HOCKING COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM

02/04/2026

PART 7 - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 1871 – 1971 LAURELVILLE AREA
This publication was published by the Centennial Committee of Laurelville. The members of the committee included Dalton DeLong, Florence Stahr, Evelyn Mettler, Robert Bowers, Dwight Eveland, Mary Frances Poling, C.B. Chilcote, Thomas Ebert, Paul Smith, Celesta Hoy.

LAURELVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT
Soon after Laurelville was founded a bucket brigade was organized to take care of emergencies in the village. This brigade of young ambitious men and boys rendered a real service to the village year after year. They were not called on often, but when they were they gave a good account of themselves. As the members grew older or moved away or for any other purpose they were replaced.
In 1910, some new equipment was purchased to supplement the bucket brigade and thus make a better and more efficient organization of fire-fighters. Horses were used to pull the machinery from the fire shed to the fire. In 1925, Laurelville bought their first fire engine with a motor driven pumper which had a capacity of 350 gallons of water per minute.
In 1940, a new Seagraves fire engine was purchased. This was a real patented machine and was one of the most efficient and dependable small machines available at the time. Laurelville was very proud of this new equipment. Much of the cost of this equipment was donated by the citizens of Laurelville and the surrounding area. Additional equipment as well as replacement equipment was added from time to time. Features of the new replacements were pumps with greater capacity but also trucks with storage tanks mounted on the truck so that no time was lost in locating water storage facilities or cisterns available.
Around 1950, town wells were drilled and these connected with water lines, which would provide all areas of the village with water, pumped from the town wells with adequate pressure to be effective. This served in place of a public water system which was realized sometime later.
Laurelville has always maintained a volunteer fire department and still does. Today this volunteer fire department provides fire protection to all of Perry, Saltcreek and Benton Townships and they also provide mutual agreements with all neighboring fire departments. This is done by a group of young men who have dedicated themselves to this very worthy service.

When the fire alarm sounds – day or night or summer or winter, they go just as quickly as they can. All the citizens of Laurelville and neighboring areas can sleep more soundly perhaps because they, the firemen, don’t – they listen for the fire alarm.

