In 1750, the Miami Indians originally owned this land. They were an
agricultural tribe and cultivated corn, squash, melons, beans and pumpkin.
Several chiefs of the Miami tribe were famous. They were Tecumseh, Blue
Jacket and Little Turtle. Then in the early 1800’s German and Dutch
immigrants came and settled along Valley Street and Union Schoolhouse
Road. Some of their names were Boedecker, Schnell (later spelled Snell),
Wiggam, Eichtol, Rohrer, Butcher, Kneisley, Dille (mistakenly spelled Dilley)
and Procuniar. The Butcher family owned a meat market by the present
bridge on Union Schoolhouse Road. That home used to be a slaughterhouse
at one time. All the farmers that settled along this area were dairy farmers.
The land along the small creek and tributaries were used for grazing and
gardening. Often, farmers had to build bridges across creeks and streams to
get from one part of their property to another. The remains of some of these
bridges are still around today.

Union Schoolhouse Road was originally established in 1809 and was
resurveyed in 1835. At the time, it was widened to 60 feet and remains that
today. The road was named after an old school house at the intersection of
Union Road and Baker Road. The small school was a Bath Township school
and was called Union School. In the late 1800’s, it had 17 students, who
studied under Professor Harry Smith. The school was closed in 1922 and is
now at 4433 Union Schoolhouse Road as a private residence.

Union Schoolhouse Road used to be a straight road off of Valley Street. On
the left at the junction was a Bolton home, which is the Stucco home still
standing. It later was sold out of the Bolton family. To the right on the old road
was the Butcher meat market and slaughterhouse, which later became a
Boedecker home. It stood until the late 1970’s or early 80’s. In 1982, the
corner of Union Schoolhouse Rd. and Valley Street was realigned and made
into a 90-degree angle with a traffic light. The old part of Union Schoolhouse
Road was made into a cul-de-sac and renamed Country Haven Court.

Forest Ridge is built on land owned originally by five farms and is a total of
522 acres. They were as follows: Barto farm, Bolton farm, O’Cull farm, Wolfe
farm and the Meyer farm. The first model homes were built in 1965 on Nine
Bark Court, which was on Bolton land. The very first homeowners were Jerry
and Sally Meike, which still reside at their residence on Silver Oak St. Their
home was built on land sold by Mr. Bolton. Sally Meike was one of the original
co-founders of our Forest Ridge Murmurs.

The pool was built on Barto land in 1968 and the original bathhouse was on
the site of the original Barto home that stood by our flagpole. On June 1,
1965, The Articles of Incorporation were signed and a “not for profit”
corporation, The Forest Ridge Association was formed and by 1972 was self-
supporting. All building was complete in the area by the end of 1976.