Dublin Historical Society

Timeline

Timeline of Dublin, Ohio


  •  

    Early Years: 900 B.C to 100 B.C.

    Early Woodland period; the Adena culture in Ohio.


  • Early Years: 100 B.C. to 500 A.D.

    The Middle and Late Woodland periods are illustrated most notably in Ohio by the Hopewell culture. The mounds at Bright Road and Riverside Drive, on the Holder Farm, the Holder-Wright Earthworks, are among a few left behind and still somewhat identifiable as mounds.

1700s

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  • 1743

    Ludwick Sells born February 15th in Prince Georges County, Maryland; son of Anthony Sells and Catherine Snyder.


  • 1763

    Ludwick Sells married Katarine Deardorf. She was born in York County, Pennsylvania March 5, 1749.


  • 1773

    Ludwick Sells was licensed to keep a tavern in Bedford, Pennsylvania (Huntingdon County); he also was a farmer. He was a member of the Pennsylvania militia and later fought in the War of Independence. (“Ludowick Seltz, Captain Brown’s Company, 1777” [Catherine Loveland’s notes.])


  • 1789

    The first Virginia Military District lands were surveyed which includes land west of the Scioto River and east of the Miami River. The northern boundary was present-day Auglaize, Hardin and Marion counties. The district included 42 million acres of land and was intended for satisfying claims of Virginia’s state troops employed in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.


  • 1795

    The Treaty of Greenville, signed at Fort Greenville, in the Ohio territory, is the beginning of the end of Indian-white animosity in the Ohio territory. This means relative peace for white people seeking to settle in the region.

    The Sells family moved from Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, by covered wagon to Fort Pitt, now called Pittsburgh, and then traveled by flatboat to Bracken County, Kentucky (now Mason County).

1800s

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  • 1801

    Peter and Benjamin Sells, sons of Ludwick Sells, traveled up the Scioto River to Franklinton (now Columbus), in the Ohio Territory. Numerous scouting trips to the area had given Ludwick Sells a positive impression of the land. In 1801, he sent his sons Peter and Benjamin to purchase 400 acres where Dublin now stands. The land was a part of the Virginia Military District, owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was land set aside as payment to Virginia soldiers for their service in the War of Independence. Lieutenant James Holt owned the grant purchased by the Sells.

    With the purchase, the Sells brothers traveled to the site now known as Dublin. They called their settlement Sells Town.


  • 1803

    Ohio became the 17th state of the Union.


  • 1804

    Augustus Miller arrived and settled south of Ludwick Sells settlement.


  • 1806

    George Ebey III came to Dublin (might have been 1804) with wife Mary (Ellenberger) Ebey. Like the Sells, he also is from Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.


  • 1808

    John Sells brother of Ludwick Sells, came to Dublin and claimed 400 acres. Ludwig's sons Benjamin, Peter and William received 300 acres north and their father, Ludwick, 100 acres south of the settlement.

    The first church, the Methodist Episcopal, was organized in the home of George Ebey. (The History of Dublin Churches notes this as occurring in 1807.)


  • 1809

    Washington Township was organized.

    Fletcher Sells, son of John Sells, was the first white child born in the settlement.

    John Sells opened the first tavern, the Black Horse Tavern.


  • 1810

    John Sells asked John Shields, a surveyor, from Franklinton to survey his tract into 200 lots. The story is told Sells asked Shields to name the new settlement. Shields called it Dublin for his home in Ireland.

    Just two miles north of town, on the east bank of the Scioto River, Wyandot Chief Shateyoranyah, known as Leatherlips, was tried by Wyandot warriors and executed for witchcraft. The warriors were sent by The Prophet, brother of Tecumseh. John Sells rode from Dublin and attempted to save the life of the Indian by offering the Wyandots his prized stallion.

    Edward Eberly was the first blacksmith in Dublin.


  • 1811

    Christian Church organized by surveyor John Shields, who also was a minister.


  • 1812

    Dublin was in contention as a site for state capital, but the opportunity was lost in a poker game.