02/03/2026

THERMOMETER HITS ONE OF THE LOWEST MARKS EVER RECORDED HERE 74 YEARS AGO, TODAY
The Logan Daily News of Feb. 3, 1951
The worst cold wave of the winter was climaxed when the mercury plunged to a low of 27 degrees below zero in Logan and Hocking County this morning to bring further disruptions in electrical power, telephone and transportation services.
Minus 27 reading was one of the lowest if not the lowest recorded here since the early days of the century. No official records are available here for comparison.
The far-below zero temperature made Hocking County one of the coldest spots in Ohio. Temporary disruption of AP teletype service to the Daily News made comparison with the rest of the state available.
Another error was chalked up by the weather forecasters. Prediction yesterday was for a low of five degrees below zero during the night.
The new low temperature came in the wake of one of the most destructive ice-storms on record for this area and hampered workers attempting to restore telephone and electric service disrupted when sheaths of ice toppled over trees and snapped power and telephone lines.
Many motorists were caught unprepared for the Arctic-type weather which landed its sneak punch this morning. Many autos failed to start and others, after starting, stopped when radiators froze up. Streets were full of disgruntled motorists peering beneath their cars’ hoods.
A bright sun did little to ease the situation and by 8 a.m. the temperature still stood at 23 below. It was still nine degrees below zero at 10 a.m.
Telephone communications, already hard hit after ice snapped lines all over the area, were further disrupted today as more trouble developed on lines between Logan and Columbus.
Only one line to Columbus was still in operation and only emergency long-distance calls were being accepted. The Daily News Associated Press teletype service, which operates on a leased telephone circuit, out of order most of the morning.
Only a few lines going out of Logan were in operation today.
The Ohio Power Company today said most of their lines have been restored, although the east section of Logan was without electricity early this morning when 66,000-volt line between Front and Main Streets snapped from overweight of ice. The line comes from New Lexington.
Power was disrupted shortly after midnight, part of it being restored at 3:30 a.m. and the rest at 4 a.m. Crews from Logan were assisted by Lancaster crews in repairing the broken line.
Ohio Power crews were also working today to repair the street light circuit for the east end of Logan. About 90 bulbs on the circuit burned out during the night but are being replaced. Exact cause of the bulb burnout was not known.
The Ohio Fuel Gas Company today renewed its request that all users of gas curtail gas consumption to the greatest possible extent.
A spokesman for the gas company said if the present cold wave does not ease up and if the present rate of consumption continues, it may be necessary to completely shut off gas to non-essential commercial consumers.
The gas company pointing out that the situation is “critical,” urgently asked that gas be conserved in every possible way. Close off unnecessary rooms, pull blinds, and cut house temperatures to the minimum, the company asked.
Frozen gas lines cut off a number of customers in West Logan yesterday, but the service was restored. A few homes in Union Furnace reported frozen gas lines this morning but the gas company was working to restore service.
Nelsonville reported some gas pressure difficulties because of a tremendous demand and undersized lines.
The State Highway Department in Hocking County, hard hit by the numerous ice and snowstorm this winter, is now borrowing cinders to treat highways.
Route 33 presently the greatest problem today. Snow on this highway melted some yesterday and re-froze last night, making icy conditions in several locations. Other state highways in the county are covered with several inches of snow and are not as dangerous as Route 33.
The highway department ordered more cinders and calcium by train, but the shipment has not yet arrived. Cinders are being borrowed from every available source until the shipment arrives. The department has a few bags of calcium left but is out of salt. Both calcium and salt are used to treat highways.
The county highway department continued snow plowing operations today. Albert Seabright, county engineer, said crews should finish plowing sometime today.
Schools in Logan and Hocking County, which were closed following the ice storm Wednesday night, are scheduled to resume classes Monday.
Harold Sinnott’s photo.

02/03/2026

Please look over my typing mistakes. My spell check doesn't catch any mistakes when I touch a number on the keyboard, and occasionally misspelled words. My keyboard is small and I need as larger one. I try to catch it but not always. I am many, many, many years past my high school typing class!

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02/03/2026

PART 6 - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 1871 – 1971 LAURELVILLE AREA

This publication was published by the Centennial Committee of Laurelville. The members of the committee included Dalton DeLong, Florence Stahr, Evelyn Mettler, Robert Bowers, Dwight Eveland, Mary Frances Poling, C.B. Chilcote, Thomas Ebert, Paul Smith, Celesta Hoy.

