WASHINGTON  COUNTY  ARTICLES

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES

Newport Township and surrounding small towns.

Newport Township actually constists of Newport and Lower Newport - both are located on Route 7.

The current Route 7 is not the original Route 7. The original Route 7 is now under the Ohio River. There were several small towns along Route 7 that disappeared when the County moved Route 7 to it's current location.

Newport Village was settled by the Greene and Dana Family in 1798. County Road 25 that branches off of Route 7 was originally called Danas Run until it reached Co Rd 244. County Road 244 was originally called Fergusson Run - till it reached Route 7 again.

At the intersection of Co Rd 25 and 244 was a little town called first "Roseville" then "Bevan", now it is a part of Newport Township. This little town ended at what is currently known as Milltown Bridge. If you turned left and went up the hill, this was Miltown. If you went right and went on out Co Rd 25, then you were once again on Danas Run.

Danas Run or Co Rd 25 intersects with Co Rd 9 at what was once a little town called Schley located on Pine Ridge in Lawrence Township. Pine Ridge starts at the intersection of Township Rd 19 (Newells Run) and ends at the cross- roads of Co Rd 9 and Co Rd 14 (Reas Run).

A small town call Deucher was settled by the Deucher (from Scotland) and Bliss (England) families in the early 1800s. There was a Deucher Hotel, First Baptist Deucher Church, and Deucher General Store located on Pine Ridge at the intersection of Co Rd 9 and Taylor Road.

Bells Ridge started at the end of Pine Ridge and Reas Run (Intersection of Co Rd 9 and Co Rd 14) and continued till you intersected with Co Rd 21 (Leath Run). About 15 miles from the Intersection of Co Rd 9 and 14 was a small town town called Bells Ridge. This town had a Church and store. However, the Bells Ridge Church burned down and all that remains of the town is the Bells Ridge Cemetery.

At the intersection of Co Rd 14 (Reas Run) and Route 7 was a small town called Wade.

Reynolds Run was settled by Sidney Reynolds, who came in on a flatboat. One of his son's names was Charlie Reynolds.

Contributed by Terri Rick

Fort Harmar

I think it is almost a certainty that the town of Hamar was named after Josiah Hamar.

Josiah Harmar was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1753. He attended school through the eighth grade and was an average student. He fought in the Revolutionary War and proved his military skills there. After the war, he was considered to be a brilliant young military officer.

In 1784, he was sent to the Ohio frontier by the Continental Congress to help protect the settlers who were being harassed by the Indians. Many times though, he did not have enough supplies for his troops and much of his time was spent campaigning Congress for money and supplies to outfit his men.

In 1784, he had his troops build Fort Harmar, located at present-day Marietta. He hope that with its location on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers that he would be able to discourage squatters from moving to Ohio. He had little success with this as more and more people moved into the Ohio territory. During this time, his troops were involved in many small skirmishes with the Indians that only served to make the situation on the frontier worse.

In 1791, Harmar's troops were stationed at Fort Washington, in present day Cincinnati. He led his troops north into Indian settlements killing many Indians and burning their homes and crops. When he returned to Fort Washington, the public was upset at what he had done. They felt he had accomplished nothing in the way of the Indian problem except to upset the Indians even more than they had been before. As a result of this, Harmar went through court martial proceedings where he was cleared of any wrong.

After the court martial proceedings were finished, he retired from the army and moved back to Philadelphia. He died August 20, 1813.

Contributed by: Dorothy Gregg

Historical pamphlets about Washington County

My father, Norris Franz Schneider (1898 - 1993) was born in Lowell, Ohio, and wrote several historical pamphlets about Washington County:

My grandfather, Christian Gottlieb Schneider (1867 - 1930) had a furniture and undertaking business in Lowell until the 1913 flood, after which he relocated to Belpre.

Contributed by: Franz Schneider


[ Table of Contents ] Washington Co [ Webmaster ]