, OH
Manchester was founded in 1791 by Nathaniel Massie as a base to survey the land warrants of American Revolutionary War soldiers in the Virginia Military District. This bank of the Ohio River provided a secure site for the last civilian stockade built in Ohio. The natural protection of this fortification included marshland to the west and north and the river on the south. The nearby three islands provided a safe place for retreat in dangerous circumstances and also supplied an area to raise food in its rich bottomlands. The invention of the steam powered paddle wheel boat allowed the river to become the city’s main source of shipping and commerce in the nineteenth century. Manchester was an important port of call for provisions; the export of agricultural products; and the manufacture of goods such as pottery, furniture, and leather goods.
, OH
For over 200 years, the Mentor Lagoons have had a major impact on northeastern Ohio and its people. Located on the site of a large estuary where the Grand River once flowed into Lake Erie, the area evolved into a large marsh. It was here in 1797 that Charles Parker, a member of Moses Cleaveland’s survey party, platted lands for the Connecticut Land Company and established the “Marsh Settlement,” the first in what later became Lake County. Throughout the twentieth century, attempts were made to commercially develop this natural treasure, the most recent occurring in 1996. The proposed destruction of the Mentor Lagoons’ pristine lakefront, upland forest and riverine marsh prompted Mentor voters to call for its preservation. For the first time in Ohio’s history, voters affirmed eminent domain action to protect open space. This led to the city’s acquisition of the 450-acre tract, now known as the Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve & Marina.
, OH
Situated in the township of Boardman and developed in the 1920s, Newport Village was one of Youngstown’s earliest automobile accessible suburban developments. The twenty four and a half acre district is comprised of Jennette Drive, Chester Drive, seven lots on Overhill Road, and a majority of the area on Market Street’s west side. Gently curving streets with both Tudor and Colonial architecture blend into the natural landscape of the area and Mill Creek Park. Newport Village became part of the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
, OH
J. Scott Garbry, a 1986 inductee into the Ohio Conservation Hall of Fame, had a lifelong commitment and passion for conservation, historic preservation, and education. His gift of land and artifacts to the Upper Valley JVS led to the creation of the Willowbrook Environmental Education Center and Garbry Museum. He was also instrumental in providing land for the site of the Piqua High School and for Garbry Woods of the Miami County Park District. These gifts make it possible to appreciate and experience Ohio’s natural and historic heritage.
, OH
Situated in an agriculturally rich area, county fairs have long been a significant tradition and event in Meigs County. The Meigs County Agricultural Society held its first fair on October 22, 1851, in Middleport and its second at the Rock-Spring Hotel on October 31, 1852. Subsequent fairs occurred around the county until March 14, 1868, when the first section of a permanent location was purchased from Leonard and Jane Carleton near Rock Springs and became known as the Meigs County Fairgrounds. A popular place, the nearby natural springs, exemplified by the historic stone-carved springhouse, once supplied water to the grounds and community. Improvements to the fairgrounds included expanding the one-third mile racetrack to a half-mile in 1889, constructing the unique curved grandstand in 1890, and reconstructing the 1829 Foster-Jenkinson log cabin on the grounds in 1987. A single barrack from the Civilian Conservation Corps camp of the 1930s remains in use.
, OH
Old Woman Creek is one of the few naturally functioning estuary environments – places where chemically-distinct bodies of water meet and mix – left in the western basin of Lake Erie. This ecosystem features diverse habitats of marshlands, sand beaches, and upland forests, supporting plants and animals unique to natural coastal communities. Nearly 300 bird species (including bald eagles), 40 fish species, and hundreds of native plants have been recorded in this area. Old Woman Creek is Ohio’s only national estuarine sanctuary and became a state nature preserve in 1980.
, OH
In 1884, the first natural gas well was successfully drilled in Findlay, and when The Great Karg Well, then the largest in the world, was drilled in 1886, the boom was on. Many industries, especially glass, were attracted to Findlay, lured by free or cheap gas for fuel. They included eight window, two bottle, two chimney lamp, one light bulb, one novelty, and five tableware glass factories. Famed manufacturing pioneer and inventor Mike Owens (later associated with Owens Illinois) managed the Richardson Glass Works, located at this site in 1891-1892. Tableware glass companies included Bellaire Goblet (1888-1892), Columbia Glass (1886-1892), Dalzell, Gilmore & Leighton (1888-1901), Findlay Flint Glass (1889-1991), and Model Flint Glass (1888-1893). Tableware companies employed women as decorators and packers. Hundreds of skilled glassworkers came from the eastern states of America, as well as Europe, especially Belgium, France, and Germany. Bottle glassworkers were among the first workers to unionize and to use collective bargaining.
, OH
Born enslaved March 12, 1864, Charles Young was the highest-ranking African American line officer most of his career. He became the third Black graduate of West Point in 1889 and the last until 1936. Young served with the 9th and 10th Calvary “Buffalo Soldiers” and as Professor of Military Science at Wilberforce University. During the Spanish American War Young commanded the 9th Battalion Ohio Volunteer (Colored) Infantry and later led 9th Calvary troops in combat in the Philippines. The first African American national park superintendent, Young supervised the building of roads for public access to Sequoia and General Grant national parks and protected the natural wonders there. The first Black military attache, Young served in Haiti and Liberia. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People awarded Young its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, for his accomplishments in Liberia. (continued on other side)
614.297.2300
Contact Us
