Ohio is noted for having impressive, even beautiful, county courthouses. Some diehard architecture fans even make a project of visiting all of them. For groupies like these, the old Montgomery County Courthouse, in Dayton is a high point. It's not only one of Ohio's best courthouses, but one of its best buildings. Some say it's one of the best surviving examples of Greek Revival architecture in the USA.
Howard Daniels, of Cincinnati, designed the courthouse, in 1850. That, in itself, is unusual. Daniels was primarily a landscape architect. He had worked on Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery and Cleveland's Woodlawn Cemetery. That's a different sort of designing, to be sure. He proved his dexterity with more than just tombstones. This building is a gem. Like most public buildings in the Greek Revival style, it resembles a Greek temple, from the front, at least. In the back, Daniels did something that may be unique. Each rear corner has a quarter-round porch with a single column. This not only cut the cost of another porch, it provided more interior space. Another odd feature was the roof. It was made of the same stone as the rest of the structure. This wasn't the best idea. It started leaking about ten years later and was covered with tin.
To support the weight of all that stone on the roof, Daniels made the interior more Roman than Greek. There are brick arches in the basement and attic, and vaulted ceilings in most of the rooms. There were innovations inside, as well. In the middle of the building is a domed rotunda with an unusual cantilevered staircase. A third of each step is embedded in the wall. Another dome, this one oval, crowns the two-story main courtroom. Remember, in 1850, there weren't any sound systems. Lawyers had to rely on pure lung power. I'll skip the jokes. You can have fun with that, yourself. They must have been grateful to the cemetery designer who turned his hand to a courthouse. He made a courtroom with perfect acoustics.
"In a bar in Toledo, across from the depot..." That's how the Kenny Rodgers song Lucille starts. Did a real "bar in Toledo" inspire it? Yes, and it's more than just a bar. How many bars look like a palace in Venice? If there's another one out there, I haven't heard of it.
The famous bar was built in 1898 and knew show business right from the start. It was originally called Burt's Theater. By the way, Burt was the owner's last name, not his first. Toledo architect George Mills was responsible for the design. Mills was becoming very successful and employed a lot of assistants. By 1898, he was ready to hand all the design work over to them and concentrate on bringing in clients. He must have been good at it, for his firm lasted another three decades and this was the last set of plans he did himself. In keeping with the show business theme, he went out with a bang. For inspiration, Mills used a 15th century Venetian palace called the Ca' d'Oro, the House of Gold. The top two floors feature Gothic stone arcades and the windows on each side once had balconies. There's even the winged lion of St. Mark, the symbol of Venice at the corner. He used to hold up the sign. Along the side of the building, the brickwork is a diamond pattern in two colors.
So, why did George Mills use a Venetian palace as a model for a theater in Toledo? Well, he may have been remembering the fact that a the Miami and Erie Canal had run right down the street next to it. Then again, maybe he just wanted his last plan to be a real winner. If that's the case, he succeeded.
One of the jets flow by Ohio's Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, sets in front of the Ohio Historical Society's Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta.
Thanks to the forward-looking vision of Volney Rogers, in 1891 the Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, Ohio was founded, preserving a stretch of land that today is compromised 2600 acres. Mill Creek Park is the second largest metropolitan park in the United States, second only to Central Park in New York City. Not bad for a little city in Ohio!
Today some of the parks' most beautiful features are Lanterman's Mill, a pioneer's mill that once ground wheat, corn, buckwheat and oats in the 1800s, the Fellows Riverside Gardens, an eleven-acre museum to roses, tulips, herbs, chrysanthemums, evergreens, dwarf fir trees, rhododendrons, and a variety of annuals and perrenials. The gardens attract people from all over the world. The park also includes golf courses, foottrails, waterfalls, Lake Glacier, horse stables, and the Ford Nature Center, where a group of naturalists work in the park all year around.
