10/07/2026
WHAT’S GOING ON AT EVERETT FIELD?
Did you know? Summit Metro Parks (SMP) owns about 32 acres of land we call the Everett Field. Beginning in the 1930s and continuing to today (apart from a 10-year period from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s during which it was leased to other farmers), SMP has leased between 34 and 38 acres of land adjacent to Everett Road (part of our Riding Run Conservation area) to the Szalay family for corn production.
What changed?
We didn’t simply come across an arrowhead artifact and take pause. Years of scientific archaeological research proved something special and unique can be found here. The Everett Knoll Complex is one of the largest known precontact archaeological sites in Summit County. Artifacts indicate the influence of Hopewell Culture, which came to public attention in Ohio when the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in southern and central Ohio were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023. Far less is known about Hopewell practices and influence in places such as Summit County, making this a rare and important site in Northeast Ohio. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and received this designation before we recently learned that it is even more significant than originally thought. We now know that this site was extensively used by Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years, dating as far back as 8,000 B.C. The knoll adjacent to the corn field is known to have been a ceremonial and funerary site, and ancestral human remains were discovered there in the 1970s. Recent archaeological investigations of the field itself have uncovered thousands of artifacts as well as remnants of physical structures such as cooking hearths, demonstrating that despite the damage caused by farming and looting, the legacy of the Indigenous Peoples who called this area home can still be found here. We’re honored to continue working with tribal nations, including the Wyandotte Nation, through the process of repatriating artifacts and ancestral remains from this site which are important to their cultural heritage.
So, in 2023 when it was time to review a lease renewal with the Szalays, we entered into a shorter-term lease to give the park district and Szalays both time to figure out what the future could look like based on these findings. We offered them other properties to farm instead, but they declined those options. We’ve actively negotiated with Szalay’s for about two years, and have offered a generous plan to share the field.
Is “100 Years of Farming at Stake?” No. SMP plans to conserve only the 12 acres of field that are currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places and have offered 22.5 acres of the field to the Szalays to continue farming (about two-thirds of the property would be continued farming). The Szalays have 141 total acres of farming in the Cuyahoga Valley, so this is a small (about) 8% impact.
There’s no question: We love having Szalay’s as a popular destination in the Valley. They’ve been a wonderful partner over the years, and we know that this compromise to share the field – with much more of it available to them than to us – will help Summit Metro Parks fulfill its mission to conserve and sustainably manage park land while also respecting farming traditions in our area.
