The land on which Coventry Township is situated was ceded in 1785 to
the United States by the Delaware, Chippewa, Ottawa, and Wyandot
tribes under the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. The area was a choice
location for Native Americans, settlers, and fur traders due to the
abundant bodies of water and proximity to the Portage Path, a land
connection between the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga rivers and Lake Erie.
In 1788, Coventry Township was initially part of Washington County,
the first county formed in the Ohio Territory. After Moses Warren
finished a survey in 1797,
a succession of county splits located
Coventry Township in Jefferson County, Trumbull County, Portage
County, and, finally, Summit County in 1840. The township originally
encompassed Summit Lake and the lands south to the southern line
of the Western Reserve (Green-New Franklin lines) Daniel Haines
was the first resident to settle in Coventry Township in 1806.
The Portage Lakes area of Summit County was influential in the
creation of trade and early prosperity in the region. Native Americans,
settlers,
and fur-traders traversed the trade routes in the
eighteenth century using lakes, rivers, and both sides of the Portage Path.
In 1827, reservoirs were
created in Green and Franklin
townships,
and along with the lakes in Coventry Township, were used
to supply additional water to the newly completed Ohio and Erie Canal.
The Ohio and Erie Canal brought
industry, commerce, and a new
economic base to the Akron and Portage Lakes area.
After closing the Ohio and Erie Canal to transportation in 1913,
the lakes supplied water for businesses and residents of the Portage Lake area.
The Portage Lakes shifted from a vacation area with
summer cottages, canoes, and resorts to year-round homes and recreational activities such as boating, fishing, swimming and golfing.
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