Seba Bronson Jr. left Columbia Township in early 1810 and followed
the Rocky River to an area one and a half miles north of here.
He built a cabin and planted a crop and thus started what became
known as the village of Hardscrabble in Liverpool Township. The
village was centered around the Columbia/Grafton Road area. and
the township is the oldest continuously inhabited township in Medina
County. The Potawatami Indians occupied this area and camped
annually along the Rocky River. For five silver dollars, they showed
Seba and a partner a hidden salt springs which they sought to
exploit. Other men also scrabbled to own it and Justus Warner
succeeded. Seba was turned out. Warner operated the Liverpool
Salt Works beginning in 1811. The first industry in the county, salt
was a necessity end eagerly sought by settlers in the area.
Hardscrabble grew slowly. Some say
that the struggle to
gain
wealth and influence inspired the name.
When the
War
of
1812 ended,
the British and hostile Native Americans left
and people
felt safe.
Tradesmen,
settlers with families,
and even
a
doctor
arrived,
and a post office was established. The Erie Canal opened in
1825 making it easier to send goods to market, but a better
quality and price for salt brought and end to the Liverpool Salt
Works.
As more people came,
English
first and then Germans,
the
population center moved south to where you are now, and a
manufacturing base was established. Hardscrabble faded. The railroad
arrived with this train depot built a mile and a half east of here,
circa 1895. In 1910, the Post Office was renamed Valley City. The
township remains Liverpool in this place with a strong legacy of
German churches, families, and road names.
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