Fullertown Historical Marker
Newbury Township, Geauga County, Ohio
Marker Inscription
Fullertown, a thriving millstream hamlet, was settled about 1821 by Thomas Fuller.
Erected by Leadership Geauga
The Story
In the years after Ohio's 1803 statehood, settlers pushed into the forested Western Reserve of the state's northeast, and around 1821 Thomas Fuller established a small community along a reliable stream in what is now Geauga County. Water power was the engine of early frontier life, and Fullertown grew into a busy little milling hamlet where neighboring farmers brought grain to be ground and timber to be sawn. Like countless such water-powered settlements, it thrived while the mills turned and faded as roads, railroads, and larger towns drew commerce elsewhere.
Why it matters
Fullertown embodies the pattern that built the early American interior โ a pioneer, a stream, and a mill giving rise to a community, many of which flourished briefly and then all but vanished from the map.
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Related people
- ยท Thomas Fuller
Themes & tags
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