Early Parma Settlers
For the first time, a documentary about the early Parma Settlers will air through December 2024. The documentary begins with the first settlers that arrived in the Parma area in the early 1800s and the development of Parma is followed all the way through the Civil War. These early pilgrims purchased their plots of land in Parma from a Connecticut Land Company before setting out on their long journey to take possession of them. After arriving in the Cuyahoga County area the settlers followed an Indian trail on the eastern side of the Cuyahoga River. They did so until crossing over the river to where Rockside Road is now located. They then continued westward, to where the Pearl and Ridge Road intersection is now.
You will understand and experienced what the early Parma residents first encountered when they arrived in the area. The new settlers were shocked at first by the gloomy appearance of the uninhabited land due to the crowns of trees interlace, effectively blocking most sunlight from reaching the ground below. Although, once they discovered how rich the soil was for farming they were very encouraged.
Before the white man arrived in Parma, the area was only inhabited by bears, wolves, and timber rattlers. As far as the different Indian tribes are concerned, they did not inhabit the area and mainly used Parma as neutral ground for such things as hunting and a meeting destination. Because of the dangerous wildlife all around them they had to keep a constant eye out for dangerous wildlife predators to protect their families and livestock. Many nights, settlers would be suddenly awoken to horrible screams of their livestock being attacked and torn apart by bears and wolves that had gotten into the pens. Timber rattle snakes were another major threat to the settlers. Being there was no such thing as an anti-snake venom at that time, one would have to have their limb amputated immediately if bitten by one of these serpents to survive.
Parma was originally covered with dense trees and a thorny bush, with green flowers which are called greenbriers. These prickly bushes caused many travelers to take out of the way alternative routes just to avoid having to hack through these bushes. This area was originally named after this bush before subsequently being changed to Parma. The new name was derived from the city of Parma in Italy after a local resident, by the name of Dr. David Long, who returned from a trip to that Italian city.
As far as the Civil War is concerned, not only did Parma provide its share of soldiers for the war effort, but it also had an underground railroad for helping slaves escape from the south. This secret railroad extended from the Ohio River all the way to Ridge and Pearl Road before continuing on to the north-west.
The documentary will air on Fridays at 8 p.m. on Cox Cable, Channel 45, through the month of December. For more information, you can email Kevin Kelly at Kevin@ShockerEnterprises.com or call 216-230-1840. Please check out ShockerEnterprises.com for more videos from Shocker Enterprises. We’d like to extend a special thanks to all our faithful viewers.
Kevin Kelly
I am a Parma resident who has lived in the city for over 24 Years. I'm also a non-profit video producer who produces national, and international documentaries for public access, private and goverment networks .