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The 19th century saw a great migration of Quakers from the Carolinas and from eastern Ohio to southwestern Ohio. Attracted by rich soil and abundance of fresh water and springs, Quakers became the dominant religious group in the region. Clinton County was referred to as the “Quaker County of Ohio.” In August 1870, members of the Society of Friends purchased at an auction an unfinished building on 14 acres of land and founded Wilmington College, the first Quaker institution of higher learning established in Ohio. College Hall is the original structure and the first classes commenced in April 1871. Wilmington’s importance as a Quaker center grew with the founding of Wilmington College, which houses the Quaker Collection of historical, literary, and genealogical publications in the Watson Library.
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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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The Exaltation/Elevation of the Holy Cross Church served both Byzantine Greek and Russian Orthodox Catholic congregations from 1915 to 1967. As Slovak migrants found work in the Cambridge coal fields of Guernsey and Noble Counties, they dreamed of a place to worship surrounded by the religious rites and iconography of their homeland. On January 26, 1914, Daniel Varhola, John Fetkovich, John Demko, Stephen Varhola, and Mike Zeleznik (trustees of the “Greek Catholic Church, which is united forever with the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church”) purchased land on a hill overlooking Belle Valley. The two-sided cornerstone, inscribed in Russian and Slovak, was blessed November 15, 1915. For over 50 years, the church anchored the Eastern European immigrants living in Belle Valley to the ethnic identity and traditions of their homeland. (Continued on other side)
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Evansport is named after brothers Amos and Albert G. Evans who, with Jacob Coy, had the village surveyed next to the Tiffin River on December 14, 1835. The “port” suffix in Evansport’s name reflects the river’s significance as a transportation thoroughfare. Evansport’s early growth was spurred by its mills powered by the Tiffin River. The mills provided settlers with lumber for buildings and supplied flour and cornmeal for sustenance and commerce. Settlers who poured into Williams County’s northern townships in the 1830s agitated debate about moving the county seat to a more centralized location. Evansport was platted as a possible site for the county seat. The Williams County seat was moved to Bryan in 1840 and in 1845 Defiance County was created, leaving Evansport on the Williams-Defiance county line.
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Clinton County was a major center of activity for the Shawnee, Miami, and Delaware Indians. Early traces and trails developed as Indians traveled from village to village; gathered flint, salt and gold; traded furs, mica, and feldspar; and hunted bear, deer, otters, raccoons, foxes, wild cats, turkeys, and other wildlife. Trails throughout the county connected to other trails and villages in Ohio such as Lower Shawnee Town (now Portsmouth), Hurricane Tom’s Town (now Piketon), Chillicothe, Old Town (near Xenia), and Miami Town (now Dayton). Major trails or traces in Clinton County included the Bullskin, Wayne, Chillicothe, Delaware, Fort Ancient, Kanawha, Kenton and Todds Fork Traces. These routes were the avenues the first white settlers followed. (continued on other side)
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William Bruce founded and platted the city of Eaton in 1806. Born in Virginia in 1762, Bruce relocated to Ohio in 1793. In 1806, he purchased nearly two thousand acres of land from the government for the founding of Eaton. Bruce, a Revolutionary War veteran, named the town for General William Eaton, a veteran of the Tripolitan War, a war fought between the United States and the Barbary States from 1800-1805. Some of Eaton’s principal streets also took their names from other Tripolitan War veterans, including Somers, Decatur, and Israel. Bruce established the first sawmill and gristmill in Eaton and often distributed corn meal to the needy and deserving. He also made liberal donations of land for the benefit of the town, and sold many lots inexpensively or on partial payment to induce settlers to locate in the town. William Bruce died in 1830 and is interred in the Mound Hill Cemetery in Eaton.
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This historic marker is on the western boundary of the original 10 acre Rio Grande College Campus, founded and endowed by Nehemiah and Permelia Atwood. The campus was located on the southeast corner of the Atwood Farm. Construction of Atwood Hall and the Boarding Hall began in 1875. The College was organized on November 1, 1875, dedicated on August 29, 1876, and opened for classes on September 13, 1876. Rio Grande College was incorporated as a non-profit educational institution by the State of Ohio on May 30, 1883.
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This Little Red Schoolhouse served children from Berea, Brookpark, and Middleburg township. The first mayor and council of Middleburgh Heights were elected here. During its colorful history, the schoolhouse has been a City Hall where town meetings were held, a speak-easy, a railroad way station, and a private residence.