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This 4-acre plot, established ca. 1860 by John Gee, is a burial ground for local colored citizens. John Gee was a religious leader as well as a skilled carpenter who built houses in early Gallipolis. Some Gallipolis colored pioneers were artisans while others came to work in the homes of French settlers. Leah Stewart, the first legally-recorded colored person in Gallia County, arrived in 1803. In this cemetery are the graves of numerous soldiers who served in this country’s military forces. At least 57 United States veterans rest upon this sacred site.
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The Seneca County Museum is the former home of local businessman Rezin W. Shawhan. Born in 1811, Shawhan arrived in Tiffin in 1832 and opened a store with his brother Lorenzo. The store’s success enabled Rezin to expand his interests into real estate and banking. Upon his death in 1887, his estate was valued in excess of $1 million. Much of it was bequeathed to his second wife, Della Watson Shawhan. He also left bequests to Heidelberg College, the library, and Tiffin’s churches. The Greek Revival-style house, built in 1853, was passed down through the family, ending with Lynn Troxel who, in 1941, donated it to the county for use as a museum. The house is a part of the Fort Ball-Railroad Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
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Through the terms of his will, absentee British landowner Samuel Gist (c. 1723-1815) freed his 350 slaves in Virginia. Gist intended that these freed people would remain on the land and receive instruction in Christianity and that schools would be established for their children. The settlement of Gist’s estate funded the relocation of the freed slaves to Ohio. Gist’s executors acquired over 2,200 acres of land in Ohio. These lands included two large tracts in Scott and Eagle Townships in Brown County in 1819 and another 207 acres in Fairfield Township (now Penn Township) in Highland County in 1831 and 1835. As of 2010, no descendants of the freed Gist slaves lived in the original Scott Township settlement.
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In recognition of its noteworthy representation of the history, culture, and architecture of the Western Reserve, Burton Village’s Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Historic District, an area of approximately 20 acres surrounding the Village Green and along streets at the north end of the Green, includes 15 buildings of historical significance built between 1815 and 1891. Preserved within the District are commercial and public buildings and private dwellings that reflect the cultural and architectural development of a village of the Western Reserve of Ohio during the 19th century. Buildings in the predominant architectural styles of the 19th century are all represented in the Historic District, including Western Reserve, Greek Revival, Second Empire, Italianate, and Queen Anne. [Continued on other side]
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Most of the homes in this district were constructed after the creation of the Mackinaw Development Corporation in 1887. The corporation was named for the Cincinnati, Jackson, and Mackinaw Railroad which arrived in Franklin from Darke County in 1886. The corporation subdivided the farm of Lewis Gaston Anderson, whose Italian Villa-style home still stands at the northwest corner of Miami and Lake Avenues. Anderson was a grain and lumber dealer in Franklin, who in 1881 was elected to the 65th Ohio General Assembly as a state senator. (Continued on other side)
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Cemetery vaults were used to store bodies in winter when the ground was too frozen to break manually. Locust Grove’s vault was constructed of locally quarried sandstone in 1872. The interior showcases the mason’s skills: the walls are smooth and the ceiling is arched. Tools, markers, and cemetery supplies replaced bodies after it became possible to break frozen ground with mechanical excavating equipment. In 1997, the 138-ton vault was moved approximately twenty-five feet northwest from its original location to make way for land development. Ethan Alling established Locust Grove Cemetery in 1846.
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Ohio Columbus Barber, a wealthy Ohio businessman and founder of Barberton, retired in 1905 to develop his Anna Dean Farm. Built in 1910, the colt barn was a part of this 3000-acre estate. Although originally intended for bulls, the building was converted in 1912 to a stable for colts. Akron architects Harpster and Bliss designed the barn, and it was the smallest on the farm. Like many buildings erected by Barber, the colt barn features the patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme he favored. Between Barber’s death in 1920 and the founding of the Barberton Historical Society in 1974, all but nine of the estate’s thirty-five original buildings were razed. The historical society saved the colt barn in 1978, which led to the birth of the city’s historic preservation movement. The society completed restoration of the colt barn in 1998 with a grant from the Barberton Community Foundation.
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Erected in 1828, the Randolph Mitchell House is a five-bay, Federal-style “I” house. Its facade features a doorway with an Adam-style fan and sidelights. The interior boasts a grand stairway in the foyer and fine woodwork throughout. Randolph Mitchell (1796-1847) was born in Rockingham County, Virginia. In 1819, Mitchell and his mother Sarah (1765-1844), settled in New Reading and he married Lydia Witmer (1798-1872). They had four children. A merchant, Mitchell kept an ample smokehouse and owned a tannery and real estate. He served as a justice of the peace for Reading Township. After Mitchell’s death, his son-in-law, Dr. W.W. Arnold (1818-1872) maintained his practice in the home, where he and Caroline Mitchell Arnold (1825-1888) lived. Their son William Arnold (1858-1948) acquired the house, which remained in the family until 1951. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
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