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The United Society of Believers (or “Shakers,” as they are commonly known) established White Water, the last of four Ohio Shaker villages, in 1824. White Water flourished throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At its peak during the 1850s, 150 Believers living in three semi-autonomous Shaker “families” farmed 1,300 acres of land in Crosby and adjacent Morgan townships. The Shakers were among the most successful religious societies in the United States. Belief in the equality of men and women, separation of the sexes, celibacy, communal ownership of property, and a distinctive style of worship — characterized by rhythmic movements and shaking — helped define the Shaker lifestyle. (Continued on other side)
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Since it was formed in 1819, Meigs County was fostered by its location on 57 miles of the Ohio River, named by the Indians”Oyo,” meaning beautiful river. Pomeroy, the county seat, was named for Samuel Wyllys Pomeroy, an early landholder. His company, Pomeroy, Sons & Company, and his son-in-law, Valentine B. Horton (1802-1888), were influential in developing the coal, salt, and iron industries of the region. Horton pioneered the transportation of coal by river, building the world’s first coal barges and, in 1835, the first coal-fueled towboat, the Condor. Coal, salt, and iron, in addition to other local products, were shipped from Pomeroy’s 125′ x 40′ wharf to ports from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. Excursion, passenger, shanty and showboats also visited Pomeroy’s port. Today, the Ohio River continues to be a busy waterway carrying commodities such as coal, petroleum, chemicals, steel, sand, and gravel. It is also a busy haven for recreational crafts as well as stern wheel boats.
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In March, 1887, the Franklin County Commissioners announced the building of a bridge in Madison Township over Little Walnut Creek at Kramer’s Ford. Area citizens had petitioned for a bridge to transport agricultural products to the canal and railroad. Michael Corbett of Groveport contracted to construct the abutments and the Columbus Bridge Company built the covered bridge for $2,690.00. Reuban L. Partridge, company vice president, supervised the building, using his patented truss system consisting of double and triple truss members constructed of pine and oak.
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Trenton’s founder, Michael Pearce, came to the area in 1801. The original village of 33 lots was named Bloomfield. When the post office was established in 1820, it was named Trenton to honor the founder’s home state of New Jersey. Pearce’s son-in-law, Squier Littell, was the first resident doctor in Butler County. Originally settled by the English, Trenton saw a migration of Germans by 1840. By 1851, the farming community became a grain center with the introduction of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad. Further development occurred when a franchise was granted to operate interurban electric traction cars through the village in 1896. Early commercial endeavors were Dietz, Good & Company grain elevator, Trenton Foundry, and Magnode Corporation. By 1991, the largest industries were Miller Brewing Company and Cinergy/Cincinnati Gas & Electric.
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Situated in the township of Boardman and developed in the 1920s, Newport Village was one of Youngstown’s earliest automobile accessible suburban developments. The twenty four and a half acre district is comprised of Jennette Drive, Chester Drive, seven lots on Overhill Road, and a majority of the area on Market Street’s west side. Gently curving streets with both Tudor and Colonial architecture blend into the natural landscape of the area and Mill Creek Park. Newport Village became part of the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
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Pioneers began to settle in the Groveport area around the year 1800. Subsequent growth was spurred by the opening of the Ohio Erie Canal, and, in 1847, the adjacent settlements of Rarey’s Port and Wert’s Grove merged to form the village of Groveport. The canal, which crossed Main Street immediately east of this marker, declined in importance as a commercial lifeline with the local arrival in 1868 of the faster and more flexible railroad system. By 1900, boat traffic on the canal ceased entirely. Traces of the canal bed are still visible throughout the area.
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The Marblehead Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the Great Lakes. Originally known as the Sandusky Bay Light Station, the lighthouse was built here in 1821 to aid navigation and prevent shipwrecks. William Kelly (1779-1867) received the contract and, using local limestone, completed construction in eight weeks. The lighthouse was 50 feet high and had a diameter of 25 feet at the base and 12 feet at the top. When the lighthouse had a keeper, the beacon was updated with ever brighter lamps and more powerful lenses. At the turn of the 19th century, a watch room and new lantern room were added, increasing the lighthouse’s height 15 feet. Beacons were lit with whale oil, lard oil, kerosene, and then, in 1923, with electricity. As of 2018, the light is an LED that is visible up to eleven nautical miles.
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The original town plat of Rawson was filed on February 3, 1855, consisting of fifty-five lots in sections 13 and 14 of Union Township, Hancock County on the Frederick Keller and George J. Kelly farms. Several residential and business structures were built in anticipation of completion of a railroad rumored to pass from Fremont through the “Rawson” area on its way to the western boundary of Ohio. Farmers Keller and Kelly named their village Rawson after L.Q. Rawson, President of the railroad company, hoping that the name would encourage him to build through their area. Financial troubles delayed construction causing a standstill in Rawson. Seventeen years later the first locomotive arrived in Rawson, spurring new construction. At that time the railroad was called the Lake Erie and Louisville; in 1879 it was changed to the Lake Erie and Western and in 1922 became part of the Nickel Plate Railroad. (Continued on other side)
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