumber went back into the new barn and a full shed section was added to the front.
1926	Wayne F. Ainsley was Mayor of the Village of Cortland in 1926-27, 1931-37, and 1942-43.
ca 1930	Plans were drawn up to dam the Mosquito Creek under the Federal Flood Control Act, to alleviate floods on the Mahoning, Beaver and Ohio rivers, and also supply water for the city of Warren. Congress had voted to spend $4,385,000 for the project.
November 19, 1938	Death of Emanuel E Rice who operated an early gas station in cortland (Dad Rices station) "He was my grandfather. In the 30's one of my biggest excitements was punching punchcards there." Patricia A (Rice) Schaller
1943	The Army Corps of Engineers moved 400 graves from the old Bazetta Cemetery on Rt. 305 to the West Bazetta Cemetery. The old cemetery site was soon under the waters of Mosquito Lake.
1944	Completion of the Mosquito Reservoir and Dam that holds 34 billion gallons of water over 7,850 acres of land.
1946	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers enters into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to jointly manage the recreation on the Mosquito Lake.
1953	William A. Harned was elected Mayor and served for 11 years through 1963.
1954	Village Council members are Kenneth Payne, Willard Smalley, Nelson Richards, Robert C. Daugherty and Al Hargate Jr., William Bradbury is President of Council. Paul C. Bowers is Village Clerk and Sherman Corfman is Treasurer.
1956	Bazetta and Cortland consolidated their schools to form the Lakeview Local School District.
1956	John Kocka, Harold Shilling and Owne Grove are elected to Village Council and Beryl Robinson is President of Council.
1960	Dan Galbincea, owner of the Causeway Sport Shop in Mecca, invented the legendary fishing lure, the "Erie Dearie.” As he loved to go fishing his wife Helen would say, “Fine go to your Lake Erie, "Dearie," and that is how they came up with the name.
1961	Lakeview High School was built.
1964	Donald M. Jones was Mayor of the Village of Cortland from 1964 through 1974.
September 12, 1968	Casualty of the Viet Nam War, Gustav Ostrakovic of Cortland, b. 03/25/1950 – d. 9/12/1968.
1978	Lakeview Middle School was built.
1984	Inventor and fishing boat captain Dan Galbincea was inducted into the Ohio Sportsmen's Hall of Fame for his "inventing, pioneering and marketing skills."
1985	Lauren Sauer and business partner, Jan Longberry, opened a small needlework specialty shop in Cortland. It’s success lead to Lauren opening a needle art designing business in Little Italy on the East Side of Cleveland in 1988.
1985	Cortland's first radio station--WLND- started broadcasting. Owned and operated by Glen Barker and Nancy Hoffman.
1986	Captain Dan Galbincea died suddenly upon returning from a fishing trip.
2000	The population of Bazetta Twp. is 6,306, about twice what it was in 1960.
2002	Native Sean Sloan, born in Cortland in 1963, creates new financial shared services industry in Boston with the advent of Venture Control Inc. Moves it West to Arizona and becomes CFO of one of the fastest growing American companies in 2005.
February 2004	Cortland native Thomas J. Ratcliff, is named Partner and Chief Operating Officer of American Strategies, a national political consulting and public policy firm. Ratcliff was a West Point graduate, former Army Scout/Attack helicopter pilot, and campaign staffer of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole.