, OH
The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railway began construction of the Dennison Railroad Shops here in 1864. This rail line was chartered as the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad in 1849, opened in 1855, and integrated into the Pennsylvania Railroad system in 1870. The yard and shops, situated exactly halfway between Pittsburgh and Columbus, were known as the “Altoona of the Pan Handle” and boasted foundries, machine shops, and two roundhouses. The Dennison Shops experienced their busiest period between 1900 and 1921, with over 3,000 workers employed in the complex. A bitter 1922 strike prompted consolidation, and the facility was gradually phased out. The last passenger train stopped in 1970. Ohio Central Railroad Systems revived the line in 1992 as the Columbus and Ohio River Railroad.
, OH
In the early 1800s, William and Eleanor Kendall owned this land, known for its natural springs, beauty, and farmland. In 1850, Elias Drake, lawyer and former speaker in the Ohio General Assembly, purchased the property and named it Tawana or Xenia Springs. He developed a health resort hotel surrounded by summer cottages, all of which were completed the following year. “Tawana” is believed to be Shawnee for “clear or gold water,” alluding to the clear, mineral-rich springs. From its beginnings, the resort did not fare well as it was popular among southern planters who, much to the consternation of nearby antislavery sentiment, brought slave entourages whenever they came. In October 1855, negotiations for its sale opened with the Cincinnati Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which purchased Tawana Springs, including 54 acres and the hotel and cottages, for $13,000 to establish a university for African Americans. (Continued on other side)
, OH
In 1833, Robert Busenbark deeded land to the directors of School District No. 6 for Busenbark School. Twenty years later, Robert and son David granted a right-of-way on their property for a station on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad (CH&D). One of eleven depots in Butler County, Busenbark station attracted the Kinsinger-Augspurger Warehouse and the Kennel Grain Elevator to the area in the 1860s. The railroad also enabled the cross-roads settlement to host an American championship prize fight in 1867. Fighting with bare knuckles in an outdoor ring, Mike McCoole bested Aaron Jones in a match seen by thousands. The Busenbark generating station supplied power to interurban lines until 1912 and later furnished electricity to local residents. Farmers and the Miami Poultry Yards depended on the trains and interurban to ship produce. The railroad depot disappeared between 1914 and 1916; the school closed after 1937; interurban service ended in 1939. All that remains of Busenbark is Busenbark Road, which was established in 1858.
, OH
This is the site of Camp Noble, named for Congressman Warren P. Noble, who obtained the officer’s commission for William H. Gibson as the colonel of the 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Companies of 100 began to arrive here August 12, 1861 from Crawford, Hancock, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, and Wyandot Counties. On August 20, they were mustered into Federal service as the 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Nicknamed the “Buckeye Vanguard” by Col. Gibson, training continued until September 9, 1861, when the 49th was ordered to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, Ohio. (Continued other side)
, OH
The Wyandot called the Grand Reserve home nearly a century before Ohio statehood. They built houses, cultivated the land, and grew bountiful groves of fruit trees. They governed from the nearby Wyandot Council House and operated a productive saw and grist mill. Many sent their children to school and worshiped at the limestone church, built in 1824, and recognized as the first Methodist mission in the country. But Ohioans set their sights on Wyandot lands in the fertile Sandusky River Valley. State and federal governments were unwilling to allow the Wyandot to remain on their chosen homelands, despite their participation in American society and friendly relations with neighboring settlers. Following the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Wyandot were the last tribe removed from the State of Ohio in 1843.
, OH
The American Civil War was in its second year, and Confederate forces were advancing in the east and in the west. Confederates led by General Edward Kirby Smith had defeated a Union Force at Richmond, Kentucky on August 30, 1862. Word was received that they were advancing on Cincinnati. Ohio Governor David Tod issued a proclamation to all Ohioans: “Our Southern border is threatened with invasion. I therefore recommend that all the loyal men of your Counties at once form themselves into military companies. Gather up all the arms in the county and furnish yourselves with ammunition for the same. The service will be but for a few days. The soil of Ohio must not be invaded by the enemies of our glorious government.” (continued on other side)
, OH
Daniel Arthur Rudd was born into slavery on August 7, 1854, in Bardstown, Kentucky. He became a newspaperman, lecturer, publicist, and tireless advocate for the Roman Catholic Church. After the Civil War Rudd moved to Springfield. Baptized and raised in Catholicism, he joined St. Raphael Parish, where the philosophy of racial equality offered by the church solidified his vision of justice. By 1885 he had established his own weekly newspaper, The Ohio State Tribune. He rebranded it The American Catholic Tribune (ACT) after moving to Cincinnati. Rudd claimed ACT was the only Catholic newspaper owned by an African American. At the height of its popularity in 1892, the publication had a circulation of 10,000. In 1893 Rudd was asked to chair the Afro-American Press Association, representing more than 200 black-owned newspapers.
, OH
This Depot, dedicated on December 27, 1900, served as division headquarters for the Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis railroad, commonly called the Big Four. Peak passenger usage occurred during and after World War I when 32 trains stopped here daily. Railway Express serviced as many as 20 trains a day into the 1950s, and Galion became a “whistle stop” for presidential campaigns with speeches from the train platform from such candidates as Al Smith in 1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, and Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon in 1952. In 1929 the New York Central acquired the Big Four, which moved the division headquarters west to Bellefontaine in Logan County. The ticket office remained opened until 1964, but all railroad offices closed in 1969. The Depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.