    John Sells started a distillery and a hat factory in his house, located in the vicinity of the current Scioto River Bridge.

    George Ebey and John Sells built a flour mill on the river; the first in Washington Township. Until this was built, the closest mill was in Old Town, a village that became Frankfort, in Ross County, near Chillicothe. The Ebey and Sells mill operated until 1898; the last owner was Joseph Corbin.


  • 1813

    John Ashbaugh set up a pottery shop along the Scioto River.


  • 1815

    Charles Mitchell and his family came to Dublin. Their journey from Robstown, Pennsylvania, was by flatboat on the Youghiogheny River to Pittsburgh, on to the Ohio River and to the Scioto River north to Columbus where the family transferred to wagon and horseback for the final journey to Dublin.

    James Hoey settled on Indian Run.

    Joseph Hayden settled in the southern part of the township on the waterway that bears his name today, Hayden Run.

    First deaths in the settlement; Mrs. Polly King and Mrs. George Ebey.


  • 1817

    Presbyterian Church meetings were held in the George Mitchell home, conducted by Reverend James Hoag, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Worthington.


  • 1818

    John Sells offered to sell land for 66.66 cents per acre before the town’s boundaries are established. Sells advertised in the “Columbus Gazette” that he had two hundred lots for sale in Dublin. Sells offered the purchasers three years credit.

    Henry Shout built sawmill on Indian Run.


  • 1820

    First Post Office established. Daniel Wright was appointed Postmaster.

    Population of Washington Township (present area plus Perry, Norwich and part of Brown townships) recorded in census is 137.

    Oil well erected by Daniel Wright; operated for 10 years.

    William Kilbourne introduced carding machine located in the oil mill.

    Henry Coffman moved from Ripley, Ohio, where he had a hat-making business. He brought his business to Dublin; his wife was Margaret Sells, whom he married on a previous visit to Washington Township.

    First schoolhouse in Washington Township on South Riverview in Dublin; first teacher on record was F. Henry. Support for schools came from fines for infractions of laws, not from taxes.


  • 1821

    John Sells and five others floated the first boat (15 feet by 60 feet) from Dublin down the Scioto River in the spring, carrying a load of 500 barrels of flour and a quantity of bacon, which he intended to take to New Orleans. The flat-bottomed boat cleared the low mill dams on the river with the advantage of the Spring floodwater. Sells sold his load at Maysville, Kentucky and returned to Dublin.

    The Christian Church built a log structure on Daniel Brunk’s property (History of Dublin Churches says this is a stone structure) at Bridge and High streets.


  • 1824

    Eliiud Sells, John Sells' son, built a house at what is now 83 South Riverview Street. It beame the second location of the Black Horse Tavern that originally was in John Sells' home. This is the oldest stone house still standing in Dublin.


  • 1826

    Basil Brown, originally from Maryland, came to Dublin via Delaware County and Perry Township. Brown was a shoemaker and set up his trade in Dublin.


  • 1827

    A Presbyterian congregation was formally organized as a church body. A church building would not be finished until about 1857.


  • 1830

    Dr. Albert Chapman, Dublin’s first physician, began practice. He later married Lucy Sells, daughter of John Sells.

    Presbyterian Church built a frame structure in the north end of Dublin.

    Washington Township schools came under supervision of township trustees.

    Methodist Episcopal was the first church edifice built in Dublin and became Christie Methodist Episcopal, built on land donated by Mr. Christie.


  • 1840

    Dublin’s first bridge over the Scioto River was built, a covered wood bridge.

    Holcomb Tuller built and operated an ashery, where he made black salts (potash; crude potassium from wood ashes) and saleratus (potassium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate [baking soda]), which he sent to Cincinnati for sale.


  • 1842

    Dr. Eli Pinney, Dublin’s second doctor, began practice. He married Marilla Sells, granddaughter of John Sells, in 1843.


