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Culbertson Covered Bridge was built in 1872-1873 by Reuben L. Partridge at a cost of $1,375, using his “Partridge Block” truss design. This bridge was originally constructed across Treacle’s Creek on State Route 4, south of Milford Center. In 1921, the bridge was replaced, but the wooden superstructure was saved for reuse for a new bridge on Winget Road. The bridge was put into place in 1922 on abutments built by Reed & Snyder. In 1988, Union County employees rehabilitated the bridge by installing wood girders inside the wood trusses and suspended the floor from the girders. The Partridge trusses currently carry only the weight of the original bridge. The steel piers under the bridge are not original.
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Benjamin Overfield (1774-1831), son of a Revolutionary War soldier, opened his tavern in this log house on September 13, 1808. Never moved, it is the oldest surviving building in Troy. The tavern provided food, lodging and space for business and social gatherings. Overfield agreed to let the county use a room on the second floor of the building as a temporary courtroom. Behind the tavern, Benjamin built a small log cabin that was home to his family. He prospered here until 1825 when he moved to the Public Square. Today’s structure includes the tavern, the cabin, and later additions. Used as a dwelling from 1825 until 1948, the building now houses the Overfield Tavern Museum. Benjamin Overfield and his first wife Mary are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.
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On January 31, 1798, Joseph Howland bought Township 4-Range 3 (Howland Twp.) for $12, 903.23 and an equalizing portion of Township 1-Range 10 (Springfield Twp.) as part of a lottery held to distribute Connecticut’s Western Reserve lands. On February 26, 1803, Dr. John Seely bought 85 acres of the Howland Township acreage that included a mineral springs and developed it into a health spa for the treatment of “scrofulous & dyspeptic diseases”. The spa became the Township’s center for culture and recreation with future Presidents James A. Garfield and William McKinley reported as frequent Howland Springs visitors. In 1873, the Shedd brothers built a three-story hotel south of the springs with a dance hall, billiard room, and bowling alley. The hotel flourished until fire destroyed it on June 16, 1882; consequently recreational use of the springs diminished. Today, the sale of spring water throughout northeastern Ohio makes Howland Springs the oldest continuous business in Howland Township.
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Thomas Stinson Cummin, owner of a successful dry goods store, built his home in the early 1870s on the outskirts of the growing village of Marion. The home was purchased in 1889 by Henry M. Barnhart, an inventor and co-founder of the Marion Steam Shovel Company. In 1927, it was sold to the Schaffner- Queen firm of funeral directors and converted into a funeral home. Franklin Schaffner had previously been responsible for the funeral arrangements for President and Mrs. Warren G. Harding. A succession of businesses has maintained the use as a funeral home. As of 2016, the building is occupied by the Denzer-Farison-Hottinger & Snyder Funeral Home. (Continued on other side)
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The center of African-American culture in Akron during the mid-20th century, Howard Street was home to many of the city’s black-owned business and entertainment establishments, and provided an atmosphere in which minority-owned businesses could thrive. Attracted to the vitality of the neighborhood, entrepreneur George Mathews (1887-1982) established a barbershop here in 1920 and in 1925 opened the adjoining Mathews Hotel. The hotel quickly became the anchor of the Howard Street district. Mathews’ success allowed him to endow a scholarship fund at the University of Akron in 1964.
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The Lakeside Volunteer Fire Protective Association responded to both fire and medical emergencies on the Marblehead Peninsula for more than 100 years. It was founded in 1905, after a devastating fire destroyed Lakeside’s business district. In 1946, the Association began providing emergency medical aid. During their service, the Lakeside Volunteer Fire Protective Association progressed from hand-drawn chemical carts to the area’s first heavy-duty fire and rescue truck. In 2013, the Association donated its assets to the newly-formed Danbury Township Volunteer Fire Department and passed into history.
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Known as the “Halfway House,” the Gooding House and Tavern was built by George B. Gooding halfway between the towns of Worthington and Delaware in 1827. Its location was influenced by construction of the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike that was chartered by the State of Ohio the year before. Also known as the “Mud Pike,” the turnpike was slow and difficult for travelers and could take nearly a day to travel 10 miles. The Gooding House was the perfect place for stagecoach drivers to change teams of horses and for travelers to rest and have refreshments. George Gooding also prospered as a farmer with over 1,000 acres of land. This stately brick farmstead remained in the Gooding family for 175 years with each succeeding generation adding its imprint on the property. The Gooding House and Tavern was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and restored in 2007.
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The original town plat of Rawson was filed on February 3, 1855, consisting of fifty-five lots in sections 13 and 14 of Union Township, Hancock County on the Frederick Keller and George J. Kelly farms. Several residential and business structures were built in anticipation of completion of a railroad rumored to pass from Fremont through the “Rawson” area on its way to the western boundary of Ohio. Farmers Keller and Kelly named their village Rawson after L.Q. Rawson, President of the railroad company, hoping that the name would encourage him to build through their area. Financial troubles delayed construction causing a standstill in Rawson. Seventeen years later the first locomotive arrived in Rawson, spurring new construction. At that time the railroad was called the Lake Erie and Louisville; in 1879 it was changed to the Lake Erie and Western and in 1922 became part of the Nickel Plate Railroad. (Continued on other side)