Intrepid Heritage Services

10/09/2024

There were two tavern keepers at what is now 718 North High Street, originally a little beyond the north tip of Chillicothe.

Valentine Brothers (Bruder) was here first, apparently in a wood frame building. He died in 1887 at age 81 and was probably buried in the Catholic graveyard on the north side of Allen Avenue (Limestone Street) just west of Vine Street.

His first wife, Clara, had died in 1872. His second wife, Magdalen, died in 1890. However, theirs and many other graves were moved when Saint Margaret's Cemetery was created in 1892 and the old Catholic graveyard was removed.

The second tavern keeper was Kasper Kern, who arrived in New York harbor in 1858. He made his way to Scioto Township, apparently with a decent amount of money, and appears to have soon replaced Valentine and his tavern. He had a brick tavern built there, and started a lineage of tavern keepers in Chillicothe.

I can't find any interrelationship between the Brothers and the Kerns, so Kasper probably made a business deal with Valentine at a time when he was ready to retire from the hospitality business. The younger Brothers family members appear to have moved on to Cincinnati...but so did some of the Kerns.

Kasper (d.1892) and his wife Katherine (d.1886) were buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. And have not moved since then.

Hear more about them, their taverns, Goosetown, and the Chillicothe Germans in my presentation tonight at the Ross County Genealogical Society - or on their page, live starting at 7:00, or archived any time later.

10/09/2024

Mayor Luke Feeney told me after council tonight that the little city service building on Bridge Street at Riverside was demolished today. This is part of the gradual process of consolidating city facilities into the former Pepsi warehouse on East 7th Street, and eliminating the scattering of city service buildings.

I'm certain this was a gas station that was landlocked behind the flood wall when it was built in the 1980s, and the city put it to good use as an extra little facility. I think I saw Gazette articles in the 1970s or '80s when it was also used as a visitors bureau.

But it had been built on the site of a power station of the Scioto Valley Traction Company, the interurban railroad that ran between Chillicothe and Columbus from about 1903 to 1930.

There are several photos showing the building that was identical to the one still standing in Kingston, right on the edge of the riverbank, next to the famous twin bridges of Bridge Street and the interurban railroad.

09/09/2024

Just to clarify: One of these is Kasper Kern, the builder of the Kern Tavern at 718 North High Street in Chillicothe - a member of the Chillicothe Germans and resident at the north tip of Goosetown.

The other is Kasper Kitten, who lives with me (until he bites me too much) in the Kern Tavern.

Hear much more about one of them and his legacy tomorrow evening at the Ross County Genealogical Society, or on their page - live or later.

08/09/2024

How many different bridges have there been? What happened to the island? What happened to the other lake? What was exposed when the park lake was lowered a few years ago? Is it really the old river bed? How does the water get in and out? Why does the water stay there? Why did I find a ketchup bottle by the entrance ramp?

Hear my answers to these questions and more this Sunday, as I offer two times for my hour-and-a-half infotainment walking tour between the Gazebo, 40 & 8 stand, and Memorial Armory.

(Sorry, no sulphur water available at the gazebo - bring your own!)

You can join me at 10am or 2pm Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/events/816464227320417/816465190653654/

07/09/2024

We can't go down there, but I will point out its location on my Yoctangee Park walking tours tomorrow.

Until then, you'll have to guess where it is - and why it is.

(But if you want to bring a crowbar and use it, I won't stop you!)

You can join me at 10am or 2pm Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/events/816464227320417/816465190653654/

06/09/2024

What was there before the Yoctangee Park? History says a malarial swamp / dump.

Photos show a few really big trees. Here's a tease from a previous offering of my walking tour.

You can join me at 10am or 2pm this Sunday for another chance: https://www.facebook.com/events/816464227320417/816465190653654/

The photos: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02FjfMQ5wGhj6VCWkK2An7shob6Kssd6f6XaHt2QAPsSr45SPFHxcyfudSnGjJb88al&id=100057535784487

06/09/2024

I've been highlighting Memorial Armory, to be the end of my Yoctangee Park walking tours this Sunday. But I'll start at my usual location - the gazebo - and walk along the park lake to the entrance road.

