Crawford County, Pennsylvania

SADSBURY was formed in 1811. It is an interior township, lying south-west of the center of the county, and contains 11,996 square acres. The surface is broken in the north-east part by Conneaut Lake, which lies mainly in this township. It is a beautiful sheet of water, four miles long by two wide, abounding in fish, and its outlet is the only considerable stream in the township. The old Beaver and Beaver & Erie canals pass through the township and unite a little north of the north line, in Summit. The Atlantic & Great Western R. R. enters the township upon the south border, but leaves it again in a very short distance.
The population in 1870 was 1,068, of whom 1,036 were native, 32, foreign, and all, except one, white.

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During the year ending, June 3, 1872, it contained seven schools and employed fourteen teachers. The number of scholars was 277; the average number attending school, 214; and the amount expended for school purposes, $1,205.29.

EVANSBURG, (p. o.) is beautifully situated on Conneaut Lake, seven miles from Meadville. It contains three churches, two hotels, and had, in 1870, 174 inhabitants. It possesses rare attractions to the lovers of piscatorial sports, and one of the finest hotels in the county, on the opposite side of the lake, dispenses excellent accommodations. This is one of the oldest towns in the county.

SHERMANVILLE (p. o.) situated in the north-western part, on the Beaver and Erie Canal, was once a thriving town of about 250 inhabitants. It derives its name from the late Anson Sherman, an early settler, who died the present year (1873) at the age of seventy-nine years.

EVANSBURG STATION, (Stony Point p. o.) is situated near the south line, on the A. & G. W. R. R.
We are not advised of the date of first settlement, nor by whom it was made, but settlements were made as early as 1798 or '9 and perhaps earlier. At that time Samuel and Matthew Williamson came in from the southern part of the State. Dennis Hughes came from New Jersey in 1802, but was preceeded [sic] in his settlement by a Mr. Craven, who occupied a log cabin, built under the direction of Gen. Mead, on the site of Shermansville. Mr. Hughes was a robust man, well fitted to grapple with the trials incident to pioneer life. His son, John Hughes, was then eleven years old and is now in his eightieth year. He served as a volunteer in the war of 1812, and offered his services during the war of the Rebellion, but owing to old age and infirmity he was rejected. At the time of his father's settlement salt was $20 to $22 per barrel. It was brought from the lake in small quantities, there being no roads by which it could be conveyed in wagons.

¹ Hamilton Child, comp., Gazetteer and Business Directory of Crawford County, Pa., for 1874 (Syracuse, N.Y.: By the comp., 1874), pp. 94-95.