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On this site the Blendon Presbyterian Church held services from 1830 to 1865 on land donated by Edward Phelps to the Blendon Township Trustees for church purposes. This marker contributed by Helen Phelps Arn and Eleanor Arn Wagner, descendants of Edward Phelps and erected by the Blendon Township Trustees.
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Francis McCormick (1764-1836), who fought under Lafayette at the siege of Yorktown, founded Methodism in the Northwest Territory. His evangelical and pioneer spirit led him from his Virginia birthplace to establish churches in the wilderness, first at Milford, Ohio, then here, at his village of Salem. He rests with his family and followers in the nearby churchyard.
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Dinsmore Township School District #4 was formed in 1865following a decision by the township’s board of education that a school would be built in the center of every four sections of land, or every four square miles. This placement of school buildings gave township children the opportunity to attend school close to home and the chance at receiving a public education up to the eighth grade, Nine districts were created for the children of white households, and an additional district was formed to educate the children of the African American families, for a total of ten districts in the township. On June 11, 1866, the Dinsmore Township School Board purchased land from George Wenger to build the District #4 school near the intersection of Ohio Route 274 and Wenger Road. (Continued on other side)
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The town of Providence was born, thrived and died with the Miami & Erie Canal. It was platted in 1835 by French trader Peter Manor, swept by fire in 1846, ravaged by cholera in 1854, and finally unincorporated in 1928. Today, only the Irish builders’ St. Patrick’s Church (1845), the oldest in the Toledo Diocese; the cemetery; and Peter Manor’s house (1845) remain. The Providence Dam, built in 1838 to create a water supply for the canal’s remaining 25 miles to Toledo, was rebuilt in 1908. Peter Manor’s mill stands downstream one-half mile at Canal Lock #9, where it was built in 1822, rebuilt in 1846, and operates today as the Isaac Ludwig Historic Mill. The National Historic Register of Historic Places listed this district in 1975, the mill in 1974.
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Ripley was incorporated as the village of Staunton in 1812. Its name was changed in 1816 to honor General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, a hero of the War of 1812. In the years before railroads, Ripley was a principal Ohio River shipping center. Also important were its extensive boat-building, tobacco, pork, and timber industries. Ripley too was the home of saw and planing mills, iron foundries, and a piano factory. Such varied commerce enabled Ripley to remain vibrant throughout the nineteenth century. Although noted as a port, Ripley is best remembered as an abolitionist stronghold. Many of its citizens, including Rev. John Rankin and John P. Parker, served as conductors on the famed “Underground Railroad.” The notoriety of Ripley’s anti-slavery network perhaps eclipsed that of nearby Cincinnati, earning the town a reputation as the “Black Hole of Abolitionism.” (Continued on side two)
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This congregation was organized January 9, 1820 by 11 charter members. In 1837 the structure was completed on land reserved for religious purposes on the first Maumee plat. A British gun battery stood on the site in the War of 1812. Additions to the building were made in 1922, 1951, and 1968. Dr. Horatio Conant, pioneer teacher, merchant, physician, and politician, was for 59 years a member and officer.
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Bainbridge Center Historic District. Founded in 1817, Bainbridge Township was named for Commodore William Bainbridge, commander of the USS Constitution during the War of 1812. The unincorporated hamlet of Bainbridge Center is both the geographic and historic center of Bainbridge Township. The town hall, churches, stores, shops, a school, and post office were established in Bainbridge Center. The architecture of houses in the area, most notably those built during the Greek revival period, reflects the agricultural past of the community and its development in the twentieth century. Citizens gathered in The Center to attend church and school, shop, and participate in social and political functions.
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Bainbridge Center Historic District. Founded in 1817, Bainbridge Township was named for Commodore William Bainbridge, commander of the USS Constitution during the War of 1812. The unincorporated hamlet of Bainbridge Center is both the geographic and historic center of Bainbridge Township. The town hall, churches, stores, shops, a school, and post office were established in Bainbridge Center. The architecture of houses in the area, most notably those built during the Greek revival period, reflects the agricultural past of the community and its development in the twentieth century. Citizens gathered in The Center to attend church and school, shop, and participate in social and political functions.