Algonquin Mill Complex
234 Autumn Rd SW, Carrollton, OH 44615
234 Autumn Rd SW, Carrollton, OH 44615
The Mill
This Mill, built about 1826, replaced a log mill built about 1818 by George Tope, and operated by him until his death in 1845. Members of his family continued to operate the Mill until it was sold to Alexander Riley in 1865. Mr. Riley operated it until 1879 when it was bought by Dr. Jasper Tope. Partial interests were held at various times by James Rutledge, Jacob Allen, Jackson Tope, William Davis, William Rutledge, David Brooks, Thomas Rutledge and Melancthon Wagner. In 1890, the Mill was purchased by William N. Corey, who converted it from water to steam power.
Marion Hardesty bought the Mill in 1900, and operated it with his son, Clair, who eventually bought it. In 1917, Mr. Hardesty sold the Mill to John Miller of Basil(now Baltimore, OH), who installed the second set of boilers in the Mill.
Mr. Miller’s daughter, Mae, married Arlie Chambers, who assisted his father-in-law in its operation until 1938, when it was shut down for the first time in 120 years.
Mr. And Mrs. Arlie Chambers made the Mill available to the Carroll County Historical Society in 1969 for the purpose of restoring it as nearly as possible to its original form.
At its peak, the Mill produced 25 barrels/day, grinding wheat, oats, corn and buckwheat.
The One Room School
The blueprints were drawn for the present building in 1921 to replace the original building which sat a few hundred feet north of the Petersburg General Store on State Route 332.
Some of the timbers and other building materials from the first school were used in the construction of the present structure.
The addition to the east was built by Lester Kilgore in 1937. It was used as a school for 2 years(1937-1939) when consolidation of county schools closed this school and forced the students to attend Perrysville or Carrollton.
The teachers at the Petersburg School were Miss Minnie Rutledge, William ‘Bill’ Shepherd and Burdette Moore.
The building became the property of Union Township and was a community gathering place. The building became a community hall where township meetings, Grange, 4H, farm institutes, reunions, church picnics, banquets and voting on election day were held for many years. In 1984, the Carroll County Historical Society built Union Twp new facilities across the road(SR332) and this property became a part of the Mill Complex.
The Mill Barn
This small barn is a part of the Algonquin Mill Complex and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Sites with the U S Department of the Interior.
The first country Store at the Festival was located here. Later it was used as a Flea Market for several years, and in 1982 it was converted to a Cookie Factory and Cheese House-Trail Bologna headquarters.
The barn, during the days of early Mill operation, was used by patrons who came from a distance, as a place of rest and for feeding their horses. There was also a blacksmith shop, across the bridge, (left background) for the convenience of Mill patrons.
The building always had either a Mail Pouch or a Kentucky Club tobacco sign on the North end. The sign was repainted by Harlie Warrick of Belmont, OH during the 1978 festival.
The Bread House
Originally the tallest of the three buildings was the office of Dr. Jasper Tope MD who served this community for many years. He lived across the bridge in the house behind the Petersburg General Store.
In 1973, Clair Close, a loyal volunteer, built the outside Bread Oven in the back, which will bake 30 loaves of bread in 30 minutes. It is operational during the Festival only. Merle Long is our present oven operator.
In 1988, Dr. Carl Lincke MD of Carrollton donated the log house, to the left, which is used as the bread sales area during the annual festival. Our volunteers sell fresh hot bread slices spread with either apple butter or fresh butter.
During the Festival, a special group of volunteers begin at 4:00 am making white bread, wheat bread and cornbread so our visitors can “get a slice” or buy a loaf. “Take a Peek” through the Bread House windows and see all the bread rising. Kim Reed of Carrollton is our Head Baker.
Cabin #1
The first log cabin moved and re-erected by the Carroll County Historical Society was given by Mrs John J(Eleanor Dodds) Campbell of Hanover, OH, in Harrison County in 1976. Mrs Campbell and her husband moved into the cabin with their family in 1938 and lived there until his death in 1956.
Seventeen and one half feet square, this cabin reportedly was the lower section of a “Block House” on the road west of Wheeling, later known as the “National Pike.”
A crew of volunteer workers moved it to its present site and reconstructed it to its present “livable” condition. It is used as a spinning and weaving cabin. It contains, in addition to the usual log cabin furnishings, a spinning wheel, the property of Alpha Huffman; a hand-made bed given by Ann L. Saltsman and a loom donated by Helena Waggoner and her daughter, Paula Gartrell.
The flying Shuttle loom was purchased by Mary Nihart in early 1900’s & was used on the Nihart farm, 2 miles NE of Carrollton. Mary and her mother did weaving for many area families. The loom was sold at auction in 1965 when the family sold the farm.
