I hope everyone had a nice holiday season. We certainly did and things are pretty much back to normal here. This winter seems more like the winters we used to have, colder with more snow, making it the perfect time to work indoors on some genealogy projects.
As I mentioned late last year, I still plan to write an occasional blog post. Yesterday, while looking for something else entirely, I found a map that I forgot I had and I thought it would be of interest to share it. It is rewarding for me to clean out my genealogy closets from time to time.
I was thrilled to find a 1913 Topography map of northern Mercer County, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and the State of Ohio. At that time, Judson Harmon was Ohio’s Governor and C.E. Sherman was the Inspector, according to the map.
1913 Topography Map Northern Mercer County, Ohio
1913 Topography map, Mercer County, Ohio
I am not all that interested in the topography of northern Mercer County, but I noticed that the map also shows the location of the county schools. And I found that very interesting.
As an added bonus, the map also shows a little bit of southern Van Wert County (southern Willshire, Liberty, and York Townships) and their schools, Stetler School, Shell School, Ridge School, School No.2, and Bevington School.
Below are a scans of Black Creek, Liberty, and Dublin Townships from the 1913 map. You can see the name of each school, along with some other information. Not all of the schools had a name. Some had only a number.
In Black Creek Township are following schools: King School, Winkler School, School No.3, Duck Creek School, Central School, Manley School, Robinson School, and Wildcat School.
Black Creek Twp, 1913 Topography Map, Mercer County, Ohio
In Liberty Township: School No.1, Deitsch School, School No.3, Forest Hill School, Center School, Landfair School, School 7, Skudder School, and School No.9.
Liberty Twp, 1913 Topography Map, Mercer County, Ohio
In Dublin Township, as they are spelled on the map: Frisinger School, Boltzell School, Henderson School, Barks School, Prairie School, Red School, and Stringtown School.
Dublin Twp, 1913 Topography Map, Mercer County, Ohio
This map was helpful to me. I have been working on a Mercer County church project and the Red Schoolhouse in Dublin Township has come up several times in conjunction with Otterbein Church. Now I see exactly where Red School was, on SR 707, west of 118. It also confirms the name of the school and that it was not just called a red schoolhouse.
Lastly, looking at the same general area on a 2005 Mercer County map, I learned that the lowest point in Mercer County, at 780’ above sea level, is on the Mercer/Van Wert County line, at the north edge of the Labadie Reserve, very near the St. Marys River.
2005 Mercer County map
I will post some more townships from this 1913 map in the future.
I don’t know about you, but I could spend many hours looking at maps.
