Remarkable Ohio

Results for: entertainment-recreation
1004 Chapel Street
Cincinnati

, OH

Walnut Hills has been home to a significant middle- and working-class Black community since the 1850s. In 1931, African American entrepreneur Horace Sudduth bought 1004 Chapel Street and then the row of buildings across Monfort, naming them the Manse Hotel and Annex. Throughout the 1940s, hotel dinner parties could move to the Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs house next door for dancing. A large addition to the Manse in 1950 created its own ballroom, 24-hour coffee shop, upgraded Sweetbriar Restaurant, and more guest rooms. It appeared in the Negro Motorist’s Green Book between 1940-1963, providing local, transient, and residential guests both catered meetings and top entertainment during the last decades of segregation. It closed in the late 1960s when the economic need for a first-class segregated hotel disappeared in the age of Black Power.

5 S. Mechanic Street (OH 60)
Hayesville

, OH

This building was a center of community life from the time of its construction in 1886 to the late 1930s. Once common, such combinations of governmental offices and commercial and entertainment space are today rare. The second floor opera house retains many original features, including stage backdrops, dressing rooms, and seats. Vaudeville, theater companies, and entertainment of all kinds were hosted here and many performers signed the backstage walls: Buffalo Bill dated his signature October 28, 1888. Along with village offices, first floor tenants have included the Vermillion Township Trustees, the Eddie Stover Hat Shop, and the F.L. Smith Watch Repair and Jewelry Store. Hayesville’s citizens approved the hall’s construction on April 18, 1884 by a vote of 100 to 13. Contractor Samuel Craig completed the building two years later at a cost of $4,852.20. Located on the Lincoln Highway, this building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

S. Main St.
Magnetic Springs

, OH

Near this site in 1879, J.E. Newhouse discovered a magnetic spring in his park, Green Bend Gardens. It was found that a knife blade dipped in the water could pick up small metal objects like a magnet. The spring became known for its curative powers and was advertised as a treatment for ailments including rheumatism, gout, insomnia, and diseases of the kidneys, bladder, and nerves. To share the health-giving water, Mr. Newhouse opened the Magnetic Bath House, which became famous for its water cures. To reach a larger market, the magnetic water was sterilized and bottled and sold under the Magnetic Springs label. Advances in medicine after World War II led to the decline in the popularity of mineral baths.

SE corner of Washington Avenue and Martin Street
Greenville

, OH

One of America’s best-known sport shooters and entertainers of the late 1800s, Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Mosey (or Mozee) north of Versailles in Darke County in 1860. She achieved local fame for her shooting ability as a hunter while still in her teens. By 1885 Oakley was a star performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. With husband and manager Frank Butler, she refined a shooting act and image that appealed to late 19th century notions of a romanticized but vanishing West. Throughout her 30-year performing career, Oakley provided honest entertainment in a deception-prone industry while demonstrating widening opportunities for women. She retained her Ohio ties throughout her life and is interred at Brock Cemetery, eleven miles north of Greenville.

Devola

, OH

The Devola Lock was one of eleven built on the Muskingum River from Marietta to Ellis, north of Zanesville, from 1836 to 1841. The locks are approximately thirty-five feet wide and 160 feet long. The State of Ohio funded the project as part of the Ohio Canal System. The improvements made the shallow river navigable by steamboats. Travelers ascended over 100 feet from Marietta to Dresden on ninety miles of river. Farmers shipped corn, wheat, eggs, and wool, while manufacturers shipped goods, staples such as sugar, the mail, news, and entertainment. After 1880, competition from railroads caused a gradual decline in the river traffic. Today the locks remain in operation for the enjoyment of pleasure boaters.

Junction of Center Street & Ohio Riverbank
Ironton

, OH

In 1849, the city of Ironton was founded by local ironmasters, railroaders, and financiers associated with the Ohio Iron and Coal Company. They saw the city as a manufacturing and shipping point for their products. As a young industrial city, Ironton prospered when river transportation facilitated the development and export of Lawrence County’s natural resources and manufactured items. The Iron Railroad Company was also established to transport pig iron and manufactured goods from nearby towns to Ironton, to awaiting steamboats on the Ohio River. Steamboats, in the form of towboats, packet boats, and showboats, traveled the river providing the city with goods, services, and entertainment. The Ironton wharf and boat landing once served the community as a gathering place to greet incoming passengers, receive mail, and hear the latest news.

308 W Auglaize St
Wapakoneta

, OH

The Shannon Stock Company, also known as Shannon’s Famous Players, was a traveling theatre company based in Wapakoneta from 1913 until the Great Depression. Founded by Harry Shannon, the group included his wife Adelaide, their children, Harry Jr. and Hazel, and a company of twenty people or more. The Company performed in theatres in southern states during the winter and in a tent in Ohio, Indiana, and other Midwest states during the summer. When not performing, the Shannons prepared for the next tour while at home here in Wapakoneta. [continued on other side]

6100 Pymatuning Lake Road
Andover

, OH

The advancing and retreating mile-high glacial sheet of ice and snow shaped the countryside around this area. As the last of the ice masses melted, a great swamp developed, punctuated by towering white pines, bogs, and wetlands, fed by the Shenango and Beaver rivers. Abundant wildlife drew prehistoric and later historic Native Americans into the area where they lived and hunted for thousands of years. Indian legend has it that the name Pymatuning means “The Crooked-Mouthed Man’s Dwelling Place,” referring to a Native American chief who once resided in the area. European trappers came to these swamp lands in the 1700s in search of beaver and other fur-bearing animals. Pioneer farmers and lumbermen came to the area after 1800, but settlement in the swamp was slow and difficult. Eventually much of the area was cultivated in onions and other root crops. (continued on other side)