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Archibald Worthington (1818-1895) was a freed slave from Virginia, a Civil War veteran, and prominent landowner in Highland Township. Census records indicate he was manumitted prior to 1850, and by 1860 owned land in northwest Ohio. Worthington also farmed, boarded freed slaves, and owned apple orchards and livestock. April 1866 township records show that he supported the local school for Black families. He and his wife Elizabeth raised three children: Henry, Mathilda, and James. Henry enlisted in the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer infantry, one of the first Black regiments formed in the Civil War. He died January 8, 1865, in a prison camp and is buried in North Carolina’s Salisbury National Cemetery. Mathilda and James both met partners and married, had children, and left the area. Archibald Worthington died in 1895 and is buried in Wilmington’s Sugar Grove Cemetery.
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Mifflin was founded in 1816. Originally known as Petersburg, the name was changed in 1827 in honor of the settlers that moved here from Mifflin Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The first village jailhouse and crossroad watering trough are located here, on the grounds of the historic St. Michael Lutheran Church. Organized in 1835, the church built this house of worship in 1890. As early as 1810, stagecoaches traveled Mifflin’s main thoroughfare between Wooster and Mansfield, stopping at the watering trough, known for “the best spring water in Ohio”. In 1925, the trough was removed to allow room for the construction of the Lincoln Highway built in 1928. A Lincoln Highway “L” marker stands in the village today, in its original location, directing motorists eastbound.
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On the evening of August 3, 1920, at 10:30, two men hurrying home after working at the local Railway Y.M.C.A. discovered smoke and flames at the D. Arnold & Sons Lumber Company. Bradford firemen, with the help of area firefighters, could not contain the raging fire because of the intense heat and lack of available water. By the early morning light, townspeople saw that their town had been almost totally destroyed. Thirty-four businesses and twelve homes were burned to the ground with losses totaling over one million dollars. Many businesses never rebuilt and claimed huge losses due to the lack of insurance coverage. The Ohio State Fire Marshal investigated the fire and ruled arson as the origin. Authorities never apprehended or charged any suspects.
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Sidney’s First Presbyterian Church formally organized on September 4, 1825, under the guidance of Reverend Joseph Stevenson, who traveled from Bellefontaine for that purpose. The original eight-member congregation worshipped outdoors or in the Shelby County Courthouse until able to finance their own building in 1834. First Presbyterian’s small frame chapel was constructed on the half-acre parcel that became their permanent home. Two centuries later, the congregation continues to worship at the corner of Miami Avenue and North Street on Lot 109, set aside for religious use in Charles Starrett’s 1819-1820 agreements platting Sidney’s original 70-acre tract. (Continued on other side)
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The Granville Congregational Church erected this building in 1833 for its Female Academy and a church meeting room. The school prospered and, in 1837, moved to make way for the Granville Male Academy. The Welsh Congregational Church purchased the structure in 1863 and converted its two stories into a single room with full-height windows. Welsh language services were held here for sixty years. Granville Grange #2230 met in the building from 1923 to 1973. It then became Granville Historical Society’s property and, in 1981, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Following the completion of the Erie Canal from Albany to Buffalo, New York, Lake Erie became an important link in an all-water route for immigrants traveling from the eastern seaboard into the Midwest. The 600-ton lake steamer G.P. Griffith, launched in 1847, was one of dozens built to capitalize on this booming trade. On June 17, 1850, the Griffith, outbound with more than 300 passengers on a three-day voyage from Buffalo to Toledo, caught fire and burned about 220 yards from this overlook. Many of the German, English, Irish, and Scandinavian settlers were laden with money sewn into their clothing, and few reached shore. Contemporary accounts listed 286 lost. Most were buried in a mass grave on the beach, since reclaimed by Lake Erie. The Griffith incident remains one of the worst maritime disasters on the Great Lakes.
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Ohio University’s Peden Stadium is the oldest of the Mid-American Conference stadiums and one of the oldest of its type in the country. It was dedicated in 1929 with a victory over Miami University. The stadium served as housing for the influx of WWII veterans who enrolled at Ohio University following the war. On October 22, 1960, it was named in honor of former Bobcat head coach Don Peden who coached from 1929 to 1946 and compiled a record of 121 wins, 46 losses, and one tie.
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Findlay College was a joint venture of the Churches of God, General Conference, and the Village of Findlay. It was chartered on January 28, 1882, to provide a liberal arts education within a Christian context for all–regardless of race or sex. Old Main was constructed between 1883 and 1886 at a cost of $51,662.95. It was 171 by 107 feet, one of the largest college buildings in the state, and the only one heated by natural gas. The cornerstone was laid on May 25, 1884.