Here's some observations on the lake (and its outlet) from a previous tour. And I'll try to restrain myself from talking too long on this leg of the tour!

You can join me at 10am or 2pm this Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/events/816464227320417/816465190653654/

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0bBhCRRrTRWRjUuyguUSTNdY3z7t7SYAdNN6MakJRNmfDqbUjzn952fjmfotbzgcFl&id=100057535784487

05/09/2024

The old armory in Yoctangee Park, or rather 1926 "Memorial Armory," is the park's central landmark...even though that was not the intent, and many opposed the location.

It is also central in the currently developing grant program to renovate the park. Although I have not made arrangements to look inside on my tours this Sunday, I will end my walking tour at it, and point out some of its architectural features as well as its history.

Here's a few snapshots of it from the recent past. Remember, there was strong consideration to demolish it after the National Guard left it to the city more than a decade ago.
..Sometimes you just have to have the vision to keep a landmark long enough for a good purpose to find it.

You can join me at 10am or 2pm this Sunday, starting at the gazebo: https://www.facebook.com/events/816464227320417/816465190653654/

05/09/2024

Instead of "old armory," we should refer to the decommissioned building in Yoctangee Park as "Memorial Armory" - more respectful and accurate.

Here's my offer of a late-summer encore tour that ends at Memorial Armory. I'm also offering my insights on the big grant plans for the armory and park. And yes, that includes roundabouts. Join me this Sunday!

Two choices, at 10am and 2pm. Learn more in my event listing: https://www.facebook.com/events/816464227320417/816465190653654/

02/09/2024

In case you have any images in mind. (You might find comments from me on many, especially Paint Valley...)

https://vintageaerial.com/photos/ohio/ross

01/09/2024

You've heard about the Sherman Theatre sitting on canal land in what is now the middle of Water Street. Do you know what else was there?

This 1930 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows a string of utilitarian buildings behind the theater in the first block of West Water Street.

All these were built after the canal was filled in during the economic boom of Camp Sherman in 1918...and then were torn down about 1953 by command of the State of Ohio, who still owned the land, before they released it to widen the street.

For more on the Sherman Theatre, here are several historical photos I scraped off the Internet that shows different aspects of the building:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0Bs89myd6XfJJ7Erw95tv7t3M1vkW6mBrNZ7ip5GaYVKvaEgsyMS8t8ct3cYcd4Gxl&id=100057535784487

Join me for either of two walking tours Monday (and porbably next weekend) to look at remnants of historical industries on the edge of downtown. The event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/8217484501662742/8226250327452826/

01/09/2024

This is a much less-well-known image of the canal warehouses that I posted a few days ago - and an image of them in their natural habitat, with the watered canal behind them.

This is a H. H. Bennett sketch of the buildings at the north west corner of water and Walnut, viewed from the footbridge over the canal. Read more in the caption.

I'll talk about the remaining canal warehouse here, as well as the rest of the industries along Water Street on the edge of the downtown in my walking tours Monday morning and afternoon. And probably next weekend.

The event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/8217484501662742/8226250327452826/

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=678865370707983&set=a.533458475248674

On this rainy last day of March, keep in mind that this is the eve of the 171st anniversary of the worst disaster to befall Chillicothe. The Great Fire of April 1st, 1852, wiped out a quarter of the entire town - in part because the canal had been drained for its end-of-winter repairs.

This row of three or four (depending on how you count them) canal warehouses on West Water Street at the head of Walnut were part of the far northwest corner of the scorched zone, and were rebuilt within one or two years. They are sketched here in 1902 by local artist and historian Henry Holcomb Bennett.

This is an uncropped version of the sketch, as published in the 100th anniversary issue of the Chillicothe News-Advertiser on November 16th, 1931 (which merged with its competitor, the Scioto / Chillicothe Gazette, within a decade). Bennett worked for the newspaper, and died in 1927.

