Remarkable Ohio

Counties

Below is a complete listing of all Ohio Historical Markers. To find a detailed marker listing including text, photographs, and locations, click on a county below. Our listing is updated by the markers program as new markers are installed and older markers are reported damaged or missing.

2-85 Historic John Mishler Weaving Mill

Side A: Johann Mischler (changed to John Mishler), 1852-1930, and his wife Rosina Beyeler Mischler, 1852-1927, were born in Switzerland and came to the United States in 1882. They moved to Smithville in 1887 where John, a weaver by trade, built a mill to produce rugs and carpets on a hand operated timber framed barn beam loom. Three belt driven looms were added in the early 1900s powered by steam and later diesel. About 1915, the weaving mill became the first business in Smithville to be operated by electricity. The mill wove cloth for fruit presses and dishcloths and towels and was the only producer of cheesecloth in the United States for the Swiss cheese industry. It produced 40,000 pounds of cloth per year. John’s son Daniel took over the mill in 1930 and moved it a block away to its present location. Charles Norris purchased the mill in 1983. Ten years later, it was purchased and restored by the Smithville Community Historical Society.
Side B: Same
Sponsors: Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Smithville Community Historical Society, and The Ohio Historical Society
Smithville, 
OH, 
44677
Location: 381 Mill & 391 Home, E. Main Street
Latitude: 40.8656040
Longitude: -81.8556950