Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1902-06-30
Optimistic
Especial Correspondence

Warwick, o. June 30.-A depot, in
after years supplemented by switch
tower, saloon and three houses, one
of which was subsequently destroyed
by fire, were for years the sole ma
terial indlces of the now growing town
of Warwick, Is miles south of Akron,
and seven miles from Barberton, on
the B. e. o., G. A. & c., and c., L. &
w. railroads.
The place Is beautifully located in
the smiling Chippewa valley, over
looked by tree-crowned heights COW
ering great deposits of coal and rich
in the splendors of nature.
1t took its present name from the
late Hon. John A. Warwick, Congress.
man from the old Mckinley district,
who owned a half section of Land ly-
ing between the Tuscarawas on the
east and the Chippewa OH the south
west, still famous for its produc-
ing value. To the north is lofty out
line Of hills. semi-mountainous and
rugged, giving genuine Switzerland
effect. Few in this region but have
heard of the glories of Warwick Farm
and its environing grandeurs.
The history of the town, now resur.
rected into pulsing commercial life,
Is one of unusual interest. tinged with
the melancholy Of carly disaster.
The earliest settlement was made
about 1920, and the name Savannah
chosen for the first christening. Un-
broken forests surrounded it for miles
the nearest communications being at
Ravenna and Franklin Mills, now
Kent, some thirty miles to the north.
east. The clearing at once assumed
the Importance of an early day depot
and on the opening of the Ohio canal,
still in operation through its borders,
became the wheat center for that dis
trict as far west as Ashland. wheat
growers coming here from Wayne
Ashland. Holmes and Medina counties.
This was, however, on the revival of
the place after its abandonment
through the horrors of miasma
The foul, undrained swamp lands
lstagnating from one end of the. year
to the other, made deadly conditions
from which there was no apparent
escape save by flight.
But no form of danger or obstruc.
ton could long lock such a favored
spot from human enterprise and it was
soon reinhabited and in time reclaim-
ed from the noxious vapors that dis.
appeared before the strong arm of the
settler.
This. briefly, is its early history, as
far as the white man is concerned.
Its commercial prestige assumed quick
prominence and continued to expand
until the introduction of the railroa dis
which diverted the wheat traffic to the
larger markets. after which it lapsed
into the obscurity of Goldsmith's DE.
serted Village" until, on the advent
of the c., L. & w. road, it assumed
schedule prominence as junction of
that line with the O., A. & c., and in
the early '90s, the B. & o. railroads.
But even this gave rise to nothing
beyond passing point and a depot
of interchange, and its apparent des.
tiny was measured by these factors
until the sandstone underlying its hills
was discovered to be of the first quail.
ty for purposes Of glass manufacture,
containing in fact the highest per
cent Of essential ingredients of any
rock known.
Some 10 years ago large stone
crusher plant was established west
Oh the depot. by Canton capitalists,
and very soon the demand for the War;
wick product was world wide. This
continued in uninterrupted operation
until its destruction by fire about four
years ago. The field was far too valu.
able, however, to suffer even temper