LAURELVILLE FLOODS
The spring floods have plagued the residents of Laurelville since the town started in 1871. Floods are always disastrous with much damage and repair necessary to restore facilities to preflood conditions. Some floods were worse than others with greater damage resulting in public facilities. The floods of 1905, 1907, 1909 and 1913 were especially severe. Different areas of Ohio were affected with much damage resulting. Laurelville, however, suffered more damage in the flood of 1968 than any previous flood recorded.
Through the years, Laurelville officials tried repeatedly to control these high waters and devastating floods by various methods but in the days of P.W.A. Laurelville built a flood wall along Laurel Creek to hold back the flood waters. Much of the fill material was taken from the stream channel which consisted mainly of sand and gravel, not the best fill materials, but the most available. The flood wall solved the flood problem in Laurelville for many years. The maintenance of the wall was an important item in the mind of every citizen of the village. The average height of the flood wall was about six feet above the level area along this levee as many town officials believed that trees re-enforced the earthen wall. Automobile bodies were anchored as strategic spots to further strengthen the wall against the current of the stream.
On May 24, 1968, after several days of rather heavy rain with the streams fluxuating up and down, a steady heavy rain started in the evening and continued past midnight and brought the streams back to crest points about 2:00 o’clock A.M. Drift consisting of trees, slabs, tree tops was picked up along the streams and much of it lodged along the Laurel bridge and backed up the water until the pressure tore out the abutment and the bridge collapsed in the stream diverting the swirling waters toward the village. A wall of water estimated by some to have been 8 to 10 feet high almost instantly covered about one half of the village to a depth varying from a few inches to as much as 6 to 8 feet. The flood water with all the filth of the fields and barnyards loaded with mud and silt came into the homes and business places. Many of the citizens were in bed when the break occurred.
One of the older citizens was overheard to say, “This was Laurelville’s darkest hour.” To give an accurate description of the damage wrought upon the inhabitants of this village would be impossible. Many tears were shed and many prayers were said as the villagers began to estimate their losses. Daylight revealed to each person his share of the loss and it was enough to shake the courage and determination of the strongest.
After a few hours of daylight, work started and continued through the day and into the following night. A similar schedule was followed day by day, week after week until all was restored.
People from the surrounding countryside and from cities as far as Columbus came to help Laurelville in its greatest test of strength and courage.
The men of the town were organized, and plans were made to rebuild the flood wall. The Department of Civil Defense came as did the National Guard. Temporary quarters were set up in the school – (the school was not touched by the flood). The cafeteria was used to prepare and serve meals. Used clothing for men, women and children came in by the truck load. Furniture, gasoline, food, shoes, bedding, cots and money were provided by churches, civic clubs, lodges, and grangers as well as individuals.
One of the greatest contributions of all came from the Mennonites, a religious denomination with church units all over Ohio. They came in trucks and cars from almost everywhere. They came to work and they did. They brought their brooms, shovels, buckets, and other things. They were well organized and one of their leaders supervised their work and sent them into the various homes where help was needed. They mopped, shoveled, carried and hosed out homes completely from the basement to the kitchen. Men, boys and women too came to help those who needed their help. They seemed to understand how best to render assistance to those who had suffered such losses.
The two bridges were repaired and rebuilt; streets were cleaned and repaired. The floodwall was rebuilt and it is higher and longer and wider than it was before the flood. People donated trucks and drivers to rebuild the floodwall and hundreds of toms of fill materials were transported from the gravel bank to the flood wall. Residents of Laurelville purchased furniture by the truck load. The Red Cross provided some essentials for those unable to purchase them.
Laurelville had been cleaned as it never waws before. Damages have been repaired or replaced and, contrary to the comments made by many life-long residents, “Laurelville would never be the same again”, it is, and probably better than it was before the flood.

02/02/2026

PART 5 - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 1871 – 1971 LAURELVILLE AREA
This publication was published by the Centennial Committee of Laurelville. The members of the committee included Dalton DeLong, Florence Stahr, Evelyn Mettler, Robert Bowers, Dwight Eveland, Mary Frances Poling, C.B. Chilcote, Thomas Ebert, Paul Smith, Celesta Hoy.

HISTORY OF LAURELVILLE
Laurelville was laid out in 1871. It was located opposite the point where Laurel Creek joins Saltcreek. Water power used by our forefathers as a means of providing power for machinery such a sawmills, flour mills, and other machinery, may have been an influencing factor in locating Laurelville at the junction of the two streams.
John and W.S. Albin, along with Solomon Riegel assisted by Rufus Dodson, were responsible for the town layout. Several additions have been added since its beginning. There were two additions made by Allen Strous and at least one made by George Mowery, and one known as the White addition, taken from a family name of White.
In 1871, Laurelville had three houses, but the new village grew rapidly, and, in a few years, it listed 200 citizens.
The citizens of Laurelville were not only thrifty but were proud of their town and they soon developed a sense of good appearance with good streets, walks, neatly trimmed shade-trees and well-kept houses.
The people who lived here were good neighbors and they were concerned about each other’s welfare, so with emphasis on brotherhood it was natural for newcomers to move into this new village just as soon as homes were available.
The first three business places to open were general stores owned and operated by Rufus Dodson, Hedges, Drum and John McNichols. H.D. Riegel owned and operated a planning mill. A sawmill was owned by Drum, Riegel and Steel. Zara McDaniels operated a flour mill which had a capacity of 50 bushels of flour per day. – (The sawmill and the flour mill were operated on water power). At the turn of the century several other business places were started such as blacksmith shops, harness shops, a chair factory, a canning factory, bakery, hotels, restaurants and others.

