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7-1 Seaman
Founded 1887 by John Q. Roads on the Cincinnati & Eastern Railway (1881) and the Old West Union Road (1807). Incorporated 1911. Named after Franklin Seaman who donated land to the railroad for a station. Home of Will Rogers, “The Black King of the Air,” the only black hot air balloonist in the U.S. in […]
8-1 Rome (Stout Post Office)
(Stout Post Office) A thriving riverport in the 19th Century, founded in 1835 by William Stout. Elisha Stout, son of William, born and raised here, was one of the founding fathers of Omaha, Nebraska, and Denver, Colorado. Former site of Adamsville which served as the county seat of Adams County from Dec., 1797, to Dec., […]
9-1 Winchester, Ohio–1815 / Morgan’s Raid–1863
Founded November 8, 1815 by General Joseph Darlington and named for his Virginia birthplace, Winchester was incorporated in 1864 and later became the eastern terminus of the Cincinnati and Eastern Railway (1877-1880). The first locomotive to enter Winchester, the “Dick Thomson,” was named after a local businessman who was largely responsible for building the railroad. […]
1-1 Bradford Tavern 1804
The Bradford Tavern, West Union’s first inn built ca. 1804, served the Maysville-Zanesville stagecoach route and such travelers as Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Santa Anna. After 1840, it was continued as the Marlatt House and, later, the Crawford House. Robert Lawler operated it as the Commercial Hotel, 1904-1919. In 1936, Mr. and Mrs. William […]
15-1 Serpent Mound
One of North America’s most spectacular effigy mounds, Serpent Mound is a gigantic earthen sculpture representative of a snake. Built on a spur of rock overlooking Ohio Brush Creek around 1000 A.D. by the Fort Ancient culture, the earthwork was likely a place of ceremonies dedicated to a powerful serpent spirit. The site is located […]
11-1 Manchester, Ohio First Settlement Virginia Military District
In 1784, the state of Virginia ceded all of its Northwest Territory to the federal government except for this tract to satisfy the land bounties owed to its Revolutionary War soldiers. The Virginia Military District extended from the Scioto River in the east to the Little Miami River in the west, and from the Ohio […]
14-1 Lafferty Funeral Collection
The William Lafferty Memorial Funeral and Carriage Collection shows the development of the funeral business since the mid-1800s through an exhibit of caskets, funeral clothing, and hearses collected and preserved by James William Lafferty (1912 – 1987). William was a member the fourth generation of Laffertys to serve West Union and Adams County. Characteristic of […]
13-1 Israel Donalson Member of the First Constitutional Convention of Ohio / Manchester Founders Cemetery 1791-1888
In May 1800, Congress passed an act dividing the Northwest Territory, with the western division becoming Indiana Territory and the eastern called the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River. Two years later, thirty-five delegates from the nine counties of the latter division convened in Chillicothe to draw up the constitution for […]
12-1 First Presbyterian Church / Thomas Kirker
The First Presbyterian Church of West Union, built in 1810, is known as the “Church of the Governors.” Although the date is uncertain, the congregation was organized circa 1800 on Thomas Kirker’s land on Eagle Creek, about three miles from West Union. Kirker, Ohio’s second governor, was influential in organizing the congregation and raising funds […]
10-1 The Bentonville Anti-Horse Thief Society
Originally a vigilante group, the Bentonville Anti-Horse Thief Society was formed here in March 1853 by area landowners to recover stolen horses and mules and to prosecute thieves. Horse theft was a serious offense in the antebellum era. Trustees nominated a captain and riders, who received a $10 reward upon the capture of a thief […]