7-46 Flatwoods Schoolhouse

7-46 Flatwoods Schoolhouse 00

Descendants of slaves, who may have reached Ohio through the Underground Railroad, and other African Americans, formed the community of Flatwoods in the southwest part of Bokescreek Township. This one-room schoolhouse was built circa 1868 for African American children of Flatwoods and remained open until 1923. Remnants of past lessons remain inscribed on the chalkboard. […]

6-46 Campbell Hill

6-46 Campbell Hill 00

Campbell Hill is named for Charles D. Campbell of Bellefontaine, who owned this land from 1898 to 1937. A marble stone marker atop the hill, set in 1900 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, marks it as the highest point in Ohio at an elevation of 1549.09 feet. In 1951, the federal government established […]

5-46 The Mills Brothers

5-46 The Mills Brothers 00

Born in Piqua, Ohio, the Mills Brothers grew up and attended school in Bellefontaine. The brothers — John, Jr., Herbert, Harry, and Donald Mills — were the first African-American vocal group to perform on a national radio broadcast and achieve commercial success. Enjoying worldwide fame throughout their career, the Mills Brothers popularized such hits as […]

3-46 West Liberty / Glover Hall

3-46 West Liberty  Glover Hall 00

The West Liberty area, in the Mad River Valley, was the location of at least seven Shawnee Indian villages. This elevated site was the location of one of those villages. Several septs or divisions of the Shawnee nation lived in this area after being forced from their homes in southern Ohio. In 1786, together with […]

2-46 Earl S. Sloan 1848-1923

2-46 Earl S Sloan 1848-1923 03

Earl Sloan’s accumulation of a fortune from the formulation and sale of “Sloan’s Liniment” resulted in the creation of a living legacy. To “honor the place of his nativity” Dr. Earl Sloan donated funds to build the Sloan Library for the people of Zanesfield. With a wish to teach boys and girls “trades, mechanical and […]

1-46 Oldest Concrete Street in America

1-46 Oldest Concrete Street in America 00

America’s first concrete streets were those which surrounded this court house. Concrete was first used in 1891 to provide an 8-foot strip along Main Street where horses were hitched. Two years later Court Avenue was paved with concrete made from native marl supplied by the Buckeye Cement Company, 8 miles to the northeast. This marker […]

14-46 Ebenezer Zane Cabin

14-46 Ebenezer Zane Cabin 00

The house of Ebenezer Zane was built here in 1805. The structure was the meeting place for the First Methodist Quarterly Conference in 1819 where over 300 settlers in the area and about sixty members of the Wyandot tribe came together. Although the cabin was reconstructed in 1997, it is a symbol of harmonious relations […]

12-46 The Railroad in Logan County / Railroad YMCA / Railroad YMCA

12-46 The Railroad in Logan County 00

Bellefontaine was a railroad town from the 1890s to the 1950s. The city was the site of one of the largest roundhouses and repair centers on the Big Four/New York Central Lines and trains stopped here to have steam engines serviced and to switch crews. Up to ninety freight trains and over forty passenger trains […]

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

9-46 Free Servicemens Canteen 1942-1946 00

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 […]

4-46 William H. West 1824-1911

4-46 William H West 1824-1911 01

Judge William H. West of Bellefontaine led a distinguished career in law, public service, and politics. In 1854 West helped found the Republican party in Ohio and six years later he participated in Abraham Lincoln’s nomination for the presidency. West served consecutive terms in both houses of Ohio’s General Assembly from 1857 to 1865 and […]