The first
recorded information regarding roads was in 1831. At that time the
township was divided into twelve districts each with its own supervisor.
The budget for that year was $19.78. Between 1831 & 1912, the township had
as many as 24 road districts. In 1912, the township trustees divided the
township into four road districts and each district had its own
superintendent. The township hired men to work on the roads for a wage of
$0.40/per hour for a man who had a team of horses and $0.20/per hour for a
man without horses. The man with horses was to use the extra wage to
purchase feed for his team of horses.
In 1918. the township trustees divided the township into two road
districts. District number one was from Sherman Road south to the township
boundary line and district number two was from Sherman Road north to the
boundary line. Eventually, the township became one district with a single
department sometime in the 1920's.
In 1953, the township had approximately 33 miles of road to maintain which
required $11,772.43 for the maintenance. By 1960 the township road system
had grown to approximately 51 miles. Today, the township contains nearly
79 miles of township road, 12 miles of County road, and 10 miles of State
road.
Since the 1950's, there have been six road superintendents. They include
Harlow Whiting, Howard Bond, Robert Lamoreaux (1963-1970), Lawrence Roseum
(1970-1986), John Lulas (1986-1987), and in 1987 Charles Mascella was
appointed and currently is Chester Township Road superintendent.
The department operated out of a small building on SR 306 (Chillicothe
Rd.) located behind the Baptist Church. The Chester Township Road
Department has operated out of its own garage facility along Parkside
Drive since 1943. The building originally consisted of a 4-bay brick
structure that was shared with the fire department. The facility of today
is located at 8558 Parkside Drive and includes two garages, an office, a
cold storage pole barn, and a salt storage dome.