October 9 2009
Canal Winchester Ohio
It was great to be back home, just in time to take care of the outside work. If you are not familiar with Canal Winchester here is a brief background.
Canal Winchester was founded in 1828 by Reuben Dove and John Colmen. When the Ohio & Erie Canal came through Reuben Dove's wheat field, he wanted to sue the state. The canal workers convinced him that he would be better off laying out a town since the area was midway between Columbus and Lancaster. On November 4, 1828, Reuben Dove and John Colman recorded the first plat for Winchester, Ohio, in Violet Township. Dove named the village after his father's hometown of Winchester Virginia
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Winchester flourished because of agriculture and transportation. The Ohio and Erie Canal brought passengers, freight and a means to transport grain to market. The first canal boat floated through Winchester in 1831. In 1869, the railroad came to Canal Winchester, bringing continued prosperity.
The village became Canal Winchester when the post office was established in 1841 because there were other towns in the state of Ohio with the name Winchester. The village was annexed to Madison Township, Franklin and Fairfield County, in 1851. In May 1866, the Ohio Secretary of State granted incorporation papers for the Village of Canal Winchester.
Highlights of the area include Historic Downtown Canal Winchester, Mid Ohio Doll and Toy Museum. Barber’s Museum and Hall of Fame, Slate Run Vineyard and Winery, and the many antique shops in the Village and in neighboring Lithopolis. There is a new winery in town called Hidden Lakes. I have not been there but plan on making the trip soon. They have ladies night on Wednesday, entertainment on Thursday and Saturday.
Canal Winchester is also home to the Bergstresser Bridge. which is the only standing wooden covered bridge in the county. World-renowned songwriter, Oley Speaks (1874-1948) is a native of Canal Winchester, and the Canal Winchester Area Historical Society has a collection of his works.
Lithopolis gets its distinctive name from the Greek words "litho" and "polis" which, when translated together, mean "city of stone." This unique name is attributed to the nearby quarry located in the ravine, which runs north of the Village, and where Lithopolis free stone was once quarried.
The Wagnall’s Memorial Foundation, our town's treasure, is constructed of native free stone in the Tudor-Gothic style. Wagnalls was created for and gifted to the Board of Directors for use by the residents of Lithopolis and Bloom Township by Mabel Wagnalls Jones (in memory of her parents, Anna Willis and Adam Wagnalls, co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Publishing). Lithopolis is a very small village and has a population of about 300 people. There is a traffic light, two gas stations, a motorcycle shop and Bay’s food store. There are also many small antique shops, which draws a big crowd on the weekends.
I have included autumn pictures of our area. In a short time the leaves will turn to their brilliant fall colors, then the winds and rain comes and the leaves end up on our property. I keep wishing every year for a very strong South West wind to blow them all away, but so far it is just me and my Echo Leaf Blower. Even at my age I still enjoy cleaning up outside. One of these years I might be to old to do so, so then maybe the winds will come
Thanks again for riding along with us. This will be the last entry in our trip journal for the summer of 2009. Here is a list of our other trip journals.
http://mytripjournal.com/HelloRoadAlaska2008
http://mytripjournal.com/HelloRoadWinter2009
Our next trip journal will be http://mytripjournal.com/HelloRoadWinter2010 and will be on line sometime in January. Depends when we get out of Ohio and down to Texas. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas. Rick, Nancy, Bandit and Belle