Cabin #2
The second log cabin was moved and re-erected at the Mill Complex in 1976. It was a gift of David Householder of Carrollton and formerly stood on his property on Mayham Road(Center Township), NE of Carrollton.
It, like the spinning and weaving cabin, was moved and re-erected under the direction of Clair Close of Carrollton. Larger than the first cabin, it is used to house a print shop. The printing press was purchased from Gale Lawrence of Bradner, Ohio. Mr. Lawrence also donated to the Society several hundred dollars worth of printing-related equipment.
The printing press is the type formerly known as a “letter press,” and has been in use at the Mill each year since 1977.
Cabin #3
Log Cabin #3 was moved here in 1982 from the Stark County Basset Club.
In 199_?, a wood/coal stove was donated by the Widder’s Hardware, Carrollton for heating the building.
During the Festival, the three local historical societies, Magnolia, Malvern and Minerva present their materials in this heritage building.
The Stage Coach Inn
The Isaac Ullman log house was located originally on Trump Road just north of Carrollton (present location of Huntington Bank) and was purchased by Wilmer Best of Carrollton.
Mr. Best’s plans for the land (development) called for the removal of the house. He gave Lynn Hazen of Carrollton permission to remove whatever materials he could from the house. In the process, it was discovered there was a log structure in almost “mint” condition under the weatherboarding. Hazen, with the help of Mrs. Donna Long approached the Historical Society about preserving it. At first, it was deemed impossible, due to it’s size (20’ x 38’) but a sudden interest in saving this bit of history brought together a group of workers, many of them senior citizens, in an effort to relocate the building. Every log was numbered before being removed to facilitate reconstruction. The Pushkarish Mining Company, the Carroll County Highway Department and the Carroll Electric Co-op, Inc moved it in 1977. No outside help was hired in the reconstruction until the logs were laid “up to the square”.
As is the history of homemaking in general, when the men finished reconstruction, the women took over the furnishing of the house to make it a home.
According to an 85 page abstract given the Society by Mr. Best, to the then president, O.J. Allen, Andrew Clark, who built the house, purchased the land in 1819. In an era when most log houses were about 10’ x 12’ or 12’ x 16’ the size of this house leads to the belief that it may have been a Stagecoach Inn during the 1820’s through the 40’s. The house was located directly on the Steubenville to Canton route.
The Farm House
The Whispering Winds farm was purchased in 1973 for the purpose of providing additional space for parking and for general use by the Carroll County Historical Society. It had been owned by the Crouse family from 1917-1956 and the Stanley Ebling family (1956-1972). It was the wish of the Ebling family that sometime the farm should be a part of the Mill Complex.
The exact date of when the house was built is not known, but it is believed to be in the 1870’s.
The farmhouse is used throughout the year. It is the base for the “Thursday Work Days” during the colder months. A large room was added to the house in 1981. Each week the woman use this area to quilt, make rugs, and ply other housewife trades, while the men busy themselves with the affairs of the Mill Complex.
A great “Pot Luck” dinner is enjoyed by all each Thursday. Volunteers always welcome (8:30am-3:00pm).
The Farm Barn
The Carroll County Historical Society purchased the Whispering Winds farm in 1973 for the purpose of providing additional space for Festival parking and for general use. It had been owned by the Crouse family from 1917-1956 and the Stanley Ebling family (1956-1972). It was the wish of the Ebling family that sometime the farm should be a part of the Mill Complex.
This Forebay Pennsylvania German bank barn was built around 1880 and was used for many years for crop storage and livestock housing. Threshing was done on the barn floor with the straw blown out the door under the sign to form the annual “Straw Stack”.
During the Festival, the Country Store and Corn Crib Saloon are located in the basement with the Art Show being presented on the upper barn floor. Barn square dances have also been held over the years on the barn floor.
The adjacent corn crib was used to store and dry the earn corn harvest before it was ground or shelled for livestock feed.
The Summer House
This building was formerly a “Summer House” built
over a spring at the Donald Kennedy property across the valley north of Canyon Road. When William and Wanda McCaulley purchased the property, they deemed it too good of a structure to be destroyed, thus the McCaulley’s gave it to the Society in 1977. The Carroll County Highway Department assisted in moving it to this location in December of 1977. Mr. McCaulley helped with its reconstruction.
It was originally used as a home for the Art Show during the Festivals but because of need for more space the Art Show was moved to the Farm Barn floor. The house then became home for the China Painter’s who met regularly throughout the year to create their unique plates depicting scenes from the Mill Complex. In 2000, the China Painters disbanded and now the house continues to be used for the Art Show during the Festivals.
