, OH
Baseball great Harvey Haddix was born on September 18, 1925, and grew up on a farm just south of Westville. He attended Westville School until March 1940 and played his first organized baseball at this site. Entering Major League Baseball in 1952, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Baltimore Orioles in a career that lasted until 1965. In 1959, while with Pittsburgh, he pitched what some believe to be the greatest game ever pitched in baseball as he hurled 12 perfect innings against the defending National League champion Milwaukee Braves. He lost the game by a score of 1-0 in the 13th inning. A three-time All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner, he won two World Series games in 1960, including the deciding Game 7, while playing with Pittsburgh against the New York Yankees. He died on January 8, 1994, and is buried in Catawba, Ohio.
, OH
This site has long served the religious, education, and public interests of the residents of Mechanicsburg. A local Methodist congregation built its first church here in 1820, and the townspeople also used the structure as its village school. The Methodists replaced their original structure in 1837, using brick as the main building material. As the Methodist congregation grew, however, it was determined that a larger, more permanent structure was needed. As a result, the Mechanicsburg First Methodist Church was built here in 1858, and it served the congregation until 1894 when an African American based Second Baptist congregation purchased the building at a cost of $2,850. Besides religion and education, the site was also used as Mechanicsburg’s first cemetery. That cemetery lasted until the Maple Grove Cemetery was established and burials at this site were relocated there. [continued on other side]
, OH
Among the earliest settlers to Rush Township were members of the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers, who emigrated from the eastern states, mostly Pennsylvania and North Carolina. At first religious services were held in the homes of devout Quakers who in turn built a small-framed meeting house on this site in 1842. The present Friends Church replaced the original structure in the 1870s at a cost of $4,245. Although not a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church supported local ardent Abolitionists who helped runaway slaves reach freedom in Canada. An epidemic during the winter of 1850-1851 reduced the Friends’ membership and led to several Quaker families relocating to Iowa. The final religious service was held here on October 26, 1997, after which the church was donated to the village of North Lewisburg.
, OH
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)
, OH
Albert B. “A.B.” Graham was born in Champaign County on March 13, 1868, the son of Joseph and Esther Graham. He was raised in a small rural home, but a fire destroyed the house in 1879, and the family moved to Lena where Graham attended local schools, graduating at age 17. After attending the National Normal University in Lebanon, he returned to Champaign County where he taught, then became principal, and later an innovative superintendent. Graham also was enthusiastic about teaching children the values of rural and farm living and while teaching developed a youth agricultural club, which eventually became known as the 4-H Club. In July 1905 Graham became the superintendent of Agricultural Extension at the Ohio State University. The Graham School District near Lena was named for A.B. Graham. He delivered the dedication speech at Graham High School in December 1957 and said that schools were meant to build “human souls.”
, OH
James R. Hopkins was born May 17, 1877, in Irwin and graduated from Mechanicsburg High School in 1895. As a child, he gained exposure to art through his mother, Nettie, an accomplished self-taught water colorist. Hopkins enrolled at The Ohio State University to study electrical engineering, but realized a strong desire to study art. In 1898, Hopkins entered the Art Institute of Cincinnati, studying under noted artist Frank Duveneck and acquiring the academic draftsmanship that is prevalent in his work. After two years, he moved to New York City to work as a medical illustrator. To hone his skills, Hopkins moved to Paris, enrolling in the Academy Colarossi and opening a studio at 55 Rue de Dantzig. Hopkins flourished in Paris, marrying Edna Boies, who he had met at the Cincinnati Art Institute, and establishing friendships with such French Impressionists as Pierre Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Claude Monet. [continued on other side]
, OH
President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, created a national tragedy, and the nation mourned as his body was transported by rail from Washington D.C. back to Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried. In Champaign County, Ohio, the train passed through Urbana and Westville late at night April 29 and traveled through the Blue Hills for eight miles of dangerous curves and hills to arrive in St. Paris. Reaching the summit in St. Paris, the train paused near Springfield Street for a brief memorial service. Christian McMorran and Rachel Furrow, representing a crowd of local residents who stood in silence, laid a wreath on the coffin. The train would continue to Conover, Fletcher, Piqua, and Bradford on its way to Richmond and Indianapolis and then Chicago, finally arriving in Springfield, Illinois, on May 3, 1865.
, OH
The Mechanicsburg United Methodist congregation was founded in the early nineteenth century and met first in open-air camp meetings before moving into a small log school building. In 1820 the congregation built a wood framed church on East Sandusky Street and that building was replaced with a brick structure in 1838. The congregation split in 1853 into Trinity Methodist and First Methodist with both groups serving the village of Mechanicsburg for 103 years before coming back together in 1956. The current United Methodist Church was built in the early 1890s and dedicated in 1894 on the corner of Main and Race Streets. The Gothic Revival style church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
614.297.2300
Contact Us