  • 1843

    The last of the Wyandot Indians, native to Ohio, were moved from Ohio by the U.S. government, leaving the Upper Sandusky area, their traditional tribal home, and relocated to Kansas and Oklahoma. Only one Wyandot family remained in Ohio, the family of Bill Moose. They settled along the Olentangy River in the area we call Highbanks Park. Bill Moose was well-known in Dublin.


  • 1848

    Evening Star Lodge, IOOF (Independent Order of Odd Fellows), instituted in Dublin.


  • 1855

    The village was incorporated and Zenas Hutchinson elected Mayor.


  • 1856

    The village decides to return administrative control to Washington Township.

    St. John’s Lutheran Church organized on Avery Road.


  • 1858

    IOOF Cemetery opened.


  • 1862

    Fletcher Coffman house construction began, finished in 1867. Today this is the home of the Dublin Historical Society.


  • 1868

    Christie Methodist Episcopal Church replaced by larger brick building.


  • 1871

    Brick building erected on North High Street on site of the present Dublin Library. This building was three stories for the schools, and two stories for Washington Township and the I.O.O.F Hall. With this larger building, there was an opportunity for a high school education for the first time in the community.


  • 1878

    A major fire consumed Tuller’s General Store and several other buildings.

    Dublin Coronet Band was organized.


  • 1881

    The village was incorporated again; this required a population of 400 and signatures of 82 registered voters. T.J. Steinbower was elected Mayor, John Wing was marshal.

    (1880’s; exact date unknown)

    Jefferson Fulton, born 1863, came from Cincinnati. He is believed to be the first black man in the Dublin area. He secured work on the E.W. Tuller Sawmill Road farm taking care of Tullers’ thoroughbreds and Belgian show horses.


  • 1883

    A calaboose or jail was built at a cost of $34.17, to hold those who became overly intoxicated in one of Dublin’s saloons. There were as many as 13 saloons at one point.


  • 1884

    Milton Smiley was Mayor.


  • 1885

    A steel bridge replaced the wood covered bridge spanning the Scioto River.


  • 1886

    Augustine Thomas was Mayor.


  • 1888

    Gas lampposts were installed in the village. The lamps were purchased from the Sun Vapor Street Lamp Company.

    Dublin School District formed.

    Theodore Steinbower was Mayor for second time.


  • 1890

    F.D. Pinney was Mayor.


  • 1891

    Dr. Llewellyn McKitrick began practice in Dublin.


  • 1892

    Dublin’s first commencement, with three in graduating class.


  • 1895

    School District returned to Washington Township control, due in part to lack of funds.

    Ordinance passed to close saloons on Sundays.

    The Aurora Cadets, girl’s drill team, organized by Eber Tuller.


  • 1897

    First Washington Township Schools graduation, with three female graduates.


  • 1899

    Village Council gave Franklin Telephone Company permission to erect telephone poles within corporate limits of the village. Fred Wing had the first exchange and carried messages to people receiving the calls. (Dublin Chamber of Commerce information says the date for phones should be 1889.)

    E. W. Tuller, Dublin businessman, was elected to the Ohio General Assembly for one term.

1900s

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  • 1907

    Carbide lights replaced gas street lamps.


  • 1911

    Dublin’s first high school basketball team.


  • 1912

    A cyclone (tornado, but locals still refer to it as a cyclone) struck Dublin, damaging the Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian churches, sparing the Christian Church. The three congregations merged into one. This congregation became and still is called the Dublin Community Congregational Church, on Bridge Street.


  • 1919

    A new school building dedicated, the Washington Township School, for all 12 grades. This is the building on Bridge Street known as the 1919 building.

    Dr. Harry Whitaker took up Dr. McKitrick’s practice, became Mayor, and was instrumental in equipping and upgrading Dublin’s fire protection.


  • 1920

    Electric streetlights replaced the carbide lights. Faye Eberly was the outgoing village lamplighter. Electric current was furnished by the Linworth Mutual Light and Power Company.


  • 1921

    First high school girl’s basketball team.


