Remarkable Ohio

Results for: underground-railroad
2792 E. River Road
Lorain

, OH

In June 1815, Captain Jabez Burrell settled this land after coming from Sheffield, Massachusetts. Five years later the brick homestead was constructed. Five generations of the Burrell family occupied the homestead continuously from 1820 to January 2001 when Eleanor B. Burrell passed away. In 1836, the racially integrated Sheffield Manual Labor Institute, a branch of Oberlin College, was established at the Burrell Homestead, but the Institute closed the next year because the Ohio Legislature refused to grant its charter unless it excluded black students. From 1837 until the start of the Civil War, the homestead was a major stop on the Underground Railroad. Runaway slaves were hidden in the grain barn until Robbins Burrell could arrange for captains in Lorain, such as Aaron Root, to hide them on vessels for the trip across Lake Erie to freedom in Canada.

Eagleton Road
Salem

, OH

The Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge, constructed primarily of white oak is of Multiple King Post design spanning 67 feet. It was built nearly 100 years after the birth of the nation. Located on Eagleton Road, just off Teegarden Road, it is still at its original location, spanning the Middle Fork of the Little Beaver Creek in Eagleton’s Glen Park. It remained in use until 1992 when it was bypassed by a new concrete structure. The official contract for the construction of the bridge was awarded to Jeremiah C. Mountz in June of 1875. The stonework for the abutments was awarded to David Reese and painting of the original structure to George W. Akin in 1876. Members of Highland Christian Church came here to be baptized by immersion. There were over 250 covered bridges in Columbiana County, including at least 16 railroad covered bridges. The Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge is one of only five still remaining.

Across from 2623 Pole Lane Rd
Marion

, OH

On March 2, 1942, four months after the U.S. entered WWII, farmers living between Marion-Williamsport and Marseilles-Galion Roads and between State Route 98 and the Norfolk & Western Railroad were notified to vacate their farms by the first of May. This displaced approximately 126 farm families from over 12,600 acres so that a munitions factory could be built. The site included the administration area, cafeteria, fire and police stations, and a hospital, in addition to the widely dispersed powder houses and the production lines. Manufacturing began in the fall of 1942. The plant’s operators included U.S. Rubber, Atlas Powder, the Permanente Metals Division of the Kaiser Corporation, Kilgore Manufacturing, and Ferro Enamel, who made bombs until August 14, 1945 — VJ Day. (Continued other side)

Belmont Street
Bellaire

, OH

Labeled “Union Square” on the first village maps, block 12 of the City of Bellaire was formed by joining portions of the Harris and Rodefer Farms in 1857. Used for tent shows, circuses, political meetings, and playing baseball, the land during the Civil War was used as a canteen for feeding Union recruits from nearby Camp Jefferson. Stonemasons cut sandstone blocks here that make up “Great Stone Viaduct” railroad bridge. A steam derrick and stable for horses that helped to move the sandstone to the bridge’s construction site were also placed temporarily on this land. In 1882, a monument was erected to honor Civil War veterans as “Union Square” became a city park. Former President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech here to the citizens of Bellaire in 1912.

3416 Columbus Avenue
Sandusky

, OH

Following the Civil War, many of Ohio’s disabled and wounded veterans found inadequate provisions for their long-term needs. In response, the Grand Army of the Republic’s Department of Ohio lobbied for a state-operated veterans’ home. In 1886 Governor Joseph B. Foraker signed a bill establishing the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home for honorably discharged veterans. A board of trustees led by Sandusky publisher I.F. Mack selected the site, and the Sandusky community donated the tract of land, utilities, and a connection to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The facility opened in November 1888. (continued on other side)

Little Miami Bike Trail, S of Old 3C Highway
Maineville

, OH

Butterworth Station (seen across the field) was the southernmost station on the Underground Railroad in Warren County. Built in 1820, it was the home of Benjamin and Rachael Moorman Butterworth. As Quakers and abolitionists who opposed slavery in their home state of Virginia, they purchased 1,500 acres along the Little Miami River and moved to Ohio in 1812. Until nearly 1850, at great personal risk, the family fed and sheltered large numbers of runaway slaves before transporting them to the next station. When the Little Miami Railroad was built in the 1840s, Henry Thomas Butterworth donated land and water and assisted with the construction. In appreciation, the railroad created a stop here called Butterworth Station and gave his family lifetime passes. On this site, a water tower with a passenger waiting area was built that served as a railroad water station for decades.

100 S. Main Street
Ada

, OH

Ada grew alongside the tracks of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad, completed in 1854 between Crestline, Crawford County, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. This line became part of the Southwest Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1869. Ada’s rapid growth as a college town in the 1880s prompted the railroad to build this distinctive and unique two-story Stick Style depot in 1887, departing from the railroad’s standard depot plans. Larger than most small-town stations, it features a second-story telegrapher’s office. For many years the station served as Ada’s gateway to the outside world. One of few surviving 19th century Pennsylvania passenger stations in Ohio, the Ada depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

507 N Cherry Street
West Union

, OH

John Graham (1798-1849), pastor of the West Union Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church from 1841-1849, erected the house he called Pleasant Hill in 1842. An outspoken abolitionist who preached against the evils of slavery, Graham used his house as a station on the Underground Railroad. “Black Joe” Logan, an escaped slave who lived nearby, conducted runaways from Pleasant Hill to stations north. Reverend Graham died of Asiatic cholera in 1849 and is buried in the old West Union South Cemetery.