History of the Apple Patch
 Before
the Europeans came to Northeastern Ohio, Indians hunted, fished and lived here.
This is part of the "Gore" eroded by the
river now called the Chagrin. Its ancient banks and sand bars were desirable dwelling
sites.
Not more than half a mile away were archeological digs sponsored by Case Western
Reserve University investigating
evidence from the Whittlesey people. The Apple Patch is located on land that was
part of Connecticut's Western Reserve.
The Connecticut Land Company sold some 400 acres of this property to
a man named Rumsey Reeve. Mr. Reeve had a house here when Lake became Ohio's
smallest county,
created from parts of Cuyahoga and Geauga Counties in 1840.
An apple orchard was planted where The Apple Patch is now. The last old Red
Delicious tree blew over last year but still lives, mostly rotted out, and the deer ate all its fruit.
The farm house is gone now but one of the newer sheds from the farm
still stands on the property. Over the years, Mr. Reeve's heirs divided up
the property into
smaller and smaller parcels until Mike Kurchak bought it in 1978. Most of the
trees
in the Apple Patch were planted in 1980, '81 and '83. It took about five years
for the trees to
mature enough to produce saleable fruit.
The Apple Patch has been in continuous operation since then. |