Cofta Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Regions 3, 4, & 5 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: The Cofta Farm is a historic agricultural landscape located within the boundaries of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, approximately four miles west of the Cuyahoga River and the town of Boston, Ohio. The property is situated along the south side of Brush Road and is accessed by a short grassy and gravel drive lined with large pine trees. The historic farm landscape occupies a largely level site on the upland plateau that is elevated above the Cuyahoga River. This CLI entry encompasses the building cluster at the core of the historic farm, comprising two acres in the midst of a larger property of 23 acres. The building cluster includes the farm house, granary, barn, milk house, garage, retaining wall, and wellcap, surrounded by a domestic yard, meadow, fencerow, woodland, and wetland. Located further south are a corn crib, hog house and milk house. Two concrete foundations are significant for their association with the spatial organization of the farmstead, even though their historic function is currently unknown. The landscape is locally significant to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, for its association with agricultural development and economic diversification in the Cuyahoga River valley during the first half of the twentieth century. The Cofta Farm is significant as it conveys the period of “Agricultural Decline and Economic Diversification,” as defined in the “Agricultural Resources of the Cuyahoga Valley” Multiple Property Documentation Form. The farm reflects agricultural diversification in the valley after the 1910s, as the region’s traditional crops became less competitive in the national marketplace. Its period of significance begins in 1904 and extends to 1947, at which time the barn addition, milk house, and hog house were added to the property. During these forty three years, the property was farmed solely by the Cofta family. The cultural landscape of the Cofta Farm indicates that the property experienced the diversification of operations that was typical of Cuyahoga Valley farms in the twentieth century.

Cofta Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Cuyahoga Valley National Park

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