02/01/2026

PART 4 - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 1871 – 1971 LAURELVILLE AREA
This publication was published by the Centennial Committee of Laurelville. The members of the committee included Dalton DeLong, Florence Stahr, Evelyn Mettler, Robert Bowers, Dwight Eveland, Mary Frances Poling, C.B. Chilcote, Thomas Ebert, Paul Smith, Celesta Hoy.

ANIMALS AND LAND
Cougar or puma not numerous but was here in sufficient numbers to create a problem, especially for the early farmers of the area. The animal was a killer, and he killed for the blood of the victim. It has been recorded several times in Hocking County that a single cougar would kill as many as a dozen or more sheep in a single night. When such an event occurred a hunting party would be organized and the killer would be hunted until he or she was found and destroyed. One farmer or a colonist might develop a special skill in tracking or killing cougar, thus build up a reputation for himself as a good hunter or tracker. When other neighbors had need for the hunter they would send for him and he would go and lead the party on the hunt.
The American black bear was found in Hocking County in considerable numbers. He was not considered a menace to livestock or dangerous to man but a problem for colonists in that he would raid cabins looking for food from time to time. When they were hungry, they were a serious problem. They were hunted, both for meat and fur.
The gray wolf was probably more of a menace than most any other animal found in the county. They destroyed farm animals and in cold winters when heavy snow was prevalent, they grew very bold and destructive. Bounties were paid for their destruction and by this practice they were brought under control and were finally eliminated.
Deer were found in great numbers in the county during early history and served a very useful purpose as an item of food. They were hunted so much without limits that by 1900 the deer population was totally destroyed. The state has purchased several tracts of land in not only Hocking County but in neighboring counties as well and then stocked it with deer. In recent years the deer population has increased to the point that a short deer season is permitted for bucks only. Strict regulations are imposed which permit a growth of the deer population in most of the S.E. Counties. Deer in limited numbers are found in most counties, but the more agricultural counties do not enjoy an open deer season.
Wild turkeys did exist in Hocking County; however, their number was somewhat limited. The heavily timbered area was thought to be a limiting factor as they prefer brush land. Wild turkey has been restocked on stand lands and are now on the increase. Limited open season is now in effect in Hocking County and the results are gratifying.
Beaver were once a source of income in the county for their pelts or skins and they too were destroyed to the extent that a restocking program was necessary in order to get them started again. They responded to this replanting and have been found in many small streams. An open season was permitted in the county this year and a limited number were taken (1971).
The citizens of the State of Ohio and the many rural populated counties have become interested in conservation to the point that they are willing to cooperate with their public officials to obtain and encourage the development of sanctuaries for birds and animals.
Many of the hills of Hocking County are being defoliated at an alarming rate at the present time. Most of this is being done on private lands. The pulp wood industry is particularly harmful because large and small trees are being taken, leaving these hills open to erosion.
Strip mining is also a very destructive methods of harvesting some of our other resources. Large earth moving machines are literally destroying large sections of the countryside leaving it open to the weather and erosion and destroying the beauty of woodland and making it devoid of game and wildlife.
Strict laws passed by legislature, enforced by our officers, will be necessary to stop this wholesale destruction of plants and animals. “Let’s save some of the beauty of nature, plants and animals for our children.”

