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.

9-46 Free Servicemen’s Canteen, 1942-1946

Side A: Representative of the patriotic spirit of the homefront during World War II, the Big Four Route Veterans Association Women’s Auxiliary No. 3 operated a free canteen service for troops in a small white building on the platform of the New York Central Railroad. Staffed and funded entirely by volunteers, donations came from ten counties. The 170 volunteer ladies met servicemen with welcoming words, thousands of sandwiches, desserts, fruits, drinks, and cigarettes, despite federal government rationing restrictions. Approximately 702,779 soldiers, sailors, and marines were fed on their trips to and from the European and Pacific theaters of war. This was one of the few known canteens known to serve all nationalities and races. Margaret Clingerman, who started the canteen, influenced the establishment of six other canteens in Ohio.
Side B: Same
Sponsors: Logan County Historical Society and The Ohio Historical Society
Address: 301 W. Columbus Avenue, 
Bellefontaine, 
OH, 
43311
Location: Immediately E of RR tracks between Mill St. and Elm St
Latitude: 40.3613460
Longitude: -83.7637590