New Rochester Historical Marker Dedication
One of the most anticipated moments of the Crane Township Bicentennial was the dedication of a new Ohio Historical Marker at New Rochester Park, commemorating the site’s significance as Paulding County’s first county seat. Local historian Melinda Krick along with Jennifer Brady Altman of the Ohio History Connection led that portion of the ceremony on August 16, 2025.
Krick, who authored the detailed application for the marker, described the research process that took more than a year and a half and involved over 50 sources. She credited the Crane Township trustees, the Paulding County Park District, the Paulding County Genealogical Society, and numerous volunteers with bringing the project to completion. “It was a true honor and privilege to write the application for the Ohio Historical Marker for New Rochester, which was unveiled August 16 at the Crane Township Bicentennial celebration. Some people have expressed interest in learning more about New Rochester’s history and its importance to Paulding County,” Krick said.
Anyone interested in more information should check out the new book From the River’s Edge: 200 Years in Crane Township by Carol Razo.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Ohio Historical Marker Application, New Rochester, By: Melinda Krick
The site of New Rochester, Paulding County, merits recognition with an Ohio Historical Marker due to the important role it has played, not only in Paulding County’s development, but also as a vital transportation site during the early settlement and development of the region.
New Rochester is located on the Maumee River in northern Paulding County. The Maumee and Wabash rivers, separated by a short portage, constituted one of the chief highways of travel connecting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River system and was used by Native Americans long before European explorers first visited. When settlers began moving into the area, they primarily used the rivers to reach their new homes and new lives because few trails or roads existed through the Great Black Swamp. By 1821-22, a mail route was established along the Maumee River from the town of Maumee through Fort Defiance to Fort Wayne. This route would have passed through Paulding County and through, or near, the future site of New Rochester.
In 1832, Indiana broke ground on its Wabash and Erie Canal in Fort Wayne. The canal would run from Toledo, Ohio, to Lafayette, Indiana, through Paulding County. New Rochester was on the originally surveyed line of the canal. However, the route was altered when Ohio decided to extend its Miami and Erie Canal north to intersect with the Wabash and Erie Canal. New Rochester later served as a headquarters for Wabash Canal workers, engineers and contractors during construction of the canal and Six Mile Reservoir in the county about 1839-42.
In November 1835, four men platted the village of New Rochester on the south bank of the Maumee River between Defiance and Fort Wayne, one mile north of present-day Cecil. The men chose a high bluff overlooking a bend of the important waterway. The plat contained 71 lots and covered 18 acres, on both sides of the roadway. The village served as a port for canoes, pirogues and rafts traveling the busy river. New Rochester was on “the Miami road leading from Fort Defiance to Fort Wayne” and was a stop on a daily stage coach line between Toledo to Fort Wayne. This road later became old U.S. 24, now known as County Road 424. It is believed that John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, gave New Rochester its name. The story is given some credibility from the fact that John’s older brother settled near Antwerp about 1835 and his nephew became a lock-tender on the Wabash Canal, a half mile west of the Ohio-Indiana State Line.
The new village’s location already had demonstrated importance. Thomas P. Quick established the county’s first trading post about 1826 on the banks of the Maumee River, just east of the future site of New Rochester. Here, he traded with the Native Americans, who brought him furs and pelts. A short distance upriver, Horatio N. Curtis built a substantial brick home facing the river about 1829 and opened a trading post for pioneer residents and Native Americans. The county’s first post office, called Cranesville, was established at Curtis’ trading post on July 15, 1829. The Cranesville Post Office moved to New Rochester after its founding.
New Rochester continued to be a transportation center. A steamboat, the Anthony Wayne, began service in 1837. The vessel departed Maumee City and arrived about six hours later at Defiance. An advertisement stated that during high water, the steamboat would run regularly between the head of the rapids and Fort Wayne. The Anthony Wayne tied up for the winter of 1837-38 at New Rochester, but in the spring, it broke free and floated down river with the ice. In spring 1839, two men in Maumee City announced the start of “a line of stages between Maumee City and Fort Wayne, to continue during the season.” An 1839 ad for the Wabash and Erie Packet Boat Company suggested, “persons going west and landing at Maumee city, Perrysburg, Toledo … can take the state road by stage or wagon, or the Maumee river in keel-boats from the Head of the Rapids to Fort Wayne then the canal to Logansport….”
By all accounts, the wilderness community of New Rochester was thriving in those days. “At the time of the location of the county seat there, the village contained 30 or 40 families, three hotels, three general stores, two blacksmith shops [and] two tailor shops,” according to one report. Other descriptions said New Rochester also included a post office, school, three taverns, and “quite a number of elegant and substantial though not expensive dwellings,” with a population of up to 200.
In March 1839, the state legislature passed the resolution to organize Paulding County as a separate county with the county seat at New Rochester – the largest and most flourishing village in a county of about 1,000 people. The court’s first session was held on November 21, 1839. The first three associate judges appointed a clerk pro tem and sheriff. No courthouse was built in New Rochester and county officers located in private buildings. Judge Emery D. Potter of Toledo presided over the first term of court at New Rochester, held on the second floor of a general store owned by Curtis, in April 1840. During this term, five licenses were granted to five different persons to keep taverns, including selling liquor, with fees ranging from $3 to $10 each.
New Rochester served as county seat just over a year, then lost the honor in 1841 to the newer village of Charloe, located on the Miami & Erie Canal. New Rochester’s decline accelerated as river traffic vanished with the opening of the canals and Wabash Railroad. New Rochester’s post office finally closed in 1865. The buildings, mostly all built of logs, were abandoned and eventually rotted away. An 1836 log schoolhouse was the last building left to mark the village’s location. By 1930, New Rochester was all but forgotten, except in legal documents and public records and the New Rochester Cemetery.
When the new U.S. 24 was dedicated in 1931, it was noted the route “passes directly through the site of New Rochester, the first county seat.” Then, a 1934 newspaper mentioned plans to celebrate the centennial of New Rochester’s founding with services on the site of the old village. The Paulding County Commissioners and Paulding County Park Board met with the New Rochester Club of Cecil to make arrangements for the celebration. The New Rochester Club optioned four acres of land on the site of the town. The plan was to raise $200 to purchase the property, establish a historic marker and make the spot a Paulding County park, open to the public. The park property included 18 of the 71 lots of the original plat and featured frontage on both the Maumee River and U.S. 24. Residents quickly went to work on improvements, including a shelter house in the form of an old-time log cabin, using timber from locally sourced trees, constructing steps from the park down to the river, and restoring the original village well. A concrete monument was erected, inscribed “1835–New Rochester–1935 Paulding County’s First County Seat.” One writer noted it was appropriate that Paulding County’s first official public park commemorated the county’s first county seat. The dedication ceremony was held September 1, 1935, with a large program of activities. A two-day Cecil Homecoming, expanded to include the centennial, drew about 6,500 attendees.
Picturesque New Rochester offered a nice park for tourists who wanted to stop, get a drink of good water, or eat their lunch. The park also became a popular destination among local residents for picnics, reunions, gatherings, and other events. Eventually, the site became the property of Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). A 2009 survey of the New Rochester site by ODOT Office of Environmental Services discovered evidence of Late Archaic and Late Prehistoric habitation. Archaeologists recovered stone tools 4,000 years old. The site was recognized by Ohio as being eligible for historical designation, according to a 2014 Upper Maumee River Watershed report issued by agencies from Ohio and Indiana. In 2018, ODOT transferred the park to Paulding County Park District, which is working on restoring and maintaining New Rochester Park’s historical beauty.
