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1-8 Ulysses S. Grant Boyhood Home
U.S. Grant, general-in-chief of the Armies of the United States, 18th president and first native Ohioan to be elected chief executive, lived in this house from 1824 to 1839. Jesse R. Grant, his father, built the original part fronting Water Street in 1824 and later built an addition fronting Main Cross Street, now Grant Avenue. […]
2-8 Dixon-Washburn Log House
This house originally stood at Logan’s Gap, Union Township. By tradition, it was constructed in 1793 by Indian scouts William Dixon and Cornelius Washburn who became residents of Brown County. Dixon lived in this house until 1800.
4-8 Ripley / The John P. Parker House
Ripley was incorporated as the village of Staunton in 1812. Its name was changed in 1816 to honor General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, a hero of the War of 1812. In the years before railroads, Ripley was a principal Ohio River shipping center. Also important were its extensive boat-building, tobacco, pork, and timber industries. Ripley too […]
21-7 Watt Car and Wheel Company
Joseph Watt and son James H. started a small foundry in 1862 making plow points, window sash weights, and heating stoves. Later, brothers Stewart, Ross, and John W. joined and the name became J.H. Watt and Brothers. Securing a patent for a self-oiling mine car wheel, the business expanded to this 27-acre site. In 1891, […]
18-7 Cornelius D. Battelle, Methodist Circuit Rider / The First United Methodist Church, Bellaire
Cornelius D. Battelle was born July 13, 1807 in Washington County, Ohio. He entered the Methodist Episcopal Church on October 30, 1825 and the Pittsburgh Methodist Conference in 1833. He was assigned pastoral circuit duties in rural eastern Ohio and the small river settlement of “Belle Aire” where he delivered his first sermon in a […]
19-7 Captain Thomas Drummond
Here lies Thomas Drummond (1832-1865)- legislator, abolitionist and soldier. Raised in eastern Ohio, he moved to Iowa where he served in the General Assembly and secured the location of the State Asylum for the Blind at Vinton. As editor of the “Vinton Eagle”, he was an outspoken opponent of slavery. During the Civil War, Drummond […]
20-7 Groundbreaking Site of the National Road in Ohio / Belmont County
Near this site on July 4, 1825 ground was broken in Ohio for the National Road. The National Road was America’s first federally planned and funded highway and linked the east coast of the United States to Old Northwest Territory. Albert Gallatin, President Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury, conceived the idea for the road […]
15-7 Union Square and Its Uses / The Question of Ownership
Labeled “Union Square” on the first village maps, block 12 of the City of Bellaire was formed by joining portions of the Harris and Rodefer Farms in 1857. Used for tent shows, circuses, political meetings, and playing baseball, the land during the Civil War was used as a canteen for feeding Union recruits from nearby […]
16-7 Bellaire High School Clock Tower / Central School Clock Tower and Bell
The Bellaire High School Clock Tower was erected in 1925 as the second town clock to be mounted on Bellaire’s public schools. C.W. Bates of Wheeling designed this tower, built by C.D. Keyser & Co. of Bellaire. The school building stretches 256 feet along 35th Street, and the tower rises 40 feet above the 3rd […]
17-7 Governor Arthur St. Clair – 1734-1818
Born in Scotland. From 1787-1802, was first governor of the Northwest Territory, which included Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. St. Clair established territorial court system and Ohio’s first nine counties, including Belmont in 1801 and named St. Clairsville its county seat. St. Clair’s promotion to major general in 1777 recognized his […]