Remarkable Ohio

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Front Text: Boyhood home (1872-1881) of Warren G. Harding, 29th president of the United States. In a Caledonia printing shop owned by his father, Dr. George Tryon Harding, Warren learned the fundamentals of the printing trade which inspired his interest in a journalism career. Back Text: Same

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Front Text: This grass land, extending one mile east between the road and the railway, is one of the few surviving remnants of the once extensive prairies that were part of pioneer Marion County. This strip, preserved by chance when the railway and road were constructed side by side, contains more than 75 species of significant prairie grasses and flowers. Back Text: Same

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Front Text: This is Marion County's fourth courthouse and the second at this site. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1884. Costing $115, 00, it was completed in 1885 by contractors Leffler and Bland. In 1973 the courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1975 the interior was remodeled at a cost of over $900,000. Back Text: Same

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Front Text: The U.S. Army built a two-story blockhouse on a nearby hill during the War of 1812. The blockhouse was one of a series of such structures erected along the Greenville Treaty line to guard against Native Americans who supported the British during the conflict. After the war, Daniel Markley, one of Green Camp Township's first white inhabitants, settled near the blockhouse. In 1963, the graves of twenty-five prehistoric Glacial Kame Indians and six white settlers were discovered near the blockhouse site. Seventeen War of 1812 veterans and eight others were also buried there. These bodies were subsequently removed and reinterred at Green Camp Cemetery. An abandoned right-of-way of the Erie Railroad, Dayton line, also passes through the area. Prairie grasses that once dominated parts of Marion County can still be found in the vicinity. Back Text: Same

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Front Text: The first road through Marion County followed the Scioto Trail of the Native Americans. This 120-foot wide strip through Wyandot territory led from Lower Sandusky (Fremont) to the Greenville Treaty Line. A confederation of Ohio tribes ceded it to the United States at the Treaty of Brownsville, Michigan, in 1808. During the War of 1812, the troops of General William Henry Harrison's Army of the Northwest traveled this road en route to Fort Meigs and the British fort at Detroit, using it to transport supplies to the army and to the chain of forts and blockhouses that protected the road. After the American victory, this area was opened for settlement by the 1817 Treaty of the Maumee Rapids, and soldiers who discovered the area while traveling the Military Road were among the first settlers. (continued on other side) Back Text: (Continued from other side) On February 4, 1822, the Ohio Legislature established a State Road from Norton to Sandusky along this route. It has also been known as the War Road, Norton Road, Marion-Delaware Pike, U.S. 23, and now, State Route 423. Near here, along the Olentangy (Whetstone) River, was Fort Morrow, one of a series of forts used to house troops and the earliest settlers including the Brundiges, Drakes, and Wyatts, who settled south of the Greenville Treaty line between 1806 and 1813. The Wyatt Cemetery near the abandoned fort is the oldest burying place in Marion County. Buried there are many of the county's earliest settlers and thirteen unknown soldiers of the War of 1812.

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Front Text: Early in 1942, during World War II, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers acquired 640 acres along two miles of U. S. Route 30 South (now State Route 309) from ten landowners. By June 11 of that year, the farm families were removed and construction of The Marion Engineer Depot (MED) began, costing $4 million. The first military encampment in Marion County, the 333rd Engineering Regiment, arrived in May and established its camp in a wheat field. They lived in tents while constructing streets and railroad tracks around the Depot. MED was dedicated on December 7, 1942. During the war, food, munitions, equipment, and other military supplies flowed in and out of MED and heavy machinery was renovated. Peak employment came in July 1944 with 1,487 civilian and 47 military personnel on site. (Continued on other side) Back Text: (Continued from other side) The Marion Engineer Depot served the armed forces for 16 more years following World War II. Under protest from state and community leaders, government operations were phased out by June 30, 1961. Through the years, the complex of cement block buildings and open storage sheds was adapted for use by various civilian industries and organizations. Additional users of the area have been River Valley Junior and Senior High Schools, MARCA School and Industries, Marion Senior Center, and Kennedy Park athletic fields. Much of the area was unused for over 20 years, and deteriorated. In 1989 the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers sold the MED site at auction to Ted Graham for $1.1 million. By 2003, renovations and improvements costing over $26 million turned the property into a distribution, storage, and manufacturing complex employing approximately 1,000 people.