Northampton | |
---|---|
Former township | |
Location within the state of Ohio | |
Coordinates: 41°9′59″N 81°32′12″W / 41.16639°N 81.53667°WCoordinates: 41°9′59″N 81°32′12″W / 41.16639°N 81.53667°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Ohio |
County | Summit |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
Northampton was one of the 16 original townships in Summit County, Ohio. It was in the middle of Summit County, bordering Akron and Cuyahoga Falls. No incorporated areas were formed within the township but Akron and Cuyahoga Falls expanded into Northamption via annexation. In 1986, Northampton Township merged with Cuyahoga Falls, the first time a township and city merged in Ohio. When created it occupied survey Town 3, Range 11 in the Western Reserve and was about 25 square miles (65 km2) in area. Its first settler, Simeon Prior named the township for the Hampshire County, Massachusetts village of Northampton.
Northampton was originally bounded by Portage Township on the south, Bath Township on the west, Boston Township to the north and Stow Township to the east. At the time of its merger with Cuyahoga Falls it was bordered by Akron to the south, the city of Stow to the east and Cuyahoga Falls to the southeast.
The Ottawa and Mingo tribes hunted in Northampton before Europeans arrived. (Grant, 1891). The first white settler in Northampton was Simeon Prior, who moved there with his wife and ten children from Northampton, Massachusetts in 1802. Native Americans still lived in the township and remained there until 1812 when American forces began to assemble there for the War of 1812. Northampton provided a rendezvous point for militia during the war and the two (Grant, 1891) or three (Doyle, 1908) vessels of Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet were built in the township and floated down the Cuyahoga River to Lake Erie.