Aurora History

Say Cheese
From it's start as pioneer town to its reign as the cheese center of the nation, Aurora has seen many changes in its 200 years. Before 1799, Aurora was merely a spot on the map of the Connecticut Western Reserve, a parcel of land drawn in a lottery by members of the Big Beaver Land Co. comprised of citizens of Suffield, Conn.

The new landowners contracted Capt. Ebenezer Sheldon, a former Revolutionary War soldier, to settle their land and act as their agent. Having suffered business reversals, Sheldon at age 45 looked to the Western Reserve for a fresh start.

Leaving his family behind, Sheldon traveled the south route to Ohio through Pittsburgh and had the distinction of being the first white man to enter the township for the purpose of settling.

The site of Sheldon's first log cabin, built with the help of Elias Harmon, lies east on Pioneer Trail near the edge of the township on prime property straddling the Chagrin River. After carving out a bit of civilization in the wilderness, Sheldon retrieved his family from Connecticut and they became the first family in Aurora.

For three years the Sheldon's nearest neighbors were in other townships. Eventually, more pioneers moved west, lured by stories that trickled east and told of rich soil, abundant game and powerful waterfalls to run mills.

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