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Its location and the tides of war established Gallipolis, then a town of some 3,000, as a point of strategic military importance to the Union upon the outbreak of the conflict in 1861. It was destined during the next four years to play a role without counterpart in Ohio. Here through this troop concentration area passed thousands of soldiers to the great campaigns. Here the traditional peacetime activity of the town, long a depot of supplies for the Kanawha Valley, was turned to military purposes for maintaining armies in the field. Here riverside warehouses held vast military stores to be transported by steamboat. Here newly-mustered troops set up Camp Carrington in a wheat field on the upper side of town. Here the women of Gallipolis helped minister to thousands of wounded and sick in an army hospital
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The West Salem City Hall reflects a late-1800s municipal trend to house many civic functions under one roof. The fire station, jail, and council chambers occupied the ground level, while the second floor hosted a public auditorium, or “opera house.” Designed by native son William K. Shilling, later an internationally prominent architect, the Romanesque-style building was completed in 1899 at a cost of $9,077 and soon became the center of civic life in West Salem. Band concerts, vaudeville shows, town meetings, and graduation ceremonies were conducted in the opera house during its heyday before World War II. During the Cold War it was designated as a Civil Defense emergency field hospital. It remains a focal point of the West Salem community.
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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.
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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.
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A pioneer furniture manufacturer and philanthropist, Erie J. Sauder (1904-1997) was born and reared on a farm in Archbold. With the help of his wife Leona, he began woodworking in their town barn in 1934. Crafting tables and church pews, the Sauder Woodworking Company grew quickly. Sauder’s 1951 invention of an easily shipped table kit heralded the modern ready-to-assemble furniture industry and firmly established the company as one of Fulton County’s primary employers. In 1976 Sauder founded the Sauder Village to interpret nineteenth century rural lifestyles in the Black Swamp region.
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Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins of Virginia, with 350 Confederate cavalrymen, crossed the Ohio River near this point on September 3, 1862, and advanced to Racine. After occupying the town for a few hours and after seizing a dozen horses, the troops re-crossed the river at Wolf’s Bar. This was the first invasion of Ohio soil by Confederate troops during the Civil War.
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Built in 1894 at a cost of $575, this bridge spanned Town Creek at Hoghe Road (Township Road 82) for 100 years. The Van Wert County Commissioners approved the bridge’s construction in response to requests from the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw Railroad Company. The span is an example of the truss-leg bedstead design. It was intended to handle heavy loads traveling to and from area railroad tracks, which were less than a mile from the bridge’s original location. The bridge was removed from Hoghe Road in 1994. The Van Wert County Engineer’s Department rehabilitated the bridge and, with the permission of the Van Wert County Agricultural Society, relocated it to the county fairgrounds in 1997.
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This monument marks the square of the village of Risdon founded 1832. The land was owned by John Gorsuch, who settled here with his family in a clearing along the Portage River in 1831. He had a plat of the area made by David Risdon, Seneca County surveyor, after who the town was named. This plat was officially recorded September 13, 1832. The village of Risdon had the first church and post office, and has the oldest house in Fostoria.
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