  • 1922-1925

    O’Shaugnessy Dam construction occurred during this period, part of a flood control project (with the Griggs Dam) for the Scioto River. Nearby, “The Hut” was established, a convenient restaurant for the construction crews. This establishment grew to be the Dam Site restaurant and eventually The Bogey Inn.


  • 1926

    The water pump at the intersection of Dublin Road and Route 161 was removed after a car collided with the protective wall surrounding it and the village was faced with a lawsuit. The pump was located in the middle of the intersection and this was one of several sites where residents came to get fresh water before running water was available in their homes.


  • 1927

    The first traffic light was installed at the Bridge Street and High Street intersection.

    The Columbus Zoo opened.


  • 1928

    Ben Black was Mayor.


  • 1929

    The Wyandot Inn opened near the Columbus Zoo.


  • 1930

    Harry Whitaker was Mayor (until 1944).
    Dublin storeowners showed movies on High Street on Saturday nights, projecting them on the side of a building when weather permitted.

    The Dublin Nite Club and Restaurant (originally named the Bar-B-Que) opened at the south east corner of Route 33 and 161, on the east side of Scioto River. It was owned by Ben Delewese.


  • 1932

    Dr. Henry Karrer begins 32-year medical practice in Dublin.


  • 1935

    The concrete and stone arch bridge was built over the Scioto River at Dublin.


  • 1937

    Washington and Perry Township Fire Department organized, forming Dublin Volunteer Fire Department. The Reo Seagrave fire truck, built in Columbus, was the first piece of fire equipment bought by the new Fire Department.


  • 1941

    Krumm house was built; today (as of 2004) the home of the Dublin Arts Council. Charles Krumm was a Columbus attorney. In 1947, this became the home of the Gelpi family, owners of Swan Cleaners.


  • 1944

    The new firehouse was built; the first in Dublin built specifically for that use. This is the Bridge Street firehouse.

    During WWII when gas was one of many items being rationed, the part of “old” school building was used for a teen canteen.

    James Yeager was Mayor (until 1955).


  • 1947

    The first high school football team organized.


  • 1952

    Memorial Auditorium addition was built on to the school building known as the “1919 building”.

    Jerome Special School District acquired, enlarging the district.


  • 1953

    Washington Township was the first in Franklin County to establish its own zoning. This provided the roots for modern development.


  • 1954

    Another addition to the 1919 building, this was called the High School building.


  • 1956

    New ambulance purchased.

    Ralph Jones was Mayor.

    St. Brendan’s Catholic Church formed in Dublin; the congregation later moved to Hilliard.


  • 1959

    The first bank opened in Dublin.


  • 1960

    Dublin celebrates its sesquicentennial (150 years). The official date is June 10th but the village celebrated for a week with The Scioto Heritage pageant.

    Population estimated at 552 (City of Dublin statistics.)

    Village of Dublin celebrates sesquicentennial with weeklong pageant and other events.

    Lewis Geese was Mayor.

    Police Chief was Harold E. Rose, “Rosie”.

    Village balance on hand January 1st was $2,777.40.

    Village employed two full-time police and two temporary part-time police officers.

    One traffic light at the intersection of Bridge Street and High Street; it had a cut-off switch for fire department use.


  • 1961

    Indian Run Elementary opened for grades 1-4.


  • 1962

    First Kiwanis Frog Jump.

    Betty Bell elected to City Council; first woman on Council.


  • 1964

    High school golf team organized.


  • 1965

    First Comprehensive Development Plan adopted.

    New post office building opened.


  • 1966

    Jack Nicklaus selected the site that became labeled Muirfield from among several in Central Ohio, beginning a six-year process of land acquisition and development; construction began in 1972.

    Jack Frambes was Mayor.


  • 1967

    Dublin’s first bank robbery.

    Dublin Nite Club destroyed by fire.


  • 1967-1969

    Ashland Chemical locates a headquarters in Dublin. Company executives worked with city and township officials and with Columbus and state officials to add the beltway interchange not originally planned for this site. They were successful and the I-270 outer belt was linked to Dublin.


