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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.
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The Ohio River begins at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and flows 981 miles to join the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. The Iroquois called the river “Oyo” or “Ohio,” which the French translated as “La Belle Riviere,” the Beautiful River. It was an important transportation route for countless generations of Native Americans and, beginning in the 1780s, for Euro-American settlers. It was the main route to the opening West and the principal outlet for the region’s growing farm output. Congress first acted to improve navigation in 1824 and, later, by canalizing the river with a series of locks and dams beginning in 1878. River commerce has increased with industrialization, moving up to 150 million tons annually.
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In 1832, Sylvanus Allen’s property became the site of Brown Township’s sixth and final school district. Following many building expansions, the current building, constructed in 1916, became the home of the Lena-Conover Consolidated School and became part of the Miami East Local School District in 1958. In 1991, the building’s educational legacy continued when it was returned to the trustees and became the home of the A.B. Graham Memorial Center Inc, named in honor of the Lena-Conover alumnus, educator and founder of the 4-H club movement.
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The center of African-American culture in Akron during the mid-20th century, Howard Street was home to many of the city’s black-owned business and entertainment establishments, and provided an atmosphere in which minority-owned businesses could thrive. Attracted to the vitality of the neighborhood, entrepreneur George Mathews (1887-1982) established a barbershop here in 1920 and in 1925 opened the adjoining Mathews Hotel. The hotel quickly became the anchor of the Howard Street district. Mathews’ success allowed him to endow a scholarship fund at the University of Akron in 1964.
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Dunham Tavern is the oldest building still standing on its original site in the City of Cleveland. Once a stagecoach stop on the old Buffalo-Cleveland-Detroit road (modern Euclid Avenue), the tavern dates from 1824. The structure was built by Rufus and Jane Pratt Dunham, who journeyed to the Western Reserve from Mansfield, Massachusetts. The Dunhams sold the tavern in 1853. However, it continued to serve the public until 1857, when it was converted to a private residence. It remained a home until the nineteen thirties, when commercial development threatened the former tavern’s existence. The historic structure was dedicated in 1936 as a museum depicting the life of an early Cleveland pioneer family. Dunham Tavern is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated Cleveland Landmark building.
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Manchester was founded in 1791 by Nathaniel Massie as a base to survey the land warrants of American Revolutionary War soldiers in the Virginia Military District. This bank of the Ohio River provided a secure site for the last civilian stockade built in Ohio. The natural protection of this fortification included marshland to the west and north and the river on the south. The nearby three islands provided a safe place for retreat in dangerous circumstances and also supplied an area to raise food in its rich bottomlands. The invention of the steam powered paddle wheel boat allowed the river to become the city’s main source of shipping and commerce in the nineteenth century. Manchester was an important port of call for provisions; the export of agricultural products; and the manufacture of goods such as pottery, furniture, and leather goods.
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The Lakeside Volunteer Fire Protective Association responded to both fire and medical emergencies on the Marblehead Peninsula for more than 100 years. It was founded in 1905, after a devastating fire destroyed Lakeside’s business district. In 1946, the Association began providing emergency medical aid. During their service, the Lakeside Volunteer Fire Protective Association progressed from hand-drawn chemical carts to the area’s first heavy-duty fire and rescue truck. In 2013, the Association donated its assets to the newly-formed Danbury Township Volunteer Fire Department and passed into history.
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Wayman Chapel was dedicated in 1874 as part of Ohio’s Third District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The first Black church in Knox County, it began in 1870 under the guidance of Rev. James A. Ralls. The congregation met in local homes and church basements until completing their red brick church at 102 West Ohio Avenue in 1876. Additions made 1947-1948 included an upgraded facade. For more than a century, Wayman Chapel provided an educational, cultural, and spiritual hub for its members as well as the wider Black community of Mt. Vernon.
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