Jacob Haymaker, a millwright and carpenter who prospected through Portage county in 1805, saw the possibilities of the Cuyahoga River. He realized that the banks of the river would be a fine place to erect a grist mill. At the time Aaron Olmsted owned the entire township of Franklin. Jacob Haymaker offered to buy 2,093 acres of land. The price was $5,600, just a bit more than $2.50 an acre. Unable to return to Franklin Jacob sent his son John to clear a spot in the virgin forest along the Cuyahoga for a permanent home.