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Founded by Hannah (Mrs. William) Neil, the Mission, located at this site for 109 years, helped children and families with difficulties as they journeyed westward on the Old National Trail. The second oldest Columbus charity, the Mission, now known as the Hannah Neil Center for Children, provides specialized counseling services to young people. It is located in south Columbus as a program of The Starr Commonwealth Schools.
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This church, founded in 1866, is the oldest Black congregation in Akron. After worshiping in several locations, the congregation held a fund-raiser to help finance the construction of a permanent home. The person collecting the most money had the privilege of renaming the church. That honor went to Mrs. Belle (Smith) Wesley. Completed in 1928, the current structure is a Neo-Classical Revival style building, featuring a classical pedimented portico, or porch, and four distinctive ionic columns. An education wing was added in 1963 by the late Rev. Dr. E. E. Morgan, Jr. Akron Black architects Herbert L. Wardner and John O. Somerville designed the church, and then a Black contractor, Samuel Plato, completed the structure. The church has long been a vital religious and social focal point for Akron’s Black community. The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was organized at Wesley Temple. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places 3/19/94.
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Now ranked among the country’s finest, the zoo began in 1900 with one large woodchuck in a box at Walbridge Park. After the organization of the Toledo Zoological Society, 1905-10, the zoo began its steady growth, particularly after 1923 under the leadership of Percy C. Jones. An ambitious federal construction program during the Great Depression of the 1930s provided several major structures.(See other side)
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Generations of the Barker family lived in the house that stood at 89 Wood Street from 1875 to 1973. George W. Barker (1836-1913) was born enslaved in Virginia, emancipated age 13, and settled in Mansfield by 1870. He worked as a well-known chef in downtown hotels. In December 1873, Barker married Dayton-native Harriet J. Hurley (1840-1925). The next April, he purchased a corner plot in Snyder’s Subdivision for $450. Completed by 1875, his original brick house sheltered Barker, his wife, and his mother-in-law, Eliza Hurley (1815-1885). The Barker’s children — Sumner (1875-1890) and Sarah Daisy (1877-1973) — were born there. The Barker family were one of Mansfield’s historic Black families and members of the First Congregational Church. Their house once included a decorative wooden porch, numerous outbuildings, and served as an important community gathering place.
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In 1854, Samuel and Rebecca McClellan Collins deeded 1.28 acres to Beavercreek Township, Greene County, for the purpose of building a schoolhouse. The first two schoolhouses were constructed of stone with fireplaces for heat. Collins neighborhood children in first through eighth grade were educated in the present red brick building until 1944, when decreased enrollment forced Xenia Township to close the school. Virgil and Helen Bryson Brantley, great-granddaughter of Samuel and Rebecca Collins, purchased the school property in 1982 and began the restoration of the vandalized and deteriorated schoolhouse. The pony/coal shed and privies were rebuilt on their foundations. (Continued on other side)
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Established in 1879 by Chicago industrialist William P. Rend as a coal mining town, Rendville became a place where African Americans broke the color barrier. In 1888, Dr. Isaiah Tuppins, the first African American to receive a medical degree in Ohio, was elected Rendville’s mayor, also making him the first African American to be elected a mayor in Ohio. Richard L. Davis arrived in Rendville in 1882 and became active in the Knights of Labor. He was one of the labor organizers from the Little Cities of Black Diamonds region who helped found the United Mine Workers of America in 1890. An outstanding writer and orator, Davis was elected to UMWA’s national executive board and organized thousands of African Americans and immigrants to join the union. (continued on other side)
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During the 9-month Hocking Valley Coal Strike beginning in June 1884, tensions between the Columbus & Hocking Coal and Iron Company and striking miners led to violence and destruction. Starting October 11, 1884, unknown men pushed burning mine cars into six mines located around New Straitsville to protest being replaced by “scab” workers. Mine operators attempted to plug all fissures to no avail. As years passed, ground collapsed under buildings and roadbeds, and mine gases seeped into schools and homes. Residents were evicted and homes demolished. Potatoes baked in the heated soil and roses bloomed in the winter. At times, the fire soared 100 feet in the air and could be seen for five miles. (Continued on other side).
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Early in 1942, during World War II, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers acquired 640 acres along two miles of U. S. Route 30 South (now State Route 309) from ten landowners. By June 11 of that year, the farm families were removed and construction of The Marion Engineer Depot (MED) began, costing $4 million. The first military encampment in Marion County, the 333rd Engineering Regiment, arrived in May and established its camp in a wheat field. They lived in tents while constructing streets and railroad tracks around the Depot. MED was dedicated on December 7, 1942. During the war, food, munitions, equipment, and other military supplies flowed in and out of MED and heavy machinery was renovated. Peak employment came in July 1944 with 1,487 civilian and 47 military personnel on site. (Continued on other side)