, OH
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. He immigrated to Allegheny City Pennsylvania with his family when he was 13. While operating the telegraphs for the Pennsylvania Railroad, Carnegie perceived the great need for steel in the railroad industry. With this insight, he founded the Carnegie Steel Corporation which operated for 35 years before he sold it to J.P. Morgan in 1901. Andrew Carnegie wrote the article, “Wealth” in 1889 in which he said that a responsible person of wealth should help his fellow man. Carnegie’s philanthropy provided 2,509 libraries throughout the world. Carnegie was already familiar with the city when he wrote a letter to offer funds to build the Steubenville library on June 30, 1899.(Continued on other side)
, OH
James Sr. and Rebecca (Junkin) Galloway moved with their family to Greene County from Kentucky in 1798, constructing their first home, a small log cabin. Galloway built the present structure around 1799 near the bend in the Little Miami River near what is now Goes Station on U.S. 68. In 1936, the Greene County Historical Society moved the home to the corner of Second and Monroe streets and then to the present site in 1965. The 1974 Xenia Tornado caused serious damage to the building, which has been restored and maintained by the historical society. James Sr. served as a hunter during the American Revolution, procuring game for the army, and while in Ohio, was the first treasurer of Greene County. His son James Jr. served as the first County Surveyor.
, 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)
, OH
The Warner Brothers – Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack – were members of a Jewish immigrant family from Poland that settled in Youngstown in the mid-1890s. The brothers attended local schools and worked in their father’s shoe repair shop and meat market before entering the motion picture business. They purchased a projector and opened the first of several theaters in the Mahoning Valley in 1905. The brothers left Youngstown for New York and Hollywood as their company developed into an industry leader. Warner Brothers Pictures, founded in 1923, released Don Juan in 1926, the first “talking picture” using Vitaphone technology. On May 14, 1931, the family gathered in Youngstown to dedicate a luxurious new Warner Theater to the people of the city where it all started, and to memorialize Sam, who died in 1927.
, OH
Among the fifty-four buildings that comprise the Mentor Avenue District are examples of Federal, Greek Revival, Early Romanesque Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, and twentieth century eclectic styles. Renowned master builder Jonathan Goldsmith (1783-1847), whose Federal and Greek Revival designs define the so-called “Western Reserve” style, built at least two of these houses; the Denton-Powers House (ca. 1820) is representative. The Mentor Avenue District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Painesville City Hall, the Sessions House (157 Mentor Avenue) and the Smead House (187 Mentor Avenue) are also listed individually on the National Register.
, OH
Sully Jaymes was an African American lawyer and tireless activist for equal rights in Springfield during the first half of the twentieth century. Born on March 30 sometime between 1875-1880, he graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1901. By 1903, he opened a Black-owned law practice at 17-1/2 Main Street in Springfield. Working primarily with the city’s Black residents, Jaymes offered his services free of charge if clients were unable to pay. He was a long-time member of North Street A.M.E. Church. Jaymes served on the first Board of Directors of the Center Street YMCA (a safe-haven for young Black people), on the Board of Trustees at Wilberforce University, and as a Grand Chancellor of Ohio for the Grand Lodge, Knights of Pythias. (Continued on other side)
, OH
Located in southern Wood County, the village of New Baltimore was founded in 1860, with the first plat of twenty-nine acres recorded by B.L. Peters in 1873. Official incorporation occurred February 7, 1876, with the name being changed to North Baltimore in 1880. The town flourished owing to the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1873, from which the town took its name, and the discovery of rich oil and gas deposits in 1886. First settlers included: Jacob Dirk, George Franks, Levi A. Tarr, and B.L. Peters. The population of the village grew from 700 in 1880 to 2,857 in 1890. One of the first buildings, which was erected in 1860, served as a school and meeting hall and was located on the northwest corner of Main and Broadway streets. This area, then known as “The Great Black Swamp,” had given birth to a thriving town.
, 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.
614.297.2300
Contact Us
