Boston Heights

How Boston Heights began

Boston Heights began as the 'east hill' section of Boston Township, and its residents voted 87 to 12 in a 1923 special election to break away and incorporate as a separate village, a split that took formal effect in 1924. Boston Township itself, first settled by James Stanford, the Vance brothers and others in 1806 and organized in 1811, got its name around 1807 when a small group of settlers, including Stanford, Alfred Wolcott and Samuel Ewart, cast about for a township name; after Ewart proposed 'Ewartsville' and Wolcott 'Wolcottsburg' and neither pleased the group, Stanford suggested 'Boston, after old Boston in Massachusetts,' and the name was adopted. The village's population grew slowly across the 20th century, from 130 residents in 1880 to 309 in 1930, and it sits today within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park area of northern Summit County, home to the headquarters of the home-furnishings retailer Arhaus and the historic Luther B. Ranney Farmhouse.

Incorporated 1924 (following an 87-12 vote in a 1923 special election).

Where the name comes from

Named for Boston Township, the 'east hill' section of which it originally was. The 1881 county history gives the township-naming story directly: around 1807, early settlers James Stanford, Alfred Wolcott, Samuel Ewart, John Teale and the Vance brothers met to choose a name for their soon-to-be-created township. Ewart proposed 'Ewartsville'; Wolcott favored 'Wolcottsburg'; neither satisfied the group. Stanford then said, 'Suppose we name it Boston, after old Boston in Massachusetts,' and the proposal was adopted on the spot.

Before the town

No Native American village, mound, or treaty site specific to Boston Heights is documented in the sources consulted.

Nations recorded here: Hopewell culture, Lenape (Delaware).

Timeline

1. 1806 — James Stanford, William and Adam Vance, and Abner Robinson arrive in Boston Township on March 23, among its first settlers.
2. 1807 — Stanford, Wolcott, Ewart and other settlers meet and choose the name Boston for the township, after Boston, Massachusetts, on Stanford's suggestion.
3. 1811 — Boston Township formally organizes; its first township election is held January 15 at the home of Timothy Bishop, with Northfield and Richfield attached to it for election purposes.
4. 1880 — The 'east hill' area later incorporated as Boston Heights records 130 residents.
5. 1923 — Residents of Boston Township's east hill vote 87 to 12 in a special election to separate and incorporate as their own village.
6. 1924 — Boston Heights formally incorporates as a separate village.
7. 1930 — The village's population reaches 309.

Stories

Naming a township on the spot

Boston Township, and by extension Boston Heights nearly 120 years later, owes its name to an impromptu conversation. Around 1807, with the township's formal creation approaching, a handful of its earliest settlers, James Stanford, Alfred Wolcott, Samuel Ewart, John Teale and the Vance brothers, gathered and began proposing names. Ewart, the 1881 county history records, 'modestly suggested Ewartsville'; Wolcott thought 'Wolcottsburg a much more euphonious cognomen.' Neither name won over the group, and for a moment nobody spoke. Then Stanford broke the silence: 'Suppose we name it Boston, after old Boston in Massachusetts.' The others agreed at once, and the vote of a few pioneers standing together in the Western Reserve wilderness fixed a name that would outlast every one of them, eventually attaching itself not just to the township but, after a 1923 special election split the 'east hill' neighborhood away, to the separate village of Boston Heights as well.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · villageofbostonheights.com · bostontownship.org · archive.org

Every historic place in Summit County on the full map

18 wells in Water Works Park on the south bank of the Cuyahoga River, adjacent to the Munroe Falls Avenue treatment plant The water here

• Cleveland Public Water System32% of residentsLake Erie
• Hudson City31% of residentsLocal sand-and-gravel aquifer wells
• Akron City19% of residentsLake Rockwell (Cuyahoga River impoundment)
• Cuyahoga Falls City11% of residentsWells in Cuyahoga River buried valley sand & gravel aquifer
• Towbridge Development2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Hudson Estates2% of residentsGroundwater wells (5 wells)
• Stow Public Water System1% of residentsLake Rockwell (Cuyahoga River impoundment)
• Indian Springs1% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
• Streetsboro City0% of residentsBuried valley/sandstone aquifer wells (12 county wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Police stations (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (5)

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Financial Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2026-05-26

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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