Solon ( SOH lun) is a city in southeastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 24,262 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
At a Glance
- County: Cuyahoga County
- State: Ohio
History of Solon
In 1820, the first settlers arrived from Connecticut to live in part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The township was named after Lorenzo Solon Bull, who was the son of Isaac Bull, one of the first settlers. Purportedly, the selection of young Lorenzo’s middle name was due to its derivation from the "father of democracy", Solon, the lawmaker of Ancient Greece. The early settlers faced challenges common to pioneers, but in Solon, drainage and wetlands issues complicated settlement and agriculture. Overcoming these obstacles, Solon Township became an arable farming area, producing corn and wheat crops and supporting dairy farm] (including five cheese factories). By 1850, the population of Solon Township reached 1,034.
Because of nearby Cleveland’s position as a national hub of the railroad industry, rail also contributed greatly to Solon’s growth. In 1857, the Cleveland Youngstown section of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad established a line running through Solon.
Laid out in a traditional New England plan, Solon, like many of the neighboring townships, established a public square in its town center. In conjunction with townships to the north, a north, south corridor was established through the town centers of Solon, Orange, and Mayfield townships (from south to north, respectively) and, accordingly, was named SOM Center Road (now Ohio 91). Solon Township included the current municipalities of the City of Solon and the villages of Bentleyville and Glenwillow. In 1927, Solon was incorporated as a village and later became a city in 1961, operated under the mayor council form of government.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Solon, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.