Claridon Township is one of the sixteen

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Geauga County Geauga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,397. The county seat is Chardon. The county is named for an Onondaga or Seneca language word meaning 'raccoon', originally the name of the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 3,205, of whom 2,865 lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.

History

Claridon Township was settled in 1808 by Asa Cowles and Seth Spencer. Claridon was originally named "Canton" then "Burlington" when part of Burton Township. Early settlers relied heavily upon an agriculturally based economy, with included dairying, poultry and potato crops. Several cheese factories were built in the township, including the Hall Cheese Factory constructed in 1863. Other industries were blacksmith shops, carpentry shops, maple sugaring, and Nathaniel Spencer's chair factory (the oldest manufacturing business in the township, built in 1811). A railroad was constructed in 1872, with a line running through eastern and northern sections of Claridon. This aided in shipping butter, eggs, cheese and maple syrup to the other communities. One of the oldest roads in Geauga County, Old State Road ( State Route 608), runs diagonally across the eastern part of Claridon. In 1932, the city of

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

started a reservoir project, seeking to supply the city with fresh water. Known as the East Branch Reservoir, it is on the East Branch of the

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

and is situated partially within Claridon Township. Munson Township, once named "McDonough", was cut out of Claridon, but East Branch Reservoir remains. Claridon was split east and center due to religious differences, and the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

was moved as a result of those differences.

Geography

Located in the north central part of the county, it borders the following townships: * Hambden Township - north * Montville Township - northeast corner * Huntsburg Township - east * Middlefield Township - southeast corner * Burton Township - south * Newbury Township - southwest corner * Munson Township - west * Chardon Township - northwest corner The township covers a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.53%, is water. The West and East branches of the

flow through the township. The village of Aquilla is located in northwestern Claridon Township, and the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of East Claridon lies in the eastern part of the township.

Name

Statewide, the only other Claridon Township is located in Marion County.

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,§503.24§505.01
an
§507.01
of the

Ohio Revised Code The ''Ohio Revised Code'' contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments of the G ...

. Accessed 4/30/2009. who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.

Public services

Education

Students from the eastern two-thirds of the township attend schools in the Berkshire Local School District in Burton, while students from the western third of the township attend schools in the Chardon Local School District. Both school districts received excellent ratings in the 2006–2007 school year.

Parks

Parks in Claridon Township includ
Headwaters Park
and the
Maple Highlands Trail

Transportation

Claridon Township is traversed by the following

Ohio state The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and

U.S. highways The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

: * -

U.S. Route 322 U.S. Route 322 (US 322) is a long, east–west United States Highway, traversing Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The road is a spur of U.S. Route 22 and one of the original highways from 1926. A portion of it at one time was concurrent with ...

* - State Route 608

References

External links

Township websiteCounty website
{{authority control Townships in Geauga County, Ohio Populated places established in 1808 Townships in Ohio