Geneva is a city in northwestern Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,924 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area, 44 miles (71 km) northeast of Cleveland. The area which would become Geneva was originally settled in 1805, and was incorporated as a city in 1958. It is named after Geneva, New York.
At a Glance
- County: Ashtabula County
- State: Ohio
History of Geneva
The area which would eventually be Geneva was first settled in 1805 by a handful of settlers from Charlotte, New York. In 1806, settlers from Harpersfield, New York arrived and established Harpersfield Township, which included the present day townships of Geneva, Trumbull and Hartsgrove. However, in 1816, citizens of Harpersfield decided to withdraw from the township and form their own township, which then became Geneva Township, named after Geneva, New York. In 1866, the town of Geneva then became a village, and, nearly one hundred years later, in 1958, Geneva was incorporated as a city.
On April 12, 1966, more than 200 people attended ceremonies at Geneva High School at which it was revealed that the city had claimed ownership of the moon. The "Declaration of Lunar Ownership" contained 35 signatures, and was revealed simultaneously with the city’s 100th anniversary. It claimed that the "physical property of the moon shall belong exclusively to the citizens of Geneva, Ohio," and that unfriendly acts upon the city would be responded to with "all human dignity and moral circumspection." The city claimed the right to rent or lease its moon holdings via a two thirds vote of the city’s entire population, and provided for the sale of 100 deeds for 100 acres (0.40 km) of land, each acre priced at $100.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Geneva, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.