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Henry Hanford Wakeman (1840-1879) of New York came to Waterville and became a successful businessman. He conceived the idea of a local Masonic Lodge, which became Wakeman Lodge No. 522 Free and Accepted Masons in 1879, and bequeathed $1,000 toward the construction of a meeting place. In 1880, a cornerstone was laid and this building was dedicated on October 21, 1881. For over 100 years, the Masons held their meetings upstairs while the lower floor was often rented out to a succession of businesses or used for public gatherings. Rising maintenance expenses and lower membership numbers caused the Masons to put Wakeman Hall up for sale in 1995. The Waterville Historical Society purchased the building in 1997 and spent several years rehabilitating it to serve as a local history archive and the Historical Society’s meeting place.
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In July 1863, Confederate Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan led a force of 2,000 cavalrymen across southern Ohio. Morgan’s force entered Ohio from Indiana. A chase ensued as Union cavalry pursued Morgan’s men across twenty Ohio counties. To evade 2,500 Union cavalrymen under Brigadier-General Edward Hobson and thousands of Union militia stationed at Cincinnati and Hamilton, Morgan’s exhausted troopers made a daring night ride, resulting in the longest sustained cavalry ride in American military history. Around 9 P.M., Morgan’s cavalry passed through New Burlington, then rode north on Mt. Pleasant and Hamilton Pike (present day Mill Road). Heading east on Bank Lick Road (Kemper Road), they reached this spot in the Village of Springdale around midnight. (Continued on other side)
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Ella Nora Phillips Myers Stewart was one of the first practicing Black women pharmacists in the United States. After she married William Stewart in 1920, the couple settled in Youngstown, then moved to Toledo where they opened Stewart’s Pharmacy in 1922. Having broken professional barriers, Ella Stewart became a tireless civil rights champion. Advocating for Black women she was active in the Enterprise Charity Club and was a 1937 charter member of Beta Lambda and Toledo Alumnae chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She served on the National Association of Colored Women Clubs, the Women’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Department of Labor, and Pan-Pacific Southeast Asia Women’s Association. Toledo’s Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls was named in her honor in 1961. She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1978.
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Camp Joy was born at the site of Seven Hills Neighborhood House and original location of St. Barnabas Episcopal Mission Church. Displacement and loss caused by Ohio River flood of 1937 inspired St. Barnabas’ rector and his wife, Laurence “Cap” and Sadie Hall, to act on behalf of the children of Cincinnati’s West End. The Halls conceived of Camp Joy as a haven where kids could find a respite from impoverished surroundings in the city and its sweltering summer heat. The camp was a success and continued after the Halls’ assignment to another parish. From 1940-1944, Rev J. Brooke and Mrs. Betty Mosley continued to nurture the people of the West End through St. Barnabas and Camp Joy. (Continued on other side)
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The Shiloh Baptist Church was completed in 1923. Founded in 1869, Shiloh is the third oldest African-American church in Columbus and is a descendent of the Second Baptist Church. The church is located in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, which is adjacent to the central businesses of Columbus and Interstate 71. The dominant physical presence of Shiloh Baptist Church shows its importance as a religious and social institution for more than one hundred years in the Mt. Vernon area.
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The commercial area of Mount Vernon Avenue originated in the early 1900s as a safe haven for African-American people segregated from the primarily white community of the time. Not permitted to enter many businesses in downtown Columbus during the 1940s, a distinct economy was created, building on establishments already developed in the area. The construction of Interstate 71 through Columbus and the social upheaval and riots of 1967 injured the community to the point where many moved away. Today, Mount Vernon Avenue survives and is being targeted for economic and historic revitalization.
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The Ahola Corporation is the world’s longest continuously operating family-focused payroll service provider. It was founded in 1967 by computer programmer Chet Ahola, known at the time as a “computer” (not a machine, but a person who computes) and his data analyst wife, Rheta, a “debugger” (the person who removed the moths that were attracted to the heat of the mainframe computers). Initially Keypunch Services and later the Ahola Corporation, the company represented the first exposure to the power of the computer to its many small and mid-sized business clients.
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Hanford Village was founded in the early 1900s just east of Columbus proper with its own mayor, police force, fire department, businesses, and park. After World War II, a subdivision of Hanford became a segregated community for returning African American veterans to settle using the G.I. Bill. Hanford then became one of the few places involved in an all African American post-war housing development program in the United States. During the 1960s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Federal Interstate Highway System Act resulted in construction of Interstate 70 which split Hanford Village into two sections and tore apart the community. However, since the division, the residents of the village have worked to maintain its sense of community and unity.