Saybrook Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, United States. The 2020 census found 9,711 people in the township.

Geography

Located on the northeastern edge of the county along

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, it borders the following townships: * Ashtabula Township - northeast * Plymouth Township - east * Jefferson Township - southeast corner * Austinburg Township - south * Harpersfield Township - southwest corner * Geneva Township - west The

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

lies across Lake Erie to the north. Part of the city of Ashtabula is located in northeastern Saybrook Township, along the shoreline of Lake Erie. The

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

of Saybrook-on-the-Lake is in the northwest part of the township.

Name and history

Named for the

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Saybrook Colony,Ashtabula County, Ohio
Ashtabula County, 2007. Accessed 2007-05-28. it is the only Saybrook Township statewide. Saybrook Township was originally part of Austinburg Township and contained a settlement called Wrightsburg. It was not until 1816 that modern Saybrook Township became a separate township of its own. The township and community continued to be called Wrightsburg until 1827 when the name was changed to Saybrook, its new name coming from

Saybrook, Connecticut Deep River is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut, Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Reg ...

. The early settlers are listed in the 1820 census for Ashtabula County with the township recorded as Wrightsburg. The Saybrook Township lands were originally owned by Connecticut Land Company investor William Hart. Hart then sold the entire township, with the exception of one lot, to Josiah Wright and his son Samuel Wright of

Pownal, Vermont Pownal is a New England town, town in Bennington County, Vermont, Bennington County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town population was 3,258. The town of Pownal includes the villages of Pownal (CDP) ...

, in 1811. The deed for this sale is recorded in the Ashtabula County Courthouse in Jefferson, Ohio. Even though the Wrights were early owners of Saybrook Township, they were not the first settlers. The first settler in Saybrook Township was George Webster, a New Yorker who came in 1810. In 1833, Saybrook Township contained one store, three taverns, a saw mill, and a

carding In Textile manufacturing, textile production, carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver (textiles), sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passi ...

machine.

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'' (ORC) 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 o ...

. 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. Currently, the board is composed of chairman Robert Brobst, Trustee Tom Pope and Trustee Dan Claypool.

References

External links

Township websiteCounty website
{{authority control Townships in Ashtabula County, Ohio Townships in Ohio 1816 establishments in Ohio Populated places established in 1816