The park is Youngstown's crowning achievement as a community, thus making it one of the man-made wonders of Ohio, created in a period when Volney Rogers could foresee the destruction of our natural wonders as Ohio was becoming industrialized, but it's also one of the many feathers in Ohio's cap. Visit the park website for more details. Better yet, make a plan to visit Mill Creek Park this summer when the gardens are in full bloom!
830 sites on our planet are listed as World Heritage Sites by the U.N.'s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Ohio Historical Society believes at least two Ohio sites, the Serpent Mound and various Hopewell structures including mounds near Chillicothe, belong on that list. To that end, they have petitioned for their inclusion.
And why not? Both are remarkable examples of pre-European earthworks. The Serpent Mound is the most famous effigy mound in North America, and the Hopewell mounds are preserved in the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. Also included in the Hopewell petition is Ft. Ancient and the Newark earthworks.
If the Hopewell petition goes through, it may include the first golf course named as a World Heritage site. The Octagon Earthworks in Newark are incorporated into the links of the Moundbuilders Country Club.
These sites would join such noteworthy treasures as the Great Barrier Reef, the Imperial Palace in Beijing, the Galapagos Islands, Thebes, Chartres Cathedral, Vatican City, and the Statue of Liberty. Sites on the list enjoy the protection of an international treaty, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Why do I say Ohio history repeats itself on Downtown Toledo's Ohio Building? It's simple. There's a terra cotta frieze over the second floor that shows the founding of Ohio. They probably shouldn't have limited themselves to the founding. There's no way it would stretch all the way across two walls, so it repeats the same scenes. The frieze is impressive enough, but it's far from all this twelve-story jewel-box has to offer.
The whole building is a riot of white terra cotta and patinaed metal. It has swags, and garlands, and cartouches galore. The main entrance is framed by a tall, wide arch that's covered with decorations. There's not a spare inch of space that's not in use. Above the arch, starting with the third floor, things are toned down a bit. Everything's comparatively plain until you get to the top floor. At that point, the ornament runs rampant again, with faces, and figures, and a row of acanthus leaves. It's enough to make your head spin.
The Ohio building was designed by the local firm of Mills, Rhines, Bellman, and Nordhoff, and built in 1906. It joined several nearby skyscrapers to make Toledo's first urban canyon of a street. You can see from the picture, that it's not quite that way now. The buildings across the street were torn down and replaced by a parking lot.
There's one other interesting thing about the Ohio Building. Back in 1907, it was used for something entirely new. That's when the USA's first continuous radio program was beamed from here to receivers down the street in the Nicholas Building. I can't say broadcast. There weren't enough radios out there at the time.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, too. Among those we haven't gotten to yet are Sammy Kaye, Dean Martin, Ted Lewis, The McGuire Sisters, the Mills Brothers, The O'Jays, Screamin' Jay Hawkins...
A few years back I saw Robert Dafford painting the Portsmouth Floodwall Murals when he was almost done. I was astounded. First, I wondered what it would be like to see that long expanse of cement and know that I was responsible for putting something worthwhile there. If he ever had the jitters, his work doesn't show it. Each section is spectacular--dazzling even. A must see.
Now, I know there are other murals in Ohio, but if you only can see one, and I don't care if you live in Toledo, head to Portsmouth. This is a chance to brush up on Ohio history besides. Start on the east end and head west to go in chronological order of the history of the area from the time of the Mound Builders to one of the last panels that pays tribute to Portsmouth's motorcycle heritage. Ohio's first motorcycle club was founded here.
Portsmouth's history also includes Branch Rickey (credited to integrating baseball for signing up Jackie Robinson), Roy Rogers and the founding of Methodism. The details are all there-including a treacherous looking scene of a great flood that happened several years back.
Here is some insider information that you would miss unless some told you it was there. Dafford's wife and kids are in the mural, and so is Dafford. His wife and kids, if I remember correctly, are in the panel of a modern day scene called "The Gateway." I think it's his wife who is holding the bicycle and looking out from the mural. If you look, either in the pair of sunglasses, or the motorcycle hub in the motorcycle panel, you'll see the reflection of a man. That's Dafford; at least I think that's where he is. If you go to Portsmouth, you can get someone to give you a tour of the floodwall. Keep an eye out for the cat that's painted on a corner edge. You'd swear it's 3-D and real, but it's flat.
