584 M. CONNEAUT, Pop. 9,000.
(Train 3 passes 10:08; No. 41, 2:39; No. 25, 2:04; No. 19, 6:34. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 8:50; No. 26, 9:59; No. 16, 1:20; No. 22, 4:32.)
The first permanent settlement was made here in 1799 though a preliminary surveying party composed of Moses Cleaveland, the founder of the city of Cleveland, and 50 associates, two of whom were women, had arrived in 1796 and found 20 or 30 cabins of the Massauga tribe.
In his journal Cleaveland gives a description of the arrival here, "on the creek Conneaugh, in New Connecticut Land," July 4, 1796. "We gave three cheers," he continues, "and christened the place Ft. Independence, and, after many difficulties, perplexities and hardships were surmounted and we were on the good and promised land, felt that a just tribute of respect to the day ought to be paid. There were in all, including women and children, 50 in number. The men under Capt. Tinker, ranged themselves on the beach and fired a Federal Salute of 15 rounds, and then the 16th in honor of New Conn. Drank several toasts. Closed with three cheers. Drank several pints of grog. Supped and returned in good order."
After the whites had established themselves, the Indians were driven out for having murdered a settler. The country of Ashtabula in which Conneaut stands was not only the first settled on the Western Reserve, but the first in Northern Ohio, and the town is sometimes called the "Plymouth" of the Western Reserve.
Conneaut, which means in the Seneca language "many fish," is built at the mouth of Conneaut Creek in what is now a thriving agricultural and dairying region on Lake Erie. Besides being an excellent harbour to which coal and ore are shipped, the city has flour and planing mills, tanneries, canneries, and other factories.