Born in Rockbridge County, Virginia on January 11, 1797, he came to Indiana in 1821 and served in various public offices for the rest of his life, beginning in 1822…
Stagecoaches – Icons of Westward Travel Later in the life of the National Road when the surface was improved, stagecoaches made their way into Richmond. Let us imagine a traveler…
Growing up in Clark County, Ohio, Allen was brought up in an orthodox Quaker family. In his youth, he was an active participant with the Underground Railroad. He first came to…
Prairie Schooners – Moving Vans of a Bygone Era Pictured is an old Conestoga wagon housed at the Wayne County Historical Museum. This wagon is not from the area, having…
Pictured here is the old City Hall which was located on the east side of North 5th Street just north of Main. It was built in 1886 and, like its…
Anyone who has done any study of local history knows that the current system of naming streets wasn’t always in place. We can thank Mayor Thomas Bennett for establishing…
Part One – Traveling the National Road The origins of the National Road (also known then as the Cumberland Road) go back well before the birth of our nation. Other roads…
The beautiful stone arch in Hayes Arboretum on the west side of the park and visible from Elks Country Club Road is one of those little mysteries around Richmond. The arch…
A recent request to the reference team at MRL led to a woman I had forgotten about but who frequently was seen around Richmond in the past – Ethel Gibson, AKA…
Richmond in 1916 celebrated 300 years since the Bard’s death with an all-day sampling of his works. As the cover states, it was “Presented by ALL OF RICHMOND for ALL OF RICHMOND” and…