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Mahoning County was created in 1846 by combining townships from southern Trumbull and northern Columbiana counties. Canfield engaged in competition with several surrounding communities for the new county seat, and its success was attributed to its central location along with the state and local political influence of Judge Eben Newton and Elisha Whittlesey, Esq., Comptroller of the United States Treasury from 1849-1857. To become the county seat, the State of Ohio required “a suitable lot and $5,000 toward public buildings” Judge Newton donated the land and spearheaded the subscription of the state required bond. Once attained, construction progressed rapidly on the Classical Revival style courthouse, completed in June 1848. The Italianate style West wing was added in 1862, but its government status was challenged when in the early 1870s, Youngstown, by now a city, resumed its earlier challenge for the county seat. (continued on other side)
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Distinguished citizen, legislator, public servant, and historian born in Bellefontaine, January 23, 1840. A Civil War hero, he was promoted to brigadier general at only 25 years of age. Admitted to the bar in 1866, he practiced in Bellefontaine until 1878 when President Hayes appointed him Collector of Internal Revenue. He was then elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio in 1885 then served two terms in Congress from 1887 to 1891. Following the Spanish-American War, he was appointed by President McKinley to serve as head of the Insular Commission to establish the new government of Puerto Rico. In 1903 Kennedy published Historical Review of Logan County. Kennedy started the Bellefontaine Tree Commission. Gen. Kennedy’s home was on this site and later served as the Bellefontaine City Building. General Kennedy died on May 6, 1918.
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A group of concerned Cincinnati women organized, in 1855, The Protestant Home for the Friendless and Female Guardian Society as a private, not-for-profit maternity home for destitute women and children. These public minded social leaders were aware that Cincinnati had grown beyond the time when the poor or unfortunate were cared for by their neighbors. The Home, which was funded through bequests and personal donations, was founded to care for poor mothers and babies, unmarried pregnant women, wanderers and strangers in the city, and to promote adoptions. (Continued on other side)
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For nearly a century, East Liverpool dominated the United States pottery industry. Drawn to easily accessible clay deposits and ready river transportation, British-born potter James Bennett established the first commercial pottery here in 1841. His success drew other enterprising and innovative craftsmen, and by the Civil War era, the local industry was well established. During its peak production years (1865-1910), East Liverpool’s potteries produced and sold the majority of America’s crockery, with nearly the entire city’s population employed in the industry. Competition from imports and plastics, along with limited expansion space in the narrow Ohio valley, brought a decline in East Liverpool’s importance in the ceramics industry in the 20th century. Three large potteries continue the pottery tradition. The Ohio Historical Society’s Museum of Ceramics displays collections of early local ware.
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In April 1797, a committee of Marietta citizens, led by General Rufus Putnam, met to establish an academy suitable for preparatory instruction for their youth. Muskingum Academy, completed late that year, became the first institution of its kind in the Northwest Territory, providing “classical instruction… in the higher branches of an English education.” Its first instructor was David Putnam, a 1793 Yale graduate. The building also served as the home of the Congregationalist Church until 1808. Growing and expanding with Ohio’s first city, the academy served Marietta’s educational needs for more than thirty years as the forerunner of Marietta College.
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Toledo High School opened in 1854 on the site of the city’s first log schoolhouse. After an 1895 fire, it was rebuilt and named Central High School. The facility closed in 1914 with the opening of Scott and Waite high schools. It reopened as Woodward Technical School and later became Vocational High. The building was razed in 1938 for construction of the Toledo Public Library.
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The City of Amherst was founded in 1811. Beginning in 1847, Amherst developed and prospered around the sandstone industry and its associated quarries. This sandstone proved to be an important economic blessing to our early settlers and is the foundation of Amherst’s existence. Amherst sandstone shows lines of stratification or bedding when exposed in sections. Its natural beauty is enhanced by a virtual spectrum of rich and unique colors including deep reds, browns, yellows, and shades of gray. Amherst sandstone is well known for its quality, durability, and rich texture and has been utilized across our nation and throughout the world. Amherst is literally and figuratively built upon a rock, which extends deep in the earth.
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In memory of the Irish people who left a country where only their rivers run free. The Irish came to Cincinnati where they contributed to housing, education, employment, religious freedom, medical care and recreation, and embraced all aspects of life in the city. The descendants of Irish immigrants hope that our hands will ever be extended in friendship and never in want.