Cheryl Bauer - Hamilton

Most of the photographs in this book came from the archives of the Butler County Historical Society, whose staff generously provided their time, resources, and good cheer.

The authors especially thank Betty Maham, the societys administrative assistant at the Benninghofen House museum, who helped dig out many old photographs and information; Mildred Holland, who assisted; and Carol Gabriel, the societys director and the museum curator.

Without their help and perseverance, this project would have been far less effective. We thank these kind women for their friendship and love of history.

Thanks also go to Joni Copas, the director of communications for the Hamilton City School District. She helped find other old photos and took an interest in the project from the start. In addition, Gerry Hammond of the City of Sculpture also helped identify sculptures and provided much-needed details. A good friend, David Belew of Historic Hamilton Inc., also lent his knowledge of Hamilton and its people. So did our friend and author James Blount, a native who has done so much to preserve the citys history.

Finally, Don Schollenbarger, curator of the Memorial Building, also helped.

For more information on Hamiltons past and present, write to the Butler County Historical Society, 327 North Second Street, Hamilton, Ohio, 45011. Or view its Web site at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~butlercounty . The City of Sculpture may be reached at its offices at One High Street, Hamilton, Ohio, 45011, or through its Web site, www.cityofsculpture.org .

On this 1914 atlas map, the old Miami and Erie Canal is still depicted. It ran near the present site of State Route 4, east of downtown, passing the Mosler Safe Company and other major industries that took advantage of the watery route. By then, however, the canals days were coming to an end. The Miami and Eries heyday had come decades earlier, before trains and trucks established themselves as transportation alternatives. (Courtesy the authors.)

A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County Ohio. Cincinnati: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882.

Bauer, Cheryl, and Rob Portman. Wisdoms Paradise: The Forgotten Shakers of Union Village . Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press, 2004.

Behr, Edward. Prohibition: The 13 Years That Changed America . London: BBC Books, 1997.

Bicentennial Atlas of Butler County . Hamilton: Journal-News , 1975.

Blount, Jim. Early 1900s years of Hamiltons industrial boom. Hamilton: Journal-News , date undetermined.

Blount, Jim. The Road to Fort Hamilton. Hamilton: Journal-News , 1976.

Blount, Jim. Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument . Hamilton: Butler County, 1988.

Boyer, Mike. Beckett Paper mill in Hamilton to be sold. The Cincinnati Enquirer , December 16, 2004.

Jones, Richard O. Statesmans likeness arrives in center of city. Hamilton: Journal-News , October 22, 2004.

McNutt, Randy. Ghosts: Ohios Haunted Landscapes, Lost Arts, and Forgotten Places . Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press, 1996.

McNutt, Randy. Yesteryears Glory Returns to Mansions of Hamilton. The Cincinnati Enquirer , December 25, 1981.

Our City: Hamilton, Ohio . Hamilton: Hamilton City Schools, 1968.

Visitors Guide: Hamilton! The Greater Hamilton Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2000.

William Dean Howells. City of Hamilton, 2003.

Walking Tours of Historic Hamilton, Ohio . Greater Hamilton Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2001.

Welcome to the Benninghofen House. Hamilton: Butler County Historical Society and Museum, 2003.

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One

FORT HAMILTON

The army built Fort Hamilton of wood in 1791. The size of a football field, the fort stood along the east bank of the Great Miami River. Some historians believe it was rectangular; others believe it came to a point on one end. In those days, grassy prairies around the fort yielded 300 tons of hay in good years. Soldiers abandoned the supply post in 1797. (Courtesy the BCHS.)

General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, built Fort Hamilton to supply his new American army, which marched north to confront an Indian coalition. The tribes killed and wounded about 900 of 1,300 soldiers in what is now Mercer County. St. Clair fought heroically but ultimately was relieved of his command. Despite the outcome, St. Clairs name is prominently displayed around Hamilton today. (Courtesy the Morristown National Historical Park.)

Fort Hamiltons last remaining component, the powder magazine, was abandoned in the late 1790s and later used as Hamiltons first school building. When the citys first school opened in 1818, the powder magazine was no longer needed. It was destroyed in the 1913 flood. The magazine stood near where the Soldiers, Sailors, and Pioneers Monument stands today, along the Great Miami. The most famous soldier to be stationed at the fort was a young William Henry Harrison, who in later years proudly told stories of serving at Fort Hamilton. Indians never attacked it. (Courtesy the authors.)

General Mad Anthony Waynes soldiers improved Fort Hamilton in 1793. The Revolutionary War veteran assumed command of the frontier army after St. Clairs Defeat in 1791, and went on to defeat an Indian coalition at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, near present-day Toledo. After Wayne signed the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, Ohio teemed with settlers. Statehood followed in 1803. The victory gave Wayne immortality in Hamilton. (Courtesy the Independence National Historical Park.)

A bronze tablet marks the site of Fort Hamiltons well, located 31 feet west of the tablet. The memorial is in front of the Anthony Wayne Hotel on Monument Avenue, near the Memorial Building. The Hamilton Rotary Club erected the marker in 1941. (Courtesy the authors.)