Sugar Bush Knolls

How Sugar Bush Knolls began

Sugar Bush Knolls, carved from portions of Streetsboro and Franklin townships and incorporated in 1964, is named for the sugar maple trees that once stood near Lake Martin. In the 1930s, according to the village's Wikipedia article, the Davey Tree Expert Company ran a nursery and experimental tree farm on the site; company president Martin L. Davey — who had already served as mayor of Kent (1913) and would go on to serve two terms as Governor of Ohio (1935-1939), guiding the state through the state sales tax's introduction and the school foundation law during the Depression — had three recreational lakes excavated there. Lake Martin was named for himself, Lake Roger for William Roger Williams, and Lake Quincy for David Quincy Grove, with plans for a company headquarters that ended with Davey's death in March 1946, shortly after he left politics. In the 1950s local businessman Cyril Porthouse bought lots, built early homes and financed the sewer system that let the community develop into a village. Today, Portage County's smallest incorporated place, it has 217 residents (2020).

Settled 1942 (documented early resident 'Tuck' Miller and family), incorporated 1964, from portions of Streetsboro and Franklin townships, by Cyril Porthouse (1950s residential development); Martin L. Davey (1930s-40s tree farm and lakes).

Where the name comes from

Named for the sugar maple trees ('sugar bush' being the traditional term for a stand of maples tapped for syrup) that originally stood near Lake Martin, within the village.

Before the town

No Native American village, camp or mound site specific to Sugar Bush Knolls is documented in the sources consulted; the village's territory was carved from Streetsboro and Franklin townships, and Streetsboro Township is the site of the county's most specifically documented historic Seneca village, under a leader called Big Son, though not within Sugar Bush Knolls's small footprint specifically.

Timeline

1. 1930s — The Davey Tree Expert Company, founded by English-born 'tree doctor' John Davey and headquartered in nearby Kent, operates a nursery and experimental tree farm on the site during the Depression.
2. 1942 — 'Tuck' Miller and family move into the area, at a time when Ferguson Road is still gravel and does not yet reach Route 43.
3. n.d. (1930s-40s) — Company president Martin L. Davey, John Davey's son, has three recreational lakes excavated on the property, according to the village's Wikipedia article: Lake Martin (for himself), Lake Roger (for William Roger Williams) and Lake Quincy (for David Quincy Grove).
4. 1913-1940 — Martin L. Davey serves as mayor of Kent (elected 1913), then as a U.S. Representative from Ohio's 14th district (three terms from 1918), then as Ohio's Democratic Governor for two terms (1935-1939) during the Depression, before retiring from politics in 1940.
5. March 31, 1946 — Martin L. Davey dies in Kent, Ohio, at age 61. According to the village's Wikipedia article, his death ended plans to build a Davey Tree Expert Company headquarters on the Sugar Bush Knolls site; we found no other source for those plans.
6. 1950s — Local businessman Cyril Porthouse buys lots, builds early homes and finances sewer installation, enabling residential development; families including the McElhones, Bushes, Longs, Kaisers and Geldhofs build some of the first houses.
7. 1964 — Sugar Bush Knolls incorporates as a village, carved from portions of Streetsboro and Franklin townships.

Stories

A tree company's lakes become a village

Long before Sugar Bush Knolls was a village, it was a working piece of the Davey Tree Expert Company's business — a Depression-era nursery and experimental tree farm where the company tested and grew stock, part of a nationwide 'tree doctor' enterprise founded by English-born horticulturist John Davey and run from nearby Kent. By the village's Wikipedia account, company president Martin L. Davey, John's son, had grander plans for the property than a nursery: he had three lakes excavated for recreation, naming them for himself and two associates, William Roger Williams and David Quincy Grove, and looked toward building a company headquarters there. By the time those plans stalled, Davey had already built one of the more remarkable political careers in Portage County history — mayor of Kent at 29, then three terms in the U.S. House, then two terms as Ohio's governor through the depths of the Depression, where his administration introduced the state sales tax and set up the school foundation law that helped fund public education statewide. Davey's death in March 1946, not long after he left political life, ended the headquarters ambition for good, and the land sat largely undeveloped until the 1950s, when local businessman Cyril Porthouse began buying lots, building homes, and — critically — financing the sewer installation that made further residential development possible at all. Families with names like McElhone, Bush, Long, Kaiser and Geldhof built some of the earliest houses, and by 1964 there was enough of a community to incorporate as its own village, taking its name from the sugar maple grove that had once stood near the governor's own lake.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org

Groundwater wells (13+) of the Breakneck Creek Wellfield, tapping a shallow buried-valley aquifer close to the city's Water Treatment Plant; one well (No. 13) taps a sandstone bedrock formation The water here

• Kent City92% of residentsBreakneck Creek Wellfield, Buried Valley Aquifer
• Aqua Ohio - Beechcrest4% of residentsBuried valley/sandstone aquifer wells (12 county wells)
• Portage County Water Resources1% of residentsBuried valley/sandstone aquifer wells (12 county wells)
• Beechwood Island Estates1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Akron City1% of residentsLake Rockwell (Cuyahoga River impoundment)
• Meadow Creek Condo Assoc1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-11-26

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