01/31/2026

PART 3 - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 1871 – 1971 LAURELVILLE AREA
Jan. 31, 2026
This publication was published by the Centennial Committee of Laurelville. The members of the committee included Dalton DeLong, Florence Stahr, Evelyn Mettler, Robert Bowers, Dwight Eveland, Mary Frances Poling, C.B. Chilcote, Thomas Ebert, Paul Smith, Celesta Hoy.
JOBS, AND SKILLS OF YEATERDAY AND TODAY
In contacting older citizens of this community, we found that some of the jobs or skills of the by gone days are no longer in demand. Job skills which would demand higher pay than ordinary jobs in colonial times are non-existent today.
Every town, large or small, would have a good number of blacksmith shops catering to the needs of the community. A good blacksmith would be expected to shoe horses and oven, repair wagons and other horse drawn vehicles, do some welding and a hundred jobs requiring skill if wood working and metal.
Another shop found in these early colonial settlements would be a harness maker, a respected and skilled artisan of the community. This trade was closely related to the shoe shop because they both worked in leather.
Shoe shops still exist and they are filled with complicated electrical machinery requiring special skills to do the work but quite unlike the machinery found in a similar shop a century ago.
Some of the larger cities of today make leather products for horses, such as saddles, harness, and wallets for men, but the demand is so much less today that a harness shop would not be justified in most modern towns.
Almost every small colonial town had at least one or more millinery shops. They carried supplies for the milady’s hats, ribbons, feathers, lace, and veils along with hat pins and other items of jewelry. The attendant in the millinery shop or the owner or manager was expected it know the latest styles and the answers to the many questions of the fair s*x relative to dress, styles and relates subjects. Hat shops did not disappear, but the department store took over the business, but it was no longer the center of advice and style that the small millinery shop was a century ago.
If we were to inquire about the location of the tannery, we would immediately discover that most of the people we ask would not know what we were talking about. The local tannery does not exist as it once did in many small towns of the past century. The local tannery was a smelly mill where ethe bark of certain trees was treated to produce tannin, a product for treating animal skins to make leather. Leather, of course, is still made and we have a variety of uses for leather, but the process of tanning has been vastly improved, and it too has moved into the larger cities where it enjoys a wider range of distribution.
To list all the changes in trades and skill in the past one hundred years would be almost impossible but we can assure our readers that for every trade that has gone out of use, two or three new ones have come in to keep pace with the progress that has been made in almost every field of endeavor.

Calvin Lafayette Eby’s Blacksmith Shop in South Bloomingville, Unknown year. The second photo shows the Blacksmith display at the Hocking County Museum.

01/30/2026

PART 2 - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 1871 – 1971 LAURELVILLE AREA

This publication was published by the Centennial Committee of Laurelville. The members of the committee included Dalton DeLong, Florence Stahr, Evelyn Mettler, Robert Bowers, Dwight Eveland, Mary Frances Poling, C.B. Chilcote, Thomas Ebert, Paul Smith, Celesta Hoy.

COOKING AND CLOTHING
Cooking was a job that required a great deal of time and skill and was usually dome by the housewife or at least by the women folk of the household. Very often the families of these frontiersmen were large, and the food requirements of these early frontiersmen were somewhat heavy. They ate a lot of meat and often this was taken from the woodland area and along the streams. It usually consisted of venison, bear, rabbits, quail, grouse, squirrel, turkey and fish along with an adequate supply of beef, pork and mutton. Special efforts to obtain wild berries and honey as well as some vegetables were usually rewarding. Baking bread was a daily chore, and bread was made of corn and wheat.
Preserving food in colonial America was quite different than it is today. Meat was often salted and dried. Some foods were canned in earthen jars. A spring-house-cave apart from the cabin which could be depended upon to keep foods cool in the summer and safe from freezing in winter was a necessary facility for most families.
We have mentioned many different chores for the men and boys of the family but outside of cooking little has been said about the many other duties of the women of this colonial family. The women prepared the food; did the sewing but to obtain the cloth often required much more time and effort than did the making if the article of clothing. They made yarn and the flax and then colored this material to make it attractive as well as protective. It can be said that the early colonial housewives influenced or established the styles of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing in the American Midwest during the colonial period. The aristocrat of the plantation area often obtained their clothing from Europe, but the typical colonial housewife made hers from the raw materials she had available at home.
The making or obtaining of shoes or boots and moccasins was the responsibility of men in the family. Soon after settlement footwear for the entire family consisted of moccasins, however as the family became better established, they wore more shoes and boots. Moccasins were worn by adults in the summer while the children went barefoot. In some of the more populous areas shoe cobblers made boots and shoes and these were usually exchanged for products or produce from the farm.

