Remarkable Ohio

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421 Black River Landing
Lorain

, OH

Prior to the Civil War, Ohio was a leading state for enslaved Americans of African decent traveling the Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada. For these fugitives, their final stop in Ohio was a Lake Erie port community in the north. One such port was at the mouth of the Black River in Lorain that came to be identified as Lorain Station 100, named because it was thought to be one of the last stops or stations before the fugitive slaves reached freedom in Canada. Many arrived here in a wagon driven by Robbins Burrell who owned a farm five miles up the Black River. Concealed by vegetables, grains, or hay, the slaves were smuggled into schooners, some of which belonged to Burrell’s cousin Captain Aaron Root. From Lorain Station 100, the determined travelers were transported across Lake Erie, completing the final leg of their long journey to freedom.

323 Wick Avenue
Youngstown

, OH

St. Augustine Episcopal Chapel was founded by Lenora Evans Berry, an African American woman, in 1907. A lifelong Baptist, her mission was the development of the Episcopal Church for African Americans in Youngstown. Mrs. Berry’s husband, bricklayer Thomas D. Berry, the son of master builder P. Ross Berry, became the church’s first senior warden and treasurer. The congregation met in St. John’s Parish until they were able to obtain property on Parmalee Avenue. In 1912, Reverend John Ogburn was officially called to vicar. In 1920, work began on plans for a new church. The structure was designed by Charles F. Owsley and construction began after more than six hundred individuals from the community attended the laying of the church’s corner stone on September 11, 1921. St. Augustine Chapel is the oldest African American church and congregation in Youngstown still in its original location and structure.

Huron

, OH

Old Homestead-on-the-Lake was established on August 7, 1927, when the Old Homestead Beach Association was granted ownership of Harbor View Beach, Mansell Beach, tennis courts, and two parks from R. A. Breckenridge, trustee for owner Metta Breckenridge. The former lake front farm area, noted for having one of the finest beaches on Lake Erie and once owned by Aaron Wright Meeker, became a site primarily for summer cottages in the spring of 1922 when Greenleaf Realty began selling lots. The original entrance served as Stop 22 1/2 for the Lake Shore Electric and serves today as a reminder when Huron became a vacation destination, which forever changed the village.

415 Xenia Avenue
Yellow Springs

, OH

Virginia Hamilton was an author who was born in Yellow Springs in 1934, living and writing here for much of her life. She referred to her works as “Liberation Literature.” focusing on the struggles and journeys of African Americans. Hamilton published more than forty books in a variety of genres, including realistic novels, science fiction, picture books, folktales and mysteries. Some of her most beloved titles include The House of Dies Drear, M.C. Higgins the Great, Her Stories and The People Could Fly. Her books have had a profound influence on the study of race throughout American history, the achievements of African Americans, and the ramifications of racism. Hamilton received numerous awards for her writing before passing away in 2002. Her work is enshrined at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

1800 W Erie Ave
Lorain

, OH

Quincy Adams Gillmore, considered one of the greatest military engineers and artillerists of the Civil War, was born to Quartus Gillmore and Elizabeth Reid Gillmore at this location in 1825. He attended Norwalk Academy and taught high school in Elyria before embarking on a military career. Graduating first in his class at West Point in 1849, he entered the Corps of Engineers. In August 1861, he served in the Union’s Port Royal expedition in South Carolina and later in the reduction of Fort Pulaski, which defended the water approach to Savannah, Georgia. The fort, considered impregnable to artillery, fell to Gillmore’s rifled cannon on April 11, 1862, after a two-day bombardment. His success effectively ended the use of large masonry fortifications. (Continued on other side)

NE Corner of E. Ward and N. Kenton Streets
Urbana

, OH

In 1805, a burial ground was dedicated to Champaign County at the intersection of Ward and Kenton Streets, which was then at Urbana’s town limits. It remained open until 1856. Among those interred there was Elizabeth Kenton, eight-year-old daughter of Simon Kenton. When she died in 1810, Kenton, the county jailer, was forbidden from crossing out of the town limits due to his unpaid debts. After following the funeral procession as far as he could, he watched Elizabeth’s burial from across the street. Also buried there were unknown soldiers from the War of 1812; Captain Arthur Thomas and son, who were killed by Native Americans in August 1813; four Bell children, who died in the tornado of March 22, 1830; and numerous early settlers of Champaign County. Many, but not all, were reinterred and rest in Oak Dale Cemetery.

250 East Market Street
Akron

, OH

On May 1, 1950, the Akron Community Service Center and Urban League building opened to the public. The Center was a gathering place for African Americans of the community, where they addressed workplace, education, and other issues dividing the city. Directors included the late George W. Thompson, Raymond Brown and Vernon L. Odom. The Center provided space for meetings, classes and receptions and had a swimming pool and gymnasium. The Center also hosted talent shows, which included the musicians who became Ruby and the Romantics. The group scored a #1 hit in 1963 with “Our Day Will Come.”

462 Portage Lakes Drive
Coventry Township

, OH

The land on which Coventry Township is situated was ceded in 1785 to the United States by the Delaware, Chippewa, Ottawa, and Wyandot tribes under the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. The area was a choice location for Native Americans, settlers, and fur traders due to the abundant bodies of water and proximity to the Portage Path, a land connection between the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga rivers and Lake Erie. In 1788, Coventry Township was initially part of Washington County, the first county formed in the Ohio Territory. After Moses Warren finished a survey in 1797, a succession of county splits located Coventry Township in Jefferson County, Trumbull County, Portage County, and, finally, Summit County in 1840. The township originally encompassed Summit Lake and the lands south to the southern line of the Western Reserve (Green-New Franklin lines). Daniel Haines was the first resident to settle in Coventry Township in 1806.