It was here, in Cuyahoga Falls, in 1833 that Horace Canfield, printer and publisher, started a newspaper known as the Ohio Review. It was the very first newspaper in Summit County. Here’s how it came about…
In the Summer of 1833, Judge Stow convinced Horace Canfield and Timothy Phelps Spencer, a couple of enterprising young printers of Hartford, Conn., to move to Ohio, and start a newspaper and job printing office at Cuyahoga Falls. After arriving, time was spent in setting up their office in a one-story building on the north side of Broad Blvd, east of Front, and in soliciting subscribers and advertising for the Cuyahoga Falls Witness.
Before issuing the initial number, on consultation with prominent business men, the name of the paper was changed to Ohio Review.
The very first issue, Volume 1 No. 1, dates back to November 30, 1833. It consisted of a 24 column paper with each column 19 inches in length and about two “ems” wider than the present Akron Beacon Journal. Besides nearly two columns of local business advertisements, there was an editorial setting forth the advantages of Cuyahoga Falls; the report of a meeting at Warren, favoring the construction of the “Cross Cut,” or Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, and a column from E. N. Sill, Esq., on the recent celebrated meteoric shower on the night of November 13, 1833.
The paper seemed to have run along smoothly through the first year, as it entered upon its second volume, without any sign of financial distress printed its last paper on December 12, 1834.
In June of 1835 the Review passed hands to H. T. Townley and J. M. Bassett and afterwards being ran by “An Association of Gentlemen” with James Lowery as the printer. A stray copy of the paper was last said to be seen in Mr. Henry Wetmore’s ownership and was dated April 13, 1837.