  • 1970

    Dublin had 681 residents.

    Riviera Country Club opened.


  • 1971

    The West outer belt, I-270, was opened between I-71 North and I-70 West.

    First water and sewer contract with Columbus.

    Library dedication attended by Ohio Governor John Gilligan.

    Joe Dixon was Mayor.


  • 1972

    Position of Village Manager established and Sherm Sheldon was appointed to the position.

    3,914 acres of Muirfield Village annexed into Village of Dublin; construction began on Muirfield Village Golf Club.

    Village of Dublin adopted 1% income tax.

    LaScala Restaurant opened.


  • 1973

    Dublin High School (today known as Dublin Coffman High School) opened.

    Village council adopted the shamrock as the official village emblem.


  • 1974

    Muirfield Village Golf Course opened.

    Construction of homes in Muirfield Village began.

    Dublin Historical Society established.


  • 1975

    Dublin Chamber of Commerce established with 17 members.

    Mayor Joe Dixon and wife traveled to Dublin, Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day at invitation of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

    Robert Mayer named Police Chief.


  • 1976

    Charles Coffman was Mayor.

    Village accepted responsibility for care of IOOF cemetery and all other village cemeteries.


  • 1977

    Dublin Chamber of Commerce held first major fundraiser, the Harvest Ball at Riviera Country Club.


  • 1978

    New municipal building occupied at 6665 Coffman Road now Emerald Parkway.

    Dublin Counseling Center opened.


  • 1979

    Village Council adopts a Charter and a council/manager form of government.

    Robert Karrer was Mayor.

    Village Council authorized a bikeway study.

    Forestry Commission established.

    Dublin Fund created within the Columbus Foundation.


  • 1980

    Village population was 3,855.

    Catherine Headlee was first woman Mayor.

    Deer Run Elementary School opened.


  • 1981

    Landscape Law approved by Council.

    First St. Patrick’s Day celebration organized by the village.

    Dublin Stouffer Hotel opened with the first Emerald Ball (fundraiser for Dublin Fund).

    First Festival of the Arts for the Dublin Women’s Club.

    Olde Sawmill Elementary School opened.


  • 1982

    Patrik Bowman hired as first Village Planner.

    James Lewis was mayor.

    Dublin High School Girls’ Gymnastics Team won State Championship.


  • 1983

    Dublin High School Boys’ Golf Team AA State Champions.


  • 1984

    City Council establishes the Dublin Arts Council.

    Frantz Road extended to Hayden Run Road, a cooperative project with City of Columbus.

    Riverside Elementary and John Sells Middle Schools opened.


  • 1985

    Dublin celebrates 175th anniversary.


  • 1986

    Route 33/161 bridge over the Scioto River reopened after widening; 5,000 residents attended the celebration.

    Mike Close was Mayor.


  • 1987

    Dublin became a city.

    Population estimated at 11,000 in 17 square miles.

    Tim Hansley hired as City Manager.

    Dublin 1/1000 celebrated (Dublin, Ohio’s first year, Dublin, Ireland’s 1,000th anniversary).

    Scottish Corners Elementary School opened.

    Dublin Chamber of Commerce had 410 members.


Sources:

  • a. “Dublin Life”, “The Way We Were”, June 1999
  • b. Dublin Cemetery Book draft, November 9, 2000
  • c. Shanachie, Volume II, Spring 1985, “175 Years of Living in Dublin”
  • d. “The Ohio Historical Review, featuring Dublin, Ohio; 1980”
  • e. “The Faces of Dublin”, from the Definitely Dublin Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration advertising supplement to This Week’s Community Newspaper, March 11, 1996
  • f. “The Dublin Story”, from records of Faye Eberly and Newton J. Dominy
  • g. Dublin’s Journey; Kehoe, Elaine and Franklin, Peter; City of Dublin, Ohio; 2004
  • h. “History of Dublin Churches”, Karrer, Emmett H., Dublin Historical Society, 1985