The Farm Museum
This building was erected in 1976, a 40’ x 60’ structure, for the purpose or displaying the many farm implements and early household items that were given to the Society.
These items were first stored in the McCook House in Carrollton but quickly overflowed into the former garage of the Farm House. The same thing happened here, so the first museum building was constructed. For a year or so, it held both the museum items and also provided room for the crafters during the Festival. This building too soon bulged at the seams and it was necessary to construct an addition of the same size which gives the present building a dimension of 40’ x 120’.
Following the death of Bert Lytle who was in charge of the building and its contents, the museum was named the “Bert Lytle Museum.” The later addition is used today as a craft area during the Festival and the balance of the year stores our large farm equipment used in maintaining the grounds and some larger museum acquisitions.
The Sauerkraut House
In 1973 when the property was purchased, the main building was a single car garage. It was transformed into a " Kraut"House. Five tons of cabbage is processed into sauerkraut each year and it is ready to eat after 6 to 8 weeks of fermentation. An annex was added to the building where popcorn, pretzels and ice cream were served for our festival customers.
In 2005, the sauerkraut area needed to expand, so the "Kraut" venue was extended into the total facility. Also, in 2005 Sauerkraut Soup (consisting of kielbasa, potatoes and sauerkraut) was introduced to the surprise of our customers. It was well received and remains a popular food item.
In 2006, the area south of the "Kraut House" was created into a small garden patio/rest area with fencing, decorations, table and chairs and a small wood burning chick brooder stove. It was developed to create a place to eat soup, get warm, rest abit, and relax.
Watheys Station
Watheys Station was part of the New York Central Railroad “Alliance Branch” that stretched from Phalaux, Ohio to Dillionvale, Ohio. The primary purpose of the line was to reach the vast coal deposits located in southeastern Ohio. Watheys was built in Nov. 1902 using an architectural style and plan that mirrored many of its sister stations along the line, with minor detail changes made as to need and use.
At the time that these smaller stations were being phased out by the railroad, it was sold to the J. D. Crawford family who had it moved to their homestead in 1935. It was moved by John Sickafoose.
In 1975, Frances Lafferty of Alliance, Ohio offered the station to the Carroll Co. Historical Society for $1,500. At the urging of member Ed Snode, the society made the purchase.
The station was moved in the late spring of 1976 to its present location on a lowboy furnished by the Pushkarich Mining Co., assisted by the Ohio Power Co., Carroll Electric Co-op and the Counties Highway and Sheriff’s Department plus a goodly number of volunteer workers. The crew left the Augusta Twp. site at 11:30 AM and the structure was placed on a pre-constructed foundation at the Mill by 3:00 PM the same day.
In the early 1980’s a group of volunteers constructed a HO model railroad layout inside the station. The layout has been improved each year and is enjoyed by young and old alike.
Watheys Station was bought from Mrs. Frances Lafferty of Alliance in 1976, who was the daughter of J.D. Crawford of Augusta Twp. J.D Crawford’s brother Scott, was the last station agent at Watheys.
The Station was named for the Wathey family who had come from England in 1813.
The Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling R.R. was incorporated in 1874 and was sold under foreclosure to the Alliance & Lake Erie Co in 1878. Several other transfers included those to Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburg in 1882. It was later sold under foreclosure to the Lake Erie, Alliance & Southern R.R. in 1884.
The line was built to Minerva between 1883 and 1887 from ????. There were numerous transfers after that date, with the Wathey Station being built in 1902. Scott Crawford became station agent at Wathey’s in 1919 upon his return from World War I.
Fred Barnett, a retired railroader from Mechanicstown began working for the railroad in 1922, the year the station was closed as a “block house”. (Block stops were used for shunting cars onto sidings so other trains could pass.)
Perry J. Vasbinder Arboretum
An arboretum is: An area where trees, shrubs, herbaceous and flowering plants are grown for study, display and preservation purposes.
This marker is at the entrance of the Society’s Arboretum that was established in the fall of 1976. The arboretum is named in honor of Perry J. Vasbinder, a former Carroll County Auditor, who originated the idea as the best use of a farm pasture field when the farm was purchased in 1973. The main section is located above the Sawmill and the Bert Lytle Farm Museum on the south side of the 75 acre+ Mill Complex property. The centerpiece of the arboretum is the “Golden Circle” (D-8) where plants are given in honor of 50th wedding anniversaries. Today it contains over 400 different plantings sponsored by relatives and friends “In Memory” or “In Honor” of special individuals. Visit our arboretum by “picking up” a plant guide from the mailbox east of Log House #3.