Morgan
Twp
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Morgan
Township Hall located on the lot opposite 6463 Okeana-Drewersburg Rd. The Township Hall was built in 1858 for township meetings. At times, it was also used as a school. Disenchanted with the ongoing Civil War, many citizens were disenchanted with President Lincoln. With the Emancipation Proclamation, many felt that the war was no longer about keeping the Union together, but about freeing slaves. The beginning of Universal Conscription (mandatory draft of citizens to serve in the Union Army) and suspension of habeus corpus laws turned others against the war. In 1863, the first Copperhead Society was organized in Butler Co., using the Morgan Twp Hall for its meeting place. The Copperhead Society called for Lincoln's removal from office. Clement Vallandigham, a lawyer and former legislator of Ohio and the US House of Representatives, led the Copperhead Society. He was arrested for "uttering disloyal sentiments" and was banished behind enemy lines. With the loss of their leader in May 1863, the Copperhead movement diminished rapidly. Today, the Township Hall contains a small museum dedicated to Morgan Twp history. |
 Bebb Pioneer Village
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Gov. Bebb Preserve 1979 Bebb Park Lane (off St. Rt. 126 in Morgan Twp) Okeana, OH 45053 Click here for a Google Map This preserve appeals to nature lovers, history buffs, and outdoor recreation enthusiasts. The park takes its name from William Bebb, 19th Governor of Ohio, whose 1799 birthplace cabin and boyhood home is the centerpiece of the Pioneer Village. It features:
Hours: Governor Bebb Preserve is open daily from 8:00 a.m. until dark. The cabins in the Pioneer Village are only open during select special events.Watch the "Events" section of the Preserve's homepage for more information. See the Birthplace of William Bebb historical marker. |
| For more
information on Morgan Twp. Historical Sites or
the Morgan Twp. Driving Tour, contact Jill
Evans, jillsfarm@fuse.net. Paddy's Run, the original name for the town of Shandon, OH, has a unique history as the first Welsh settlement in Ohio, 1821. Visit Books in Shandon, 4795 Cincinnati Brookville Road, Hamilton, OH 45013-9286, (513) 738-2962, both new and used books. Fernald Preserve reclamation of a uranium production site with ecological restoration and museum. 10995 Hamilton Cleves Hwy., Harrison, OH, (513) 648-4899 |
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Reily Township
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Indian
Creek Preserve 1899 Oxford Reily Rd. south of Reily. ***This park is now open by reservation only. Please contact MetroParks of Butler Co. to reserve the park for your group.*** Features:
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Indian Creek Pioneer Church 3000 Indian Creek Rd, Reily, OH 45056, south of Reily. Open daily. Park Features:
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The Reily Historical Museum |
Reily, OH
Unspoiled by subdivisions or manufacturing buildings, Reily is an example of small town life. The Reily
Historical Museum
stands at the corner of Main St and SR 732 across the street from the Indian Creek Tavern. Although
Reily's Historical Museum is fairly new and still in the process of
collecting, it is open for group tours by appointment. You may
contact the Historical Society through the website or by calling
513-756-9576.
For more information
on historic sites in Reily Twp, or group tours of the sheep raising farm
at Stander Preserve,
call Butler
County MetroParks at 513-867-5835.
