Remarkable Ohio

Results for: historic
13165 Seeley Rd
Leroy Twp

, OH

The Indian Point Site contains the remains of a prehistoric Native American earthen enclosure, officially known as the Lyman site, named after a former property owner. The site contains two earthen walls that are bordered by ditches. Steep cliffs provide natural barriers on two sides of the enclosure. Archaeological digs have uncovered many artifacts here, including pottery sherds, tools, pipes, and beads. There is evidence that the walls were built around 140 B.C., and the site was occupied again around 1500 A.D. by the Whittlesey Tradition people. It is uncertain if the site was a village or was used as a ceremonial center. After 1650 A.D., the area became a neutral hunting ground for various historic tribes.

684 S. Third Street
Columbus

, OH

St. Mary Church was dedicated in 1868 in response to the spiritual needs of the growing German-Catholic population of Columbus’ South Side. The original schoolhouse, which stands behind the church, was erected in 1865 under the direction of Rev. Francis X. Specht, St. Mary’s first pastor. It served as a temporary house of worship until the Gothic-style church was completed. St. Mary’s distinctive spire – soaring 197 feet into the Columbus sky – was added in 1893. By 1865, Columbus’ population was one-third German, and the South Side had become a thriving working-class community. The new immigrants built homes and churches and established schools. Local German businesses, organizations, and newspapers prospered. German Village is one of the premier historic restorations in the world, and is the largest privately funded historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. More than 1,600 buildings have been restored since 1960.

4432 OH 305
Southington

, OH

Southington native Newton Chalker built, furnished, and donated Chalker High School to his community in 1907. Chalker was born in 1842 in Southington Township and lived there until adulthood. He later built a prosperous law and real estate practice in Akron. Chalker’s dedication to improve educational opportunities in the township likely originated with his personal struggle to complete high school, which was repeatedly interrupted by financial concerns and family obligations. The Chalker High School building was designed in the Neo-Classical Revival architectural style which was favored for public buildings, churches and schools early in the twentieth century. The building exhibits Classical influences through the use of fluted columns that support a pedimented gable, resembling a Greek temple. Chalker High School and the Civil War Monument were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. (Continued on other side)

85 Commerce Street
Lockbourne

, OH

Anticipating a boom in canal commerce, Colonel James Kilbourne (1770-1850) platted Lockbourne in 1831 at the junction of the Ohio-Erie Canal and the Columbus Feeder, which was completed the same year. Lockbourne derives its name from the numerous canal locks at this site and Kilbourne’s own surname. During the heyday of the canal era, Lockbourne boasted the Canal House Hotel, several taverns, a stock yard, a distillery, a sawmill, and a gristmill which used the head of water at Lock 30 for power. (continued on other side)

1800 Triplett Blvd
Akron

, OH

A colossus of engineering acumen and structural steel, the Airdock was built in 1929 as the construction facility for the U.S. Navy’s rigid airships, the USS Akron (1931) and USS Macon (1933). The airships, or dirigibles, served as the fleet’s aerial watchdogs, but with the advancement of aircraft carriers, the Navy no longer needed these leviathans of the skies, which were large enough to carry five biplanes. Eleven steel parabolic arches, cresting at 211 feet, create one of the largest open space interiors in the world and shelter more than 364,000 square feet of floor space. Only one of the arches is fixed to its concrete piling. Its 660-ton spherical doors rest on flatbed railroad cars to open. The Airdock, a National Civil Engineering Landmark, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

199 North Ballard Road
Xenia

, OH

In 1883, James E. Brown built this seven-panel Howe truss bridge over the North Branch of Caesar Creek, near the site of Lyman Ballard’s grist mill and on the property of William C. Dean. At the time it was built, iron, concrete, and steel structures began to surpass the construction of wooden covered bridges. The construction of U.S. Route 35 severed the bridge from its original connection to the Dean property. In 1975, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2016, the Ballard Road bridge is one of six covered bridges in Greene County.

Just W of 4295 Warren-Sharon Road
Vienna

, OH

The Connecticut Land Company surveyed Vienna Township as Township 4, Range 2, in 1798. The Township’s proprietors were Ephraim Root, Uriel Holmes, Jr., and Timothy Burr. Survey members Dennis Clark Palmer, Isaac Flower, and Samuel Hutchins and their families were the first to settle here in 1799. Between 1810 and 1840, Vienna was a center for the wooden works clock industry in Trumbull County and the Connecticut Western Reserve, with six factories located amid farms, sawmills, and quarries. After coal was discovered in 1866, over twenty mines were opened, bringing boom times for two decades. Vienna’s miners helped to bring about Ohio’s first mining safety law in 1874. Vienna was the birthplace of abolitionist and attorney John Hutchins (1812-1891), who represented Trumbull and Ashtabula counties in the United States Congress (1859-1863) and raised troops during the Civil War.

12844 Foundation Road
Hartford

, OH

George Curry (1819-1885) was one of seven children born to a tenant sheepherder in the Cheviot Hills of Scotland. He immigrated to Ohio during the 1840s and married Scottish immigrant Agnes Milligan (1830-1893) in 1855. The couple moved to Licking County in 1865, and purchased 160-acres of farmland in 1873 to establish a sheep farm. They soon became known for their fine Spanish Merino herd. In the late nineteenth century, Ohio was a leader in the wool trade, with Licking County leading the state’s wool production by 1870. At the time of his death, George Curry was “a well-known stock dealer, and was greatly esteemed” in the community. Five generations of George and Agnes Curry’s family lived and farmed their Licking County land, until it was divided into parcels and sold in 1979.