This also shows the appealing landscape that someone planted across the canal from City Park (renamed the next year as Yoctangee). Perhaps this was considered an extension of the park. It appears that Canna are among the flowers planted on the verge of brick-paved Water Street, and I think those might be young Catalpa trees. A small dock is closer to the artist, and a short section of paling fence ends the flower bed next to a pair of steps down to the water - all nice features, along a watery highway next to warehouses.

Judging by the level the artist is drawing from - his horizon is at the second floor level - he is on the footbridge over the canal. (You can see the footbridge on the cover of Dick Peck's 1999 "Images of America" Arcadia book on Chillicothe.) The bridge allowed pedestrians to cross the big ditch between the closest street bridges, at Paint and Mill streets. It had to be high enough for canal boats to glide under, with barely any headroom.

Speaking of fiery holocausts, in the distance the spire of old 1845 St. Peter Catholic Church will meet its own fate by fire in 1947. Beyond it is Marzluff's Hill where Water Street angles up it.

Another version of this view by Bennett is dated 1905 and is reproduced on page 123 of Pat Medert's volume on Water Street. It's a more painterly version, with less of the foreground, and a short punt boat in the canal. (It looks like the view appealed to him.)

The nearest, and plainest, warehouse had its near end trimmed off with a new wall built when Yoctangee Parkway paved over the route of the canal about 1963.

In yet another vacuous decision for historic Chillicothe, two (or three) of these antebellum canal warehouses were demolished in 1994 for a medical building...which was vacated and sold by its builder twenty years later. Like most of Chillicothe's worst demolitions, the replacement building is pleasant infill...that only slightly makes up for the soulless loss. At least the cast-iron attic window grilles were reused on the curved wall of the new building facing Yoctangee Parkway.

The fourth (or fifth) warehouse was suggested to be sacrificed for parking in the 2000s...which everyone know we need more of. Instead, Dard Hunter - whose grandfather was intellectual kin to the Bennetts - bought it and has made it even more of an asset to the downtown.

And that doesn't suck canal water!

Ok, I took so long to replumb the wires for my computer after I shut it down for an incoming storm front, and then to massively expand this text, that it's now April first. So before I'm accused of joking around, I'll get this posted.

(Thanks to Tom Troester, who values his antebellum canal-era Greek Revival home, for loaning me this newspaper issue.)

31/08/2024

If you're wondering why you're seeing Model T's driving around Chillicothe and Ross County this weekend, you're not hallucinating. They're gathering at the fairgrounds this Labor Day weekend:

Correction: Or maybe not the fairgrounds...I need to listen to my own interview again...

Chillicothe & Ross County -- Get ready for about 100 Model T Fords to be on display in Chillicothe - and touring Ross County - on Labor Day weekend. A local collectors club is hosting the state gathering this year. The "Ohio River Valley Ts," based in Jackson, Pike, and Scioto counties, are h

30/08/2024

Just when I think can trust something digital to work right...

I noticed my Facebook event page showed only one of the two times I KNOW I TYPED INTO IT. Hopefully it's corrected now.

Anyhow, here's the c1978 aerial photo of the north side of the first block of East Water Street I like to recycle as a promotion. I have much to say in my Labor Day tour, so I can't always regale my tour-takers with everything I want to say about this downtown-edge historical industrial focus...much of which is gone.

Only 1 1/2 of these historical industrial buildings remain (pre-1960). Do you know of which ones I refer?

The (corrected) event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/8217484501662742/8226250327452826/

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2489459081284854

This crop of a c1980* aerial photo Whit Streicher released through Picasa shows some of the canal-side and rail-side industry in the north side of the first block of East Water Street in Chillicothe.

This was a congested mix of expanding industries and re-used houses, with confusing addresses and disappearing alleys...and massive losses of historical buildings since the 1980s.

