Results for: social-welfare-service
Chase Road, County Road 20-50
Stryker

, OH

William J. Knight (1837-1916) was born in Wayne County, Ohio and raised by his grandparents, Jacob and Martha Knight, near Farmer, Ohio. After the outbreak of the Civil War, William enlisted in Company E, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. On April 12, 1862, the twenty-five year-old Knight participated in “Andrews Raid” as an engineer. Led by James J. Andrews, the raiders stole the locomotive “General” at Big Shanty, Georgia, planning to cut telegraph lines and destroy railroad bridges and tracks as they headed north between Atlanta and Chattanooga. Above Ringgold, Georgia, the raiders were captured. Eight were executed. Knight and seven others escaped from an Atlanta jail on October 16, 1862 and made it to Federal lines. Six raiders were exchanged in 1863 (Continued on other side)

100 N Seltzer St
Crestline

, OH

From 1942 until 1946, members of local churches and two railroad auxiliaries operated a community-based free canteen for passing troops on the platform of the Pennsylvania Railroad station. A grateful region honored approximately 1.2 million of the nation’s sons and daughters with welcoming words, sandwiches, pies, cakes, cookies, fruits, drinks, and other sundries. Staffed and funded entirely by volunteers, donations came from many communities in eight counties. Crestline’s children donated their pennies to pay for construction of a larger canteen in 1943. Volunteers met as many as 25 trains daily. They served troops on passenger trains, troop trains, and hospital trains and new recruits and returning veterans as well as troops from allied countries on their trips to and from Europe or the Pacific. Throughout World War II, many other canteens were created across the nation, including many in Ohio. The Crestline region’s reputation was enhanced immeasurably by the volunteer’s service.

4196 Twinsburg Warren Road/OH 82
Mantua

, OH

The most notable feature of Mantua Center is the “Village Green,” which harkens back to the New England heritage of Mantua Center’s early settlers. The Green sets upon land donated by Hezekiah Nooney Sr. and was important to both the social and commercial interests of the town. The businesses located here were a furniture and cabinet maker’s shop, harness shop, blacksmith shop, post office, tannery, ashery, dry goods store, and distillery. The Methodist Episcopal Church, now the Mantua Civic Center, stands at the southwest corner of the green. Eastlawn cemetery, with a burial that dates to 1816, sits along the south border. The cemetery serves as the final resting place for soldiers of several wars, including the American Revolution, as well as many other early citizens. In 1835 Horace Sizer constructed the stone wall around the cemetery adjacent to Mantua Center Road. [continued on other side]

2 West Carpenter Street
Athens

, OH

In the first years of the twentieth century, Athens’ citizens formed a new National Guard company. The guardsmen initially held drill at the Campbell Block on Court Street, but soon the Athens Commercial Club began advocating for an armory from the Ohio National Guard. In 1912, the Armory Board approved the request. Plans were drawn up for the armory and the Guard purchased land from the Athens Brick Company at the foot of Shale Hill. Construction began in the spring of 1915 and the Armory opened in December. In March of 1917, the city held a dedication ceremony and parade. Before World War I, the Athens Armory housed Company L and the Machine Gun Company, both part of the 7th Infantry Regiment, Ohio National Guard. (Continued on other side)

7785 State Route 41
Bentonville

, OH

Originally a vigilante group, the Bentonville Anti-Horse Thief Society was formed here in March 1853 by area landowners to recover stolen horses and mules and to prosecute thieves. Horse theft was a serious offense in the antebellum era. Trustees nominated a captain and riders, who received a $10 reward upon the capture of a thief or stolen horse. As horses lost their former importance in society in the early 1900s, the organization evolved into a social club. Its annual banquet, held each April, celebrates the continuity of this Adams County tradition.

3271 General Griffin Road
Granville

, OH

Located 100 yards southeast of this marker is the boyhood home of Major General Charles Griffin. Born in 1825, he graduated from West Point in 1847 and rose to prominence during the Civil War. Griffin fought in most of the major engagements of the war’s eastern theater, including the first battle of Bull Run, the Seven Days battles, and the Wilderness campaign. While under his command, units from the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac blocked the Confederate retreat at Appomattox, compelling surrender. In recognition of Griffin’s service, General U.S. Grant designated him a “Surrender Commissioner” in charge of the capitulation of the rebel army. During Reconstruction, Griffin became the military governor of Texas and Louisiana, and was a vigorous advocate of the civil rights of newly freed slaves. He died during a yellow fever epidemic in Galveston, Texas in 1867.

Great Miami River Recreational Trail, Taylorsville Metro Park, 2005 U.S. Route 40
Vandalia

, OH

The Village of Tadmor is significant as being the location of one of the most important centers of transportation in early Ohio history. As early as 1809, keelboats were poled up river from Dayton to load and unload freight in the village. By 1837, the Miami and Erie Canal had reached Tadmor, connecting it to the Ohio River in the south and Lake Erie in the north. In the 1830s, the National Road was constructed through Tadmor, connecting it to points east and west. In 1851, the Dayton & Michigan Railroad established freight and passenger service to the growing town. Residents hoped that Tadmor’s strategic location would help it prosper, however, successive flooding on the Great Miami River stifled growth. Tadmor was finally abandoned when a dam constructed by the Miami Conservancy District in 1922 to retain water during flooding made the site uninhabitable.

9 East Main Street
Wakeman

, OH

When inventor and entrepreneur Garrett Augustus Morgan sold his Traffic Signal patent to General Electric in 1923, he used the $40,000 to purchase a 121-acre farm in Huron County in 1924. Advertising “a village of our own,” Morgan established the Wakeman Country Club — one of Ohio’s early African American recreation clubs — and offered 247 lots for $60 each in “Wakeman Heights.” Located near the intersection of State Route 60 and Chenango Road, the development provided country pleasures to Blacks excluded from the Country Club lifestyle. Club membership, included in the purchase of a lot, offered fishing, hunting, swimming, and horseback riding. A restaurant, dance hall, and amphitheater provided cultural and boxing events. The club waned during World War II and no buildings from the once-thriving Wakeman Country Club remain.