A Village Along Main Street
The sixteen blocks of old Worthington surveyed into town lots by James Kilbourne in 1803 are so widely known and recognized it is difficult for current residents to realize that most side streets and the buildings on them did not develop until late in the 19th and early in the 20th century.
John Kilbourn's Ohio Gazetteer for 1826 described Worthington as having 64 dwelling houses, stores, workshops, and factory buildings, many of brick. He described it as having three mercantile stores and an academy and being crossed by roads from Chillicothe to Lake Erie and Zanesville to Urbana.
Fortunately for those of us who wonder what the early village looked like, Ohio revised its tax laws in 1825 and required that all substantial brick and frame buildings be appraised and listed. Log houses were not listed on tax rolls.
 Charting the 1826 tax list for Worthington by lot numbers gives us a glimpse of a village strung south to north along the main road from Columbus to Delaware. Our best existing image of buildings valued at less than $200 (marked by an x on the map) is the front part of 782 Hartford Street which was moved from its original site beside Dublin-Granville Road, facing the northwest corner of the village green. This was lot 71 and in 1826 the structure on it was valued at $160 and still owned by Rev. Philander Chase, although he was then living on his farm south of town.
There were sixteen similarly valued structures (some frame and other's brick) within the village limits, three near the river at the Worthington Manufacturing Company site, and two farm homes in Sharon Township. Some probably represented transitions from log homes to more permanent residences and others the modest homes of laborers.
Most of the farm homes were also along the main road. South of town between the village and the Clinton Township line (Morse Road) were the brick homes of Charles and Isaac Wiley, Recompense Stansbery, Moses Maynard, Chester Pinney, Levi Pinney, and the frame houses of Philander Chase and Job. W. Case. In value they ranged from Stansbery's $425 brick to Chase's two frame houses at $1000.
Just north of the village, Orange Johnson's brick residence was valued at $1000. Now at 956 High Street, it is maintained as a museum by the Worthington Historical Society. Across the road was Peter Barker's frame house, and going north toward the Delaware County line were the farm homes of Willian Thompson, Ozias Burr, Rodney Comstock, and Purkey Comstock. Most were close to the main road, but Comstocks were close to the stream near the present Flint Road intersection. There may have been a commercial brick building on seven acres owned by R.W. Cowles just northeast of the Worthington-Galena Road intersection.
West of the river, coming north along the river road from the Clinton Township line were the farm homes of the Wilcox heirs, Homer Tuller, William Vining, Isaac Case, Henry Chapman, and the Starr heirs. There were no farm homes in the township outside the western half purchased by the Scioto Company.
Many of the buildings within the village valued at more than $200 combined both residential and commercial functions. The most valuable structure was located on lot 93 and was the combined hotel, residence, and commercial building of James Kilbourne's family valued at $1600, owned by Lincoln Goodale and Joel Buttles. Today the southern commercial portion still stands at 679-685 High Street.
George H. Griswold's Tavern on the north side of the public square was valued nearly as high at $1480. Surviving buildings such as the Demas Adams' home on the southwest side of the village green valued at $850, the John Snow home at 41 W. New England valued at $800, the Demming building at 12 E. Stafford valued at $688, and the Christopher Ripley home at 623 High Street valued at $640, give us a perspective on the appearance of major buildings in the village.
Much of Roswell Chapman's $800 building on lot 100 south of the Kilbourne Commercial Building still stands, but has been remodeled beyond recognition, and Potter Wright's $640 frame home was moved from the present Methodist Church site to 174 E. New England and covered by modern siding.
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623 High Street
These brick structures built c. 1818-1819 feature the typical 19th century pattern of a room facing "Main Street" for commercial purposes, and family living quarters in the rear
12 East Stafford
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In addition to Kilbourne's Hotel and Griswold's Tavern on the public square, two tavern-boarding houses on the southeast and northwest corners of the present Stafford and High Street intersection were valued at $720 and $800 respectively. Temporary laborers, business travelers, or potential settlers frequently sought such accommodations.
Three public buildings which were not included on the tax list but are known from other records have their location identified by triangles on the map. This included the Worthington Academy and College building on the northeast quadrant of the public square, the New England Masonic Lodge on the main street south of the square, and the Methodist Church at the corner of present Hartford and South Streets. Only the Masonic Lodge remains, but its dimensions are remarkably similar to the original academy building before the college wing was added.
This 1826 tax assessment listed sixty-two buildings in Worthington and Sharon Township. Unimproved town lots were generally valued at $12 regardless of location. It seems probable that there were still a few log homes within the village and original log structures may have served for some time in other uses such as stables or workshops.
By central Ohio standards of the 1820s, Worthington was a prosperous village. Like other Ohio towns of the period, it was a pedestrian village where residents walked to each others homes, shops, and church. It had one main street which was dusty in summer and muddy in winter and spring. Animals shared space with humans, with most of the occupied 3/4 acre town lots stabling a milk cow and horse and perhaps a few pigs.
Worthington differed from most other towns because its New England founders included a public square which in the 1820s was being used for militia drills and 4th of July celebrations as well as grazing livestock. The town was especially favored by having a college building which could accommodate the entire village for meetings.
With a few significant additions, the number of buildings and their locations in the 1820s was the form the town would retain through the Civil War era.
SOURCES:
The 1826 Franklin County tax duplicate for Worthington and Sharon Township, on microfilm at the Ohio Historical Society is the basis for much of the above information. There are apparent errors, and probably omissions on this listing which should alert users to proceed with caution. Corroboration with deed records suggests some obvious errors such as listing William Thompson as the owner of farm lot 4 rather than 34. Significant loss of deed records in the Franklin County courthouse fire after the Civil War, however, leaves some questions unanswered. For instance, the tax record for a $1500 brick building in R.W. Cowles' name on farm lot 73 occurs at a time when family manuscript records show him living in town and operating a general store. What was this building?
Annual tax records until 1838, and an isolated tax record for 1868, allow comparisons of lot numbers and are the basis for the judgment that Worthington experienced only minor growth during the decades of the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s.
This article is one of a series of 31 articles originally published in the Worthington News and then in the book "Probing Worthington's Heritage" copyright by Robert and Jennie McCormick. The 1990 book is out of print, but copies are available at the libraries of the Worthington Historical Society and the Old Worthington Library. Much of this content was later included in the book "New Englanders on the Ohio Frontier" which can be purchased at our Gift Shop.
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Making Worthington a Special Place! |
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