I'll include this area in my upcoming tour September 1st, 2019: https://www.facebook.com/events/466757990833061/

From left:
- c1950s grain bin and quonset hut of 1872 Standard Elevator complex
- 39-47 E. Water: 1859 Scioto...Knecht Brewery / 1934 August Wagner Brewery, now Cristy's Pizza and Oak Hill Banks
- 51 E. Water: 1884 master brewer's house, now bank drive-through
- 51 E. Water, rear: 1901 wooden brewery warehouse
- 55 E. Water: 1857 brick cottage
- 55 E. Water, rear, aka 60 Riverside: 1926 brewery bottling plant, later Carr's Supply and now renovated offices
- 63 E. Water: 1919 bungalow
- 71 E. Water, rear (within larger building): 1920 Standard Cereal annex
- 77-83 E. Water: c1962 Chillicothe Hardware Co., previous site of 1902 Standard Cereal grain elevator complex, and now Kitchen Collection HQ and rented space
- 83 E. Water, rear (about 90 Riverside): curved warehouse built between 1914 and 1925, with railroad spurs on both sides, now gone
- 87 E. Water: parking lot, with railroad spur and water tower removed
- 95 E. Water: corner house removed, with that and house to rear the later site of moved Vincent House / "St. Clair's Headquarters"

And don't forget, upper right, the 1925 & 1954 Chillicothe Telephone Co. garage and warehouse at 192 Mulberry, later Howson Tire, and now Chillicothe City Services.

And, the railroad spur along Riverside.

Addendum 2021: And...lower left, the parking lot between the alley and building, across from 51 and 55 East Water, was the site of a lumber and planing mill built in 1854 and 1882, and a wood frame office on the corner of the alley. They were demolished by the city in 1979, and served as a parking lot until Fire Station number 1 was finished in 1985.

* The 1980 date is my guess - if anyone can give a better date, especially from the automobiles, please do.

30/08/2024

Unfortunately, I am able to point out only one of these burly antebellum canalside buildings at the corner of Water Street and Yoctangee Parkway on my tour Monday.

Dard Hunter bought the farthest one when it was up for sale by Chillicothe Schools (and some said it could become a useful parking lot!) and turned it into an asset to local art, home ornament, and industry.

But the others had been demolished for the medical building now standing on the corner - a decent-looking infill, but a short-sighted waste of historical downtown buildings.

I posted these images to promote my late fall "indoor tour" three years ago, but they provide context for my upcoming "Laboring Downtown" walking tour on Labor Day.

I'm offering morning and afternoon tours that day...and I'm thinking about offering more on next weekend since this is short notice.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0WFZQZKh2YDGpCs7WtvR2fothJCDEMBmiqvzE1eF54BCKEFvHsBYgAPwmwLUaix7Ql

https://www.facebook.com/events/8217484501662742/8217500021661190/

29/08/2024

Speaking of the old power station on what is now Yoctangee Boulevard...and my walking tour coming up on Monday...

This is an official 1918+ B&O railroad map that shows the old siding that came up Riverside Street, past Standard Elevator, and along Water Street.

It originally ended at the dry dock, approximately behind Dard Hunter's canal warehouse. But after the canal was shut down by the flood of 1907 and the dock was removed, it was extended to the coal-fired power plant...which has been part of my series of posts on the Camp Sherman power line.

Then, when the worst flood in history overtopped the mainline behind Yoctangee Park, the siding was extended to Kopp Street - and trains running between St. Louis and Washington D.C. ran on the wrong side of the park until the railroad bed was rebuilt.

Of course, reminded by the cabooses, I will address the railroad siding on my "Laboring Downtown" walking tour - available on two times on Labor Day. (I have yet to decide on what times to offer it next weekend.) My Facebook event page for it: https://www.facebook.com/events/8217484501662742/8217500021661190/
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=672134458047741&set=pcb.672138091380711

Here is one of two maps showing the aftermath of the B&O rerouting their mainline to the other side of Yoctangee Park to avoid the washout of their roadbed in 1913.

This is part of a B&O track map from 1918 (with updates to about 1920). The railroad siding bypass (shaded yellow) has been truncated at Mill Street by this time, but you get the idea.

