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Kirtland in the 1830s became an early gathering place and headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which had been organized under divine inspiration by Joseph Smith in western New York in 1830. Here the Mormons, as they are known outside the faith, created a religious community and introduced doctrinal concepts, organizational programs, and social practices that have been central to the religion ever since. The Kirtland Temple, dedicated in 1836, was the spiritual center of the faith. Internal dissension and external persecution arose largely from the distinctive features of the religion and weakened the Mormon community in Kirtland. In 1838, the majority of the Mormons here followed Smith westward to Missouri, Illinois, and eventually Utah.
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From its founding in 1865, Dennison was a railroad town and became the second largest rail center for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Rail presence was so strong that the industry dictated social and economic development throughout the community. For example, the Railway Chapel, the historic name for the First Presbyterian Church of Dennison was built because W.W. Card, Pennsylvania Railroad Superintendent, saw a spiritual need in the community. As the first church built in Dennison, Card contacted the Presbytery of Steubenville to start the church, arranged for donation of land, provided for financing from railway officials, and arranged for labor and material from the railroad. Railroad workers constructed the furnishing for the church with walnut pews built by the Dennison Car Shops. The pews have reversible backs, designed after ones in passenger cars. The church was dedicated in April 1871 and listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2009.
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With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, many young men of Bristol Township enlisted in the army when President Abraham Lincoln issued his call to defend the Union cause. The death toll of some of these men at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee in April 1862 touched the local community as did the loss of Bristol Township lives at the Battle of Perryville in Kentucky, the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Virginia, and other theaters of war later in the year. The local citizenry responded to a plan for a lasting public memorial at the Town Park through a fund raising campaign. In 1863 the town square was transformed with a marble monument placed on an elevated mound at its center. The monument was designed by local artist Frank J. Hammond and manufactured by Myers, Uhl & Company of Cleveland at a cost of $500. [continued on other side]
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Carlisle Station Depot. The Carlisle depot for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton (CH&D) railroad was located nearby. The CH&D started operations in 1851 and was the second railroad through Warren County. Carlisle Station was a passenger and freight-shipping depot and was joined in 1872 by another, when Cincinnati & Springfield Railroad (later part of the Big Four and the New York Central Railroads) erected a depot in nearby Franklin. Carlisle was originally known as the “Jersey Settlement,” because many settlers in the early 1800s were from New Jersey. George Carlisle, vice-president of the CH&D, purchased a large tract of land here. After Carlisle and his wife Sarah donated a lot to the community in 1856, residents renamed the place “Carlisle Station.” The Carlisle Literary Association built a hall on the lot c. 1856, which, as of 2019, remains as the older section of Carlisle’s municipal building. Side B: Schenck-Stanton Rally, October 3, 1868.
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The Bradford or “BF” Tower was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad circa 1929, at the important site of Bradford Junction. It replaced an earlier wooden tower that stood to its west. From this building, operators controlled the movement of every train, aligned track switches, set the track side signals, and relayed messages to the crews in the locomotive and caboose of passing trains. The tower originally housed a desk, telegraph equipment, and the all-important railroad clock. Its core housed many steel throw-arms, known as Armstrong levers. These were hand thrown, connecting track switches and signals via pipes throughout the junction area. The operator telegraphed other outlying towers and dispatching centers in Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis and Logansport, Indiana. Railroad telephones appeared during the late 1920s and radios just after World War II. The tower was closed January 3, 1984. This is an example of the once common railroad interlocking tower that dotted railroads throughout Ohio and the United States.
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The Johnson Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1902 by brothers James B., J. Will, Isaac T., and Charles F. Johnson, all of Quaker heritage. The company manufactured tin and galvanized iron ware for railroad lines across the United States. The initial product was the No. 1 long-spouted locomotive oiler with the patented dripless spout. That was quickly followed by other types of oil cans, signaling equipment, engine buckets, tallow pots, torches, track inspection devices, tin cups, and caboose and cabin car lamps, all carrying the Diamond J trademark. The makers created the patterns and everything was cut, riveted, and soldered by hand. As production expanded, the original frame building at 605 Miami Street was replaced by a brick structure in 1910, the southernmost part of the present building. (continued on other side)
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The site of Owens Community College, the Rossford Army Ordnance Depot played a supporting role in the United States’ victory in World War II and in national defense during the Cold War. From 1942 until 1945, the Rossford Ordnance Depot served as a distribution center for military vehicles during World War II. The complex also housed an ammunition storage depot. Virtually a city within itself, it featured an extensive railroad and road grid. Following World War II, the Depot remained a major site for military vehicles but expanded its mission to include tool storage and distribution. On July 1, 1963, General Orders No. 28 deactivated the facility from the United States Army Material Command.
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Originally a horse barn owned and converted by the Klump family, Rabbit Run Theater opened in 1946. In its early years, Rabbit Run operated as a professional summer stock theater and many well-known actors such as Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Jim Backus, Dustin Hoffman, Charles Grodin, and Sandy Dennis graced its boards. Sadly, the theater closed in 1967 and remained dark until 1979 when a group of local theater lovers reopened the “barn” as a community theater. Rabbit Run Theater is one of only a few converted barn theaters still in operation today.
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