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Urbana University was established by the Swedenborgian Church in 1850. Bailey Hall (1853), named after Francis Bailey (1735-1815), was designed by W. Russell West, architect of the Statehouse of Ohio. Bailey was an American Revolutionary War hero, official printer of the Continental Congress and printer of The Freeman’s Journal or the North American Intelligencer. He also printed The True Christian Religion papers. John (Johnny Appleseed) Chapman (1774-1845) distributed The True Christian Religion papers along with his famous apple trees throughout Ohio as a missionary for the Swedenborgian Church. Barclay Hall (1883) was named after Hester Barclay, a ward of Francis Bailey. It was Hester Barclay’s brother-in-law, John Young, who converted Chapman to the Swedenborg faith. Francis Bailey and Hester Barclay were the first male and female Swedenborgian converts in North America. Both Bailey and Barclay halls appear on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The dream of establishing a college was born in the hearts of members of the German Brethren Church. In March 1877, a meeting was held at the Maple Grove Brethren Church to discuss the establishment of a college in Ashland. A town meeting followed in June. At this meeting residents agreed to help raise $10,000 to establish the College. On February 20, 1878, the charter and by-laws were approved and the most desirable location for the campus was chosen. Ashland College opened in 1879 with two buildings, eight faculty, and 60 students. In 1881, four male students comprised the first graduating class.
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The Dayton and Michigan Railroad provided the single most important impetus to the growth and development of Wapakoneta. Although Wapakoneta had been platted in 1833, at the time of incorporation (1848), “the town was still without any material improvement worth the name of enterprise, save in the erection of residences and opening of small retail stores and shops.” On March 15, 1854, in its first ordinance, the village council of Wapakoneta voted unanimously to grant a right-of-way to the Dayton and Michigan Railroad Company to construct a railroad line through the community. The financial backers of the railroad ran short of funds during construction, and planned to end the line at Sidney, but local leaders raised $70,000 to ensure its extension. (Continued on other side)
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In 1764, Colonel Henry Bouquet established the site of what is now Coshocton. In 1811, the county was founded and the town incorporated as the county seat. The Coshocton County Courthouse, the third on this site, was built between 1873 and 1875 by contractors Carpenter and Williams of Meadville, Pennsylvania. The Second Empire structure features a five-story tower containing a four-faced clock and the bell from the previous 1824 courthouse. The courthouse contains a notable mural by artist Arthur William Woelfle depicting the signing of Bouquet’s treaty with the Indians near the Walhonding River in November 1764. The Coshocton County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
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On this site stood the Main Gatehouse of the Anna Dean Farm, estate of Barberton town founder and industrialist Ohio C. Barber. The Anna Dean Farm was not only a lavish estate but also a farming showcase built to promote and develop scientific agricultural practices in the United States.
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Fostoria’s glass era began when natural gas was discovered in the mid 1880s at “Godsend,” five miles west of town. Aided by former governor Charles Foster, Fostoria attracted more than a dozen companies that manufactured utilitarian and decorative glassware from 1887 to 1920. These companies produced windows, bottles, tableware, lamps, shades, and electric incandescent lamps. The Fostoria Glass Company was the best-known manufacturer of glass in Fostoria. From 1887 to 1891, it made a wide variety of decorative glass including its famous “Victoria” pattern tableware. Even after the company relocated to Moundsville, West Virginia following the depletion of natural gas in the area, it retained the name “Fostoria, ” which is still synonymous with excellence in the glass-making art.
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The Bloomingburg Presbyterian Church and cemetery were established in the northwest corner of the current cemetery grounds on March 7, 1818. Several years later it became a center for anti-slavery activity. The Reverend William Dickey, who presided over the church and other members, devoted their lives to the anti-slavery cause not only in voice but also in abolitionist activity. By the mid-1800s, their work, as well as the fact that Bloomingburg had become home to a vibrant African American community, led to the town becoming the area center for the Underground Railroad, which helped transport many fugitive slaves to freedom in the north. Six soldiers from the American Revolutionary War, nineteen from the War of 1812, and over 100 from the Civil War and Spanish-American War are buried in the Bloomingburg Cemetery, including Henry Casey, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor at Vicksburg.
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Harvey Howard, a local druggist, built the house at 407 North Market Street around 1860. After many owners, Captain James B. Taylor bought the home in 1893. Taylor commanded Company H of the 120th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. He studied law after the war and moved his practice to Wooster in 1882. Taylor’s wife Emelie died in 1905 and in 1906 Taylor sold the property to become Wooster’s first city hospital. Many of the town’s noted physicians practiced here and the facility was eventually enlarged to accommodate 30 beds. The house was a hospital until 1943, when Central Christian Church purchased it. The church used the building for education programs and restored much of its decor, including four fireplaces, inlaid floors, and bronze door hardware.
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