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Ohio Central College (formerly Iberia College). Warren G. Harding, 29th president of the United States, graduated in 1882 from the college formerly located here. While a student, Harding and a friend founded the school newspaper, “The Iberia Spectator.”
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Platted by educator and abolitionist Cyrus McNeely in 1849, Hopedale was the site of McNeely Normal School, later Hopedale Normal College, the first coeducational college for teachers in eastern Ohio. It operated from 1849 to 1902. Among its graduates was George Armstrong Custer in 1856. Hopedale served as an important stop on the Underground Railroad for slaves fleeing bondage in the southern states. Local tradition notes several “stations” in the village, three at private homes and one at a hotel.
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On September 8, 1803, the year that Ohio became a state, the Associate Judges of Franklin County ordered that a road be constructed “leading from the Public Square in Franklinton to Springfield, Greene County.” This road came to be known as The Old State Road or Ludlow’s Road. On this spot in the summer of 1822, the Village of New Hampton was laid out, the road being Main Street of the village. New Hampton was the forerunner of West Jefferson. It fell into oblivion eight to nine years later when West Jefferson was developed along the National Road. All that remains of New Hampton is the cemetery and this part of the road.
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Theodore Dreiser wrote in 1900 his famous novel, Sister Carrie, in this house. It was built in 1835 and altered to Greek Revival Style in 1844. Dreiser acquired it in 1899. The house possesses most of the features typical of the American “classic temple” including four Doric columns rising the full length of the structure. In 1967 the house is owned by the William M. Hankins family.
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Morning Dawn was the first lodge to be chartered, on January 5, 1810, by the Grand Lodge of Ohio. Andrew Lewis was the first Worshipful Master. Meetings were originally held in J. B. Ferrard’s house on the north corner of Locust and Third Streets. In 1816 the lodge moved to the Gallia Academy building on the west corner of State and Second streets. [Masonic Emblem]
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One of Ohio’s most influential politicians in the early 20th century, Washington Court House native Harry Daugherty (1860-1941) was widely known as a “President-maker” and served instrumental roles in President Warren G. Harding’s administration, culminating a long career in state and national politics. As Attorney General from 1921 to 1924, Daugherty established the first federal women’s penitentiary, recommended former president William Howard Taft to the Supreme Court, and ended a controversial 1922 railroad strike. Implicated in scandals complicated by the suicide of his assistant and fellow Fayette County native Jess Smith, Daugherty was eventually cleared in congressional investigations and two bribery trials, and subsequently published an insider’s account of the Harding Administration. Both Daugherty and Smith are buried in Washington Cemetery.
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At this spot on July 26, 1863 General John Hunt Morgan with 336 of his Confederate raiders surrendered to Major George W. Rue after spreading panic across southern Ohio for twenty-three days.
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The earliest highway signs along the National Road (Route 40) in Ohio were milestones located at one-mile intervals along the north side of the roadway. Each stone indicated the distance to Cumberland, Maryland, the eastern terminus of the National Road, and to the nearest cities and villages for both east and westbound travelers.