West Water Street runs along the bottom of my crop, with the warehouse of "P. Brewer & Sons" at the head of Walnut Street, and Standard Elevator above "Erie." The electric station that Camp Sherman captured at in the center left, with the future site of the YMCS above it at Mill Street. The Pump House is at the far right corner.

28/08/2024

Here's a 2024 tease for my annual Labor Day weekend walking tour of historical downtown industries...which snuck up on me, and I haven't decided on exact dates and times - probably including the next weekend, too.

But if my office assistant can stop playing with my dog's tail, maybe I can have a decision today.

More soon.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3107472169483539&set=a.2178703885693710

Antebellum Chillicothe...in Color?

I'm not entirely happy with this, but after twelve tries between two free AI colorization websites and much Photoshopping, this is the best I can deliver...based on a medium digital version floating around the internet where someone deleted the near bank of the canal for some reason.

This is a famous photo of Chillicothe's West Water Street, viewed from the footbridge over the canal at the head of Paint Street (there was no street bridge there at the time).

Historian John Grabb dated this to 1858, six years after everything you see (except on the Carlisle Hilltop) was wiped out in the Great Fire of 1852 and soon replaced. It's one of the earliest photos of Chillicothe, among a small batch of photos that are second only to 1848.

The two nearest storefronts, this side of the private alley, are currently being renovated as part of the "Wissler Concert Hall" work at the corner of Paint Street. The facade was remodeled in 1895, and it would be great if they were restored.

I believe a matching photo of the Clinton Hotel (the shadowy mass in the distance) is of the same date. Prints of both photos are held by the Ross County Historical Society, and are surprisingly small.

And, they are not Daguerreotypes - they are paper prints, both the same ornamental arched tops.

Ted Turner...well, you still have me beat.

I'll address the industries in this block and more next weekend in two offerings of my annual "Laboring Downtown" walking tour: https://www.facebook.com/events/612130809770802/

28/08/2024

A large amount of information was presented on huge changes in Yoctangee in the next year and a half. Maybe I overwrote these, but learn much in my two stories:

Chillicothe -- A draft of the big changes planned for Yoctangee Park were previewed at the Ross County Commissioners' meeting on Monday. New buildings, a renovated armory, moved recreational fields, rerouted and removed roads, increased parking - and one or more small roundabouts around the park

28/08/2024

Oops, the date sneaked up on me. Labor Day weekend is nigh, and I have not scheduled my annual "Laboring Downtown" walking tours.

I take the theme of honoring laborers to show where they worked in the past on the edge of the downtown, walking on Water Street from Park Street to the Paint-Mulberry alley...and further, if I haven't chatted too long and my tour victims agree for more.

More very soon. In the meantime, here's a draft flyer. You can also search on my pages with the title to see my previous posts in regards to historical downtown industries.

26/08/2024

In case you're thirsty after your gardening...

And I'll have more on future Chillicothe Garden Club activities, including the plant and seeds swap.

Southeastern Pickaway County -- A visit to a winery and vineyard gives a sample of the local food, hospitality, and tourism industry in rural and small-town Scioto and Hocking valleys. The Chillicothe Garden Club held a gathering with a tour of the Manchester Hill Winery & Vineyard next to Ta

25/08/2024

Of course, 3-foot narrow gauge, 6-foot broad gauge (and even 2-foot narrow gauge like at Camp Sherman) have different explanations.

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Well, because that's the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
So, why did 'they' use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools, they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing.
Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
If they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of England's old, long-distance roads. You see, that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long-distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And what about the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were alike
Now, the twist to the story: When you saw the Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there were two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These were solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs were made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happened to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what was arguably the world's most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.
And you thought being a horse's as wasn't important?
Ancient horse's asses control almost everything. 😁

25/08/2024

If you missed it - or want to hear the back story - here's my report. And 7 1/2 minutes of mostly car show.

Ross-Pickaway County Border -- The training ground for high school students celebrated its golden anniversary Saturday. "From Blueprint To Boom: Celebrating 50 years of Career Tech Innovation" was the Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center's all-day event. A car show that was far larger tha