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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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General James V. Hartinger, 1925-2000, was born in Middleport, Ohio, and graduated from Middleport High School in 1943. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1949 and was a career-long fighter pilot with the United States Air Force, flying every type of fighter craft the Air Force procured during his 35 years of active duty. He saw military action during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Named commander-in-chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in Colorado Springs in 1979, he was promoted to four stars and became the “founding father” of Air Force Space Command. The headquarters building of Air Force Space Command is named the James V. Hartinger Building in his honor and the Hartinger Medal is awarded annually for extraordinary achievement in space.
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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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Ohio Columbus Barber, a wealthy Ohio businessman and founder of Barberton, retired in 1905 to develop his Anna Dean Farm. Built in 1910, the colt barn was a part of this 3000-acre estate. Although originally intended for bulls, the building was converted in 1912 to a stable for colts. Akron architects Harpster and Bliss designed the barn, and it was the smallest on the farm. Like many buildings erected by Barber, the colt barn features the patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme he favored. Between Barber’s death in 1920 and the founding of the Barberton Historical Society in 1974, all but nine of the estate’s thirty-five original buildings were razed. The historical society saved the colt barn in 1978, which led to the birth of the city’s historic preservation movement. The society completed restoration of the colt barn in 1998 with a grant from the Barberton Community Foundation.