In case you're not going to make it to Portsmouth any time soon, here's a link to a You Tube tour of the floodwall by Cheryl Shuman, the Portsmouth native who has made it big in Hollywood as "the Optometrist to the Stars." She's been capturing the essence of Portsmouth and her relationship to it in videos. There are a couple of seconds of her getting to the murals, but once she's there her commentaries are interesting and the tour feels intimate.
Here is also a link to an article that was submitted to the Library of Congress by Governor Ted Strickland back when he was Representative of the 6th District.
Another in our series on Ohio bands. The Michael Stanley Band was a Cleveland band popular in the 1980's. It was founded by Michael Stanley Gee from Rocky River. Here's a clip of them playing one of their hits, Heartland, in 1981.
Among the silos of cornbelt area south of Grand Lake St. Marys in west central Ohio rises a 5-story-high octagonal dome with gold ball and cross that gives witness to the religious fervor that burned in the breasts of the farmers as they toiled.
St. Charles Seminary was built as a seminary for priests of The Society of the Precious Blood, who also started the nearby Maria Stein Center for the nuns of the order.
The many stunning churches in this area were built by the German settlers who brought their Catholicism with them as they settled Mercer County in the 1830's. Once they settled in Mercer County, they began to long for religious guidance and education from the mother church.
By divine coincidence, Father Brunner, of the Society of the Precious Blood in Italy, was eager to leave the bosom of the church and strike out in missionary work. When the request of the settlers reached his ears, he was on his way.
The Society of the Precious Blood was a new organization at that time, founded in 1815 around the principal of charity, and for the purpose of devotion to the precious blood of Christ. Mercer County was the perfect soil for it to take root in and grow. And grow it did, at one time housing six convents, two seminaries, and many churches.
This magnificent structure was originally built in in 1878 on the site of the former Wattles Manual Labor School for Negro Boys. The name Carthagena is in fact from Carthage, in Africa.
Until it ceased being a seminary in 1969, this complex provided a place for priests, brothers and students to study, removed from the life around them. They sustained themselves by practicing carpentry, butchering, and farming. It is now a home for retired priests.
Make sure, should you visit, to view the chapel inside (through the front door and straight back). Ask first, however, at the office inside the front door to the left. It has a stunning mosaic behind the alter. If no service is taking place, take the time to approach it closely and enjoy the workmanship.
This video is astounding in a way. Neil Armstrong, the Ohio astronaut who put Wapakoneta on the map, can be heard, clear as a bell, when he is walking on the moon. There is more here than just the famous line . There is also a description about what it is Armstrong is doing while he is walking around on the moon. John F. Kennedy's speech is interesting to hear in terms of what he thinks landing on the moon will mean.
Another in our series of Ohio's covered bridges, the Lynchburg bridge is preserved in the city park in Lynchburg, Highland County, southwestern Ohio. The bridgewas built in 1870 in the long, or 'X' truss style.
The Blue Hole in Castalia was once a major tourist attraction in Ohio. Sadly, times changed and now the "spring without a bottom" serves only to hatch cold-water fish for the state's stocking program.
The Blue Hole is located about five miles southwest of Sandusky and Lake Erie, in the limestone strata that cover this part of the state. The Hole itself is about the size of a farm pond, with cold (48 degree) water that wells up at over 7,500 gallons per minute. It is the source of Cold Creek, one of the few streams in Ohio in which cold water fish such as trout can live. The spring was so noteworthy the nearby town was named Castalia, after the Fons Catalius Fountain near Delphi, Greece.
Because of the lack of oxygen, the water harbors no life and therefore is so clear viewers can see 50-60 feet down. Legend holds that divers have attempted to but never reached its bottom.
