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35-78 Mineral Ridge Black Band Ore
The discovery in the mid-19th century of iron-rich black band ore in this region helped revitalize Mahoning Valley’s iron industry. The land now called Mineral Ridge was primarily a farming community before the 1850s. In the 1830s, coal was discovered and mining began on a small scale. For years, it was believed that the coal […]
34-78 The Salt Springs
A salt spring, located about a mile west of this site, was the primary attraction for immigrants to the Western Reserve territory in the mid-1700s. Prior to European-American settlement, Indians used the springs, boiling the water to extract the salt and using it for preserving meat among other uses. In 1755, surveyor Lewis Evans underscored […]
33-78 Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal in Leavittsburg
In January 1827, the Ohio State Legislature chartered the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal Company to build an east-west “cross cut” canal connecting north-south canals in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The route ran from the Beaver Canal in Pennsylvania to the Ohio & Erie Canal in Akron. In Ohio, the canal ran through the towns of Youngstown, […]
32-78 The Ward-Thomas House / The Wards and the Thomases
Niles’ industrialist James Ward, Sr. built the house that shares his family’s name in 1862. The house has a low-pitched roof, wide, bracketed eaves, and rounded window and door openings, all characteristics of the Italianate style. John R. Thomas, another industrialist, acquired the house in 1887. His daughter Mary Ann Waddell, wife of Jacob Waddell, […]
31-78 Bristol Public Library, 1912
In 1912, an endowment of $6,000 from Andrew Carnegie made it possible for the Bristol Public Library to become a reality. Four years earlier, the newly organized Bristol Library Association, headed and promoted by retired Judge Norman A. Gilbert, had established a subscription book service at the Congregational Church in Bristolville with books loaned from […]
30-78 Vienna Township / Vienna Township Green and Cemetery
The Connecticut Land Company surveyed Vienna Township as Township 4, Range 2, in 1798. The Township’s proprietors were Ephraim Root, Uriel Holmes, Jr., and Timothy Burr. Survey members Dennis Clark Palmer, Isaac Flower, and Samuel Hutchins and their families were the first to settle here in 1799. Between 1810 and 1840, Vienna was a center […]
29-78 Southington Township Centralized School and Monument Park
Southington native Newton Chalker built, furnished, and donated Chalker High School to his community in 1907. Chalker was born in 1842 in Southington Township and lived there until adulthood. He later built a prosperous law and real estate practice in Akron. Chalker’s dedication to improve educational opportunities in the township likely originated with his personal […]
27-78 The Underground Railroad
Activity of the Underground Railroad is believed to have begun in Brookfield Township around 1838 with the first known runaway slaves, two women, to pass through in 1843. Freedom seekers moved north using a system of routes known by operators, or “conductors”. Trumbull County reputedly had over 150 miles of Underground Railroad routes, which would […]
26-78 Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal 1839-1872 / The Cross-Cut Canal in Warren
The decision to build the P&O Canal resulted from several canal conventions at Warren’s first courthouse in 1833. Canal advocates from Warren included Simon Perkins, Leicester King, David Tod, and Calvin Pease. Finished in 1840, this 82 mile canal linked two north-south canals, the Beaver Canal and the Ohio and Erie Canal, via an east-west […]
25-78 Camp Hutchins-Warren’s Civil War Training Camp / Camp Hutchins and the 6th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry
After the outbreak of the Civil War in the spring of 1861, the U.S. War Department commissioned Ohio Senator B.F. Wade of Jefferson and local Congressman John Hutchins of Warren to supervise the Union Army’s recruiting service in Northeastern Ohio. Recruitment rolls were to be filled in summer so training could be conducted during the […]