Remarkable Ohio

Results for: south-amherst
11328 Gavers Road
Hanoverton

, OH

About a mile south in St. Paul’s Cemetery, the Reverend Father Edward J. Fenwick, “Pioneer Apostle of Ohio,” organized the first Catholic parish in northern Ohio. The first mass was celebrated in the log house of Daniel McCallister. A century and a half later the cabin was dismantled, moved here, rebuilt, and rededicated in May, 1967 as the Log Cabin Shrine of Dungannon.

786 Marion Melmore Rd
Bucyrus

, OH

The Plains lay south and west of the Sandusky River, bounded by the Olentangy River on the east and Tymochtee Creek on the west. The local black prairie soils mark the extent of the grasslands, which were uncommon in the dense eastern forests. Bur Oak trees, from the period of the Wyandot Indians, have survived because their thick bark protected them from the common prairie grass fires. This remnant of wilderness–Bur Oak Grove and Tall Grass Prairie–is protected from cultivation, which would destroy most of the native plant species.

Waynesburg

, OH

A soldier in Company A, 148th Infantry, 37th “Buckeye” Infantry Division, Cicchetti was part of the assault on the first important line of Japanese defenses at South Manila, Luzon, Philippines on February 9, 1945. He died of wounds received while leading a volunteer litter bearer team that rescued fourteen wounded men, deliberately drawing machine gun fire to himself in the process. “By his skilled leadership, indomitable will, and dauntless courage, Pfc. Cicchetti saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers at the cost of his own.” President Truman posthumously awarded Cicchetti the Congressional Medal of Honor on December 8, 1945.

862 OH-416
New Philadelphia

, OH

Seeking an alternative transportation route to distant markets, many farmers and manufacturers in Ohio wanted to connect the Ohio River to Lake Erie with a canal. Beginning in Cleveland the Ohio-Erie Canal ran south, the length of the state, to Portsmouth. The canal was a total of 308 miles long, 40 feet wide at the surface, and 4 feet deep. The Ohio-Erie Canal opened for traffic along its entire length in 1832 and consequently effected great change. Population along the canal increased, and commercial, political, and industrial growth in Ohio boomed. Products grown and manufactured in this previously isolated region now had access to world markets. Profits for farmers and merchants increased, and the entire state economy was bolstered. With the rise of railroads in the 1860s, however, canals were destined to become obsolete because the railroad was a faster and more dependable means of transportation. The canal system ceased to operate altogether after a disastrous flood in 1913.

230 Ramsey Street
College Corner

, OH

In 1893, Ohio and Indiana constructed the first Union School on the state line separating Ohio and Indiana. For 111 years, students from both states have been educated in what is the only schoolhouse located in Ohio and Indiana. In 1925, a new Union School was designed to replace the old schoolhouse. The dedication of this new school building took place on December 21, 1926. A new addition was added in 2004. The Union School Building has special architectural features such as a center stone placed on the Ohio and Indiana state line and Ohio and Indiana arched doorways. The bell from the 1893 Union School is displayed to the south side of the current school.

117 E. Auglaize Street
Wapakoneta

, OH

The Dayton and Michigan Railroad provided the single most important impetus to the growth and development of Wapakoneta. Although Wapakoneta had been platted in 1833, at the time of incorporation (1848), “the town was still without any material improvement worth the name of enterprise, save in the erection of residences and opening of small retail stores and shops.” On March 15, 1854, in its first ordinance, the village council of Wapakoneta voted unanimously to grant a right-of-way to the Dayton and Michigan Railroad Company to construct a railroad line through the community. The financial backers of the railroad ran short of funds during construction, and planned to end the line at Sidney, but local leaders raised $70,000 to ensure its extension. (Continued on other side)

1 W. High Street
Mt. Vernon

, OH

On May 1, 1863, Peace Democratic Party leader Clement L. Vallandigham spoke to 10,000 people from this spot. Vallandigham’s party, known by their opponents as “Copperheads,” opposed the Civil War as an encroachment on both individuals’ and states’ rights, and favored a peaceful settlement with the Confederacy. Shortly after the beginning of the war, President Lincoln had suspended the writ of habeas corpus, which requires the state to show cause for arrest, as an emergency wartime measure. Peace Democrats viewed the suspension as unconstitutional. Vallandigham’s speech intentionally tested the stringent wartime laws against “implied treason.” (continued on other side)

5370 Bunker Hill Road N
Butler

, OH

Hemlock Falls is located nearby. Two small streams cascade down the face of the massive sandstone cliff in the shade of tall hemlock trees. One of the falls drops about 60 feet and the other about 100 feet. The rock is Black Hand Sandstone deposited in the deltas along the great salt-water sea during the Mississippian Period about 350 million years ago. The cliffs were created later and were produced by erosion along the side of the valley of the ancient pre-glacial Groveport River. One large slump block, which has separated from the rock wall by weathering, may be the largest in Ohio. Plants more typical of the Appalachian Plateau and rare to Richland County can be found in this area. The ecosystem is typical of that found at the past edge of a glacier.