The first recorded visit by the new Americans was made by Major Robert Rogers of Rogers Rangers, who came to fame for his role in the French and Indian War. He visited this site in 1761.
The Castalia fish hatchery was added to the ODNR facilities in 1997, when the site was purchased from private owners. The hatchery uses water from the blue hole aquifer, but because it has no oxygen and a great deal of nitrogen, it is treated before being used. The cold water is used to raise steelhead and rainbow trout for stocking in Ohio's lakes. The state holds a lottery occasionally for the right to fish for trout in Cold Creek.
Every Ohio politician makes job creation part of his platform, so he might be tempted to celebrate the Timken Company's plans to invest $60 milllion to expand their Canton steel plant.
Until they read that it will create 30 jobs.
in the 1980's, Timken, long the lifeblood of Stark County, built a state-of-the-art facility to make specialty steel. At the time, they were one of the largest employers of members of the United Steelworkers of America.
The new mill mechanized many jobs so that it could operate with a vastly reduced work force. Timken has apparently fine-tuned that process now to a proportion of one job for every $2 million.
This is great for shareholders, who not only make more money from the increased sales, but also own the capital, the robots making the steel. But it does little for the unemployed in Stark County. At one time, tens of thousands of Ohioans worked for Timken in Canton, Columbus and elsewhere. The number now is a small fraction of that.
The same holds true for employers such as Honda of America. Increased mechanization reduces costs, but as the requirement for manpower decreases, where shall Ohioans turn to earn the money to buy the products? Fast food restaurants?
Full disclosure: Both my father and I worked for Timken. Neither of us do now, and neither of us wishes we did.
Karen Wynn Fonstad, author of The Atlas of Middle-Earth, has created a wonderful web page on which she breaks down, day by day, the first leg of Frodo's journey in Lord of the Rings, from Hobbiton to Rivendell. To get a better perspective on his journey, I've overlaid these distances on a walk across Ohio.
I started in the hills north of Oxford, because the terrain seems perfect for hobbit holes. Zoar Village stands in for Rivendell, for convenience, not appearance. After all, what could stand in for Rivendell?
To make sense of this, you'll need an Ohio map and access to Fonstad's web page, along with a working knowledge of LOTR.
Start: Assumptions: I multiplied as-the-crow-flies mileage x .7 to compensate for foot travel.
Day 1- 18 miles
Fairhaven to woods near Gratis (Preble Co.)
Day 2- 28 miles
Near Colonial Vineyards, Ridgeville
Day 3- 27 miles
Ridgeville to King's Mill
(Cross Little Miami River, think of Buckleberry Ferry)
a project of visiting all of them. For groupies like these, the old Montgomery County Courthouse, in Dayton is a high point. It's not only one of Ohio's best courthouses, but one of its best buildings. Some say it's one of the best surviving examples of Greek Revival architecture in the USA.
Toledo" inspire it? Yes, and it's more than just a bar. How many bars look like a palace in Venice? If there's another one out there, I haven't heard of it.
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Thanks to the forward-looking vision of Volney Rogers, in 1891 the Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, Ohio was founded, preserving a stretch of land that today is compromised 2600 acres. Mill Creek Park is the second largest metropolitan park in the United States, second only to Central Park in New York City. Not bad for a little city in Ohio!
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830 sites on our planet are listed as 
over the second floor that shows the founding of Ohio. They probably shouldn't have limited themselves to the founding. There's no way it would stretch all the way across two walls, so it repeats the same scenes. The frieze is impressive enough, but it's far from all this twelve-story jewel-box has to offer.
I thought this would be a good time to recap all the Ohio bands we've posted clips for over the last six months, in case you missed any.
A few years back I saw Robert Dafford painting the 
Among the silos of cornbelt area south of Grand Lake St. Marys in west central Ohio rises a 5-story-high octagonal dome with gold ball and cross that gives witness to the religious fervor that burned in the breasts of the farmers as they toiled. 
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Every Ohio politician makes job creation part of his platform, so he might be tempted to celebrate the Timken Company's 