01/29/2026

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 1871 – 1971
This publication was published by the Centennial Committee of Laurelville. The members of the committee included Dalton DeLong, Florence Stahr, Evelyn Mettler, Robert Bowers, Dwight Eveland, Mary Frances Poling, C.B. Chilcote, Thomas Ebert, Paul Smith, Celesta Hoy.

Ohio being the 17th state to enter the union, many of the early settlers came from some of those eastern states which touched Ohio on the east or at least were fairly near Ohio.
Those hardy pioneers were a strong and determined lot whose problems and difficulties would discourage a less resolute and determined band of frontiersmen. To understand our forefathers in this community a little better, as well as of their problems, we should try to visualize a vast area of timberland, without highways and bridges. They came by way of trails made by other settlers who had moved on farther west or hunting trails made by Indians. This, their new home was not only infested by wild animals but by bands of roving Indians as well. These Indians did not always appreciate the burning desires of these early settlers to establish homes in the middle of their hunting areas, so they ofte3bn burned the homes or killed some of the white settlers or did other things to show their disapproval.
The motives which drove these colonists into western areas for homes probably were no different than the motives which drive people to do the many things they do today: Adventure, no doubt, had something to do with this migration from the east to west. To better their own circumstances often drive people to explore other areas. Whatever it was that sent them into Laurelville and community area, it was no doubt, similar to the motive which resulted in the settlement in all of the U.S.
The first homes of these new settlers were made of logs primarily because logs were plentiful. Since most of them were farmers, anyway, clearing the land was a necessary part of making a living by farming in a land covered with timber. They often pooled their efforts and strength to build the log cabins which were to become their new home in this new region. They, no doubt, had distant plans to build a better house sometime in the future, if they liked the area well enough to become permanent residents.
Logs of the same size were cut, hewed, and shaped then placed one on top of another until the desired height was attained, usually 8 or 10 feet. Gables were formed, ridge timbers set and rafters placed. Split wood shingles were used for the roof.
These cabins, usually 12 x 12 or 16 x 16 or for that matter any desired size the owner had in mind. Each cabin had an average sized window; many times, glass was not available so oiled paper or the skins of animals were4 used to keep out the wind and rain. The door, usually larger than an average sized door, was made of heavy planking with wooden hinges and latch. The latch was lifted with a string from the outside, if the latch string was out: otherwise, someone from inside the cabin would be required to lift the latch.
The cabin was weather proofed by a process of chinking between the logs with mud. Clay was preferred because it would last longer than ordinary soil. Rechinking was necessary each fall to make the cabin more weatherproof for winter.
The fireplace waws usually made of stone, if stone was available, otherwise clay was used to form the fireplace. The fireplace usually stood 6 ft. wide, and many were even larger than 6 ft. A mantle of stone or wood was built just above the faireplace3 and was used as a handy shelf for many household things. A musket was often hung on hooks above the mantle so that it would be handy when needed. A long crane was placed on one side of the fireplace on which could be hung pots, kettles and other cooking implements that were needed for cooking. Hooks were available in different lengths so that several different kinds of food might be cooked at the same time.
If colonists came into an area in groups, as they frequently did, they would join in a cooperative project to build the cabins. With several working together, they could often build a good-sized cabin in two days. The logs were green and heavy, and all the construction was heavy work thus requiring the help of several men to work to the best advantage of all.
After the cabin was completed, very often, a “housewarming” party would be arranged, and all would attend this important social function.
The program would include music and dancing for all with some refreshments being served.
Some communities were more socially minded than others, but parties were fairly common especially in the fall and winter seasons.