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Oxford Township
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Oxford
Community Arts Center located at 10 S. College Ave on the west side of Oxford. call 513-524-8506 for more information about current events. The original portion of this building housed the Oxford Female Institute, a post-secondary school for women. Although the Ohio Legislature would not permit women to receive college degrees at first, the women at OFI took classes, often taught by Miami University professors. In later years, OFI joined Oxford Women's College. Between OFI, Oxford Women's College and Western College for Women, Oxford sometimes hosted more female than male students. All these women's colleges were later purchased by Miami University. Caroline Scott, later Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, was one of OFI's first graduates. As First Lady, Mrs. Harrison had electricity installed throughout the White House, established the China Room to show off past Presidential China, and helped design the now famous West Wing. She raised money for Johns Hopkins University on the condition that they admit women to their medical school. She was also the first President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Center features:
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 Freedom Summer Memorial Come walk along this stone monument and read about the people who were trained at Western College to help bring civil rights to so many. |
Miami
University just east of Oxford, OH 45056. Miami University is the alma mater of President Benjamin Harrison and still has academic scholarships in his name. Originally chartered in 1809, the first buildings were not opened until 1827, with 4 professors, and admitting only male students. Today, the co-ed campus serves over 18,000 students per year and has three branch campuses. Five museums and the Freedom Summer Memorial are open to the public. Please call ahead for museum hours or to schedule a group tour.
Also
see Langstroth
Cottage / Lorenzo Langstroth the Bee-Man of Oxford.
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DeWitt
Log Cabin Just east of Miami University on St. Rt. 73. Across the street from the Miami Police station and the Water Treatment Facility. The log house of Zachariah Price DeWitt is now the oldest remaining structure in Oxford Township, built before Oxford Township, the town of Oxford, or Miami University even existed. It stands on the east bank of Four-Mile creek about three hundred yards north of Route 73. Located on Miami University land, the structure is leased to the Oxford Museum Association, which in 1973 took on its restoration to preserve this rare example of early 19th-century log construction. Zachariah DeWitt campaigned for President William Henry Harrison and help a large victory party after Harrison's successful campaign for the White House. |
 find out more about Black Covered Bridge |
Black Covered Bridge Also called Pugh's Mill Covered Bridge. Located on Corso Rd off SR 732. One of the few remaining covered bridges in southwestern Ohio and the only one in Butler County on its original site, this bridge was built in 1868-1869 to give access to a saw and grist mill owned by James B. Pugh on Four Mile (Tallawanda) Creek. The name of the span gradually changed to Black Bridge, likely because there was a white covered bridge located a short distance downstream. One of the longest and most impressive of Ohio’s covered bridges, it is unique for its combination of two truss types—Childs and Long—within a single structure. The Oxford Museum Association assumed stewardship of the Black Bridge in 1976 as part of the American Bicentennial celebration. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, it was restored and rededicated in 2000 and an Ohio Bicentennial Historical Marker was placed and dedicated in 2001. |
 Hueston Woods Nature Center includes a Raptor Rehabilitation Center |
Hueston
Woods State Park 6301 Park Office Rd, College Corner, OH 45003, just north of Oxford on either Brown Rd or SR 732. 513-523-6347 Park Map Features:
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 The Doty Farmhouse is surrounded by a cantilevered barn, Campbellite Church and the Oxford Twp House. |
Doty
Pioneer Farmhouse Located on Brown Rd at Doty Rd, five miles north of Oxford, OH. Restored and operated by the Oxford Museum Association. Please call William King 513-523-2546 or email kingwl@muohio.edu for tour information. Only
a few years after
Indians hunted and camped in the area, this tract of land passed to
Joseph
Morris in 1832 who first dug a "cave" which would serve as a
temporary dwelling for he and his wife Kezia while he fashioned a
homestead
from brick made on the site. The property
was purchased by Samuel
Doty in
1844. Soon the
neighborhood became known
as the Doty Community - from the Doty Homestead south a quarter mile to
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| While in Oxford, visit Kona
Bistro for good food and coffee. Oxford is also a point on the American Discovery Trail. While in Butler Co--- Three
Valley Conservation Trust north of Oxford. They can
help arrange tours of local century old, working farms.
Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton, OH. Hamilton is know as the City of Sculptures and has many public sculptures around town. Dayton Lane Historical District in Hamilton. Follow the Miami Erie Canal from Hamilton to Middletown, OH. Middletown Murals depict the history of Middleton as a canal town. They are painted on the exterior of downtown buildings. Call 513-705-4000 for locations. Canal Museum in Middletown. |
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