By Mary E. Mortimer
In November 1977, Bellefontaine Examiner staff writer, Erika Fiske, interviewed New Richland area residents Ruth Milroy, Bess Allen and Hersel Jakeway. The following article contains excerpts from Fiske’s article. Milroy, a retired Logan County teacher, had spent many years extensively researching her home and the New Richland area. “She learned about the history of her own property by reading abstracts sent to her by the Marathon Oil Co. when it canceled its lease on the land. They leased a great deal of land around New Richland in their search for oil and gas, but there were no major finds.”
New Richland, in Richland Township, was founded in 1832 by John H. Hemphill. He conceived the idea of a village on the road that was a regular run of the Springfield and Sandusky Stage Co., that is believed to have been started around 1825. The village was platted as “Richland” and soon several log homes were built. In 1833, James S. Johnston purchased land, and the next year erected a mill at the edge of town. He also partnered with a Mr. Mitchell in a general store that had an extensive stock of merchandise.
Ruth Milroy, and her husband, Herbert, lived in the former Wysong Inn that was built in New Richland in 1836 by Lewis B. Wysong. Milroy said, “In 1842, Charles Dickens stayed at the Inn while enroute to Upper Sandusky. The famous writer traveled with the Springfield and Sandusky Stage Company.”
The large two-story red brick inn was built in the form of an L, with sleeping rooms on the second floor that opened to a porch. The second floor had a large community room with an 11-foot ceiling that was made of fancy patterned cast iron. The inn had a thriving business on the stagecoach line and one early account stated, “as many as 10 four-horse coaches stop in succession for meals and relay, each with 10 or 12 passengers”.
Over the years, grocery stores, restaurants, blacksmiths, harness and barber shops, and a cider press all flourished in the little village.
The post office was established in 1846 with Reuben Bridge as the first postmaster. It was in a small building at the corner of County Roads 39 and 97. Later, it was moved to the Charles Waltzer grocery store. When politics changed, it was moved to the north edge of the village to the J.F.T. Miller grocery store. After a few years, politics changed again, and the post office was moved back to its previous location.
The Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad stopped regularly in Belle Center, but New Richland passengers had to flag the train down if they needed it to stop. Bess Allen, who had lived in New Richland since 1918, stated, “If there weren’t any passengers to board the train, the mail was put in a sack and hung from a pole at the station so someone from a passing train could grab it.” If the mail contained something heavy or fragile the train was flagged for them to stop. The train did stop in New Richland when they had mail to deliver or passengers to pick up or let off.
The New Richland Church was organized in 1880 by Rev. P.M. McDonald with 23 charter members. It was received into the Northwestern Christian Conference in October 1890. In 1939, a reorganization meeting was held and the name changed to the New Richland Baptist Church. They still hold regular church services with Steve Smith serving as Pastor.
The first school in New Richland was built in the late 1800s on the west side of County Road 97. The one-room school served the area until the increase in population made it necessary to build a larger schoolhouse. A two-story frame building was erected on the corner of County Roads 259 and 97. Four grades were located on the first floor and four grades on the second floor. It also had a large central meeting room where plays, debates, spelling bees and various programs and entertainment were held.
A new brick school building was constructed in 1914 on the south end of the village with a furnace and indoor plumbing. The curriculum was expanded to include three years of high school. Bess Allen recalled having grange meetings at the school, “200 to 300 people attended on Monday nights. Often, we would bring our own food and dance until one or two in the morning.”
In 1917, the New Richland high school was discontinued and centralized with Belle Center. The grade school continued for a few more years before it consolidated with Belle Center and the pupils were bused to school. Hersel Jakeway recalled, “I rode a great big wooden box which was supposed to be a school bus. It was made of creaking wood and sounded like it was going to fall apart. Benches ran down the center and side, and the exhaust pipe was used to heat it.”
New Richland underwent some major changes in the 1920s. As people purchased automobiles, they began to shop and travel to other towns. The New Richland grain elevator, that was owned by I.C. Miller and operated by J.F.T. Miller for 35 years, closed. In 1926, the elevator was razed when the railroad added a double track. The New Richland Post Office was discontinued on October 30, 1926.
J.F.T. Miller also operated a general store, bought hay, straw, and wool and served as Postmaster. He sold the general store inventory to John Jacobs, who operated it for several years. Jacobs then sold the store to Thomas Johnson who ran it until 1936 when it closed and was used for storage. The trains stopped running by New Richland in the mid-1960s.
Today New Richland is composed of private residences except for the New Richland Baptist Church.
Information also from “Our Rich Land” published in 1976.
For more, visit the Logan County History Center Facebook page.
Visit the Logan County History Center at 521 E. Columbus Ave., Bellefontaine, Ohio 43311, to learn more interesting aspects of Logan County History. The History Center is open for tours Wednesday – Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
