Cumberland

• Wills Creek LakeBuilt 1936 · 900 acres

How Cumberland began

Cumberland was platted by James Bay on April 24, 1828, in Spencer Township, the same year the National Road was completed across Guernsey County. Joseph Hulin had already settled the site around 1805-1810, and Thomas Bay Sr. entered much of the surrounding land after arriving from Pennsylvania in 1812. The village grew with National Road traffic and later a rail line, peaking at 618 residents in 1900, and today survives as a small village of about 300 with a historic bank-and-post-office building and a Methodist church downtown.

Settled c. 1805-1810 (Joseph Hulin), platted April 24, 1828, by James Bay, by James Bay.

Where the name comes from

The village was most likely named for the Cumberland Road, the original name of the National Road, which reached Guernsey County the year Cumberland was platted.

Before the town

No Native American village, trail, or mound site specific to Cumberland or Spencer Township was found in the sources checked. Guernsey County's wider record shows Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandot, Miami, Ottawa, and Mingo presence in the Wills Creek watershed.

Timeline

1. 1805 — Joseph Hulin settled on the future site of Cumberland, raising corn on the land before the town was platted.
2. 1812 — Thomas Bay Sr. arrived from Washington County, Pennsylvania, and entered a large portion of the land around the future village.
3. 1828 — James Bay platted Cumberland on April 24, on the northeast of section 32, township 9, range 10, the same year the National Road was completed across Guernsey County.
4. 1829 — A post office was established at Cumberland.
5. 1833 — William Cosgrove began work as a chair maker in Cumberland, a trade he kept up until 1868, when he became proprietor of the village's Eagle hotel.
6. 1874 — Charles Baldwin Stevens became assistant superintendent of the Eastern Ohio Railroad, known locally as the 'Calico road' and owned by the Stevens brothers; he still held the post in 1882.
7. 1900 — Cumberland's population peaked at 618.

Stories

A chair maker on the National Road

William Cosgrove moved to Cumberland in 1833, five years after James Bay platted the town beside the new National Road, and made chairs there for thirty-five years before becoming proprietor of the village's Eagle hotel in 1868. The 1882 county history adds a personal note: since 1850 he had never failed to take a nap in the middle of the day, which he credited with keeping him fresh in his old age.

Photographs

Local history sources: archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Pleasant City, Village Of100% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2017: 4 of 6 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-12-30

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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