D O N' T   C A L L   T H E M   'F A I L E D'

The St. Albans area is often called 'Alexandria and St. Albans Township.' Just look at one of our Fire Trucks. If it says so on the Fire Truck... well, Fire Truck don't lie. When I grew up in town, that was fine. But now, it gives me pause.

There were communities here that never really happened. They were not failures, they were necessities. From the earliest days, neighbors relied on neighbors. They were communities formed by social groups and relations. Here's my list,

Hardscrabble - a loosely and vaguely related group of farmers in the vicinity of Hardscrabble and Battee Roads. They had a schoolhouse and a church, but Hardscrabble was never geared towards becoming an incorporated village. It relied on trade and agriculture. Hardscrabble had no restaurant, hotel, or hardware store. People in Hardscrabble had to rely on nearby Clemons Station or the villages of Alexandria or Granville for goods and wares. People from Hardscrabble have fond memories of life there.

Ash - Perry Wintermute opened a general store in 1879 at the intersection of SR 310 and Morse Road. This land is now largely owned by Lynd's Fruit Farm. Ash's structures were lost to an accidental fire and to the Ohio Department of Transportation when they increased the intersection and added turn lanes. Soon, Wintermute asked for a post office and Ash opened one with Wintermute as the first postmaster of 43002. (Zip codes are alphabetically ordered.) Mail was dropped off from Pataskala as the courier travelled to Jersey. There was no rural delivery, so local farmers would make their way to Wintermute's to pick up mail, goods, or gossip. Ash once had a successful baseball team - "The Corn Fielders."

Scott's Corners - was once located at the intersection where the south ramps to SR 161 accept traffic from SR 37. (SR 161 West exit-ramp to SR 37 and SR 37 on-ramp to SR 161 West.) Older drivers will recall that the Captain Scott House once squarely stood on the northwest corner there. In addition, the first still in the area was at Scott's Corners, as was a school which doubled as a church. A watch factory was there, though it did last long. Other concerns have made brief appearances at Scott's Corners.

Scott's Corners was named after Captain J. M. Scott, whose family came through Washington County, Pennsylvania, and eventually settled in Utica. Scott was an avowed Abolitionist and friend of Senator John Sherman, brother of General William T. Sherman. Senator Sherman held Abolitionist rallies in the basement of the old Baptist Church, no doubt attended by Scott. Scott went on to recruit and command Company B, 76th Ohio Voluntary Infantry. His tenure as an officer was short when he disagreed with his commanders over the assignment of his Lieutenants. Scott would go on to be prominent in the local Prohibitionist movement and eventually moved to Granville in 1909, where he passed away in 1919.

Clemon's Station - Clemon's was never intended as a community, but the area became a place known to all. When the Toledo & Ohio Central finally ran tracks from Hartford (Croton), through Johnstown, Alexandria, and on to Granville and Central City, they needed a place for water, coal, and a place to bed down employees. Clemon's allowed people a convenient place to send telegrams. Presumably, they could get their Sears order delivered there. (Central City is on Cherry Valley Road where the Market Basket is located, shortly before Main Street on Newark's far west side.

Blood Hill - Originally, the road we now know as SR 37 went straight. Just take a look at the electric poles as you get near Baker's Acres. The intersection was, in the past, located where Duncan Plains Road takes a hard turn to the west. In the early 1800s, three settlers built cabins there. One was a tavern; another was allegedly a house of 'ill repute.' Fradrick Blood (yes, I spelled it correctly) bought the land and opened up a farm to support his main desire - a tavern. With the log cabins vacated, a school opened here. When Blood built his frame tavern, his old cabin became the schoolhouse. The area served as a central gathering spot and a destination for groups as far away as Newark.

This is not an exhaustive list. Ed Maxwell could give you a better one. Sadly, he has passed away. According to Ed (and I trust his memory), every major or popular intersection had a name associated with a well-known property holder. For example, there was Hazelton's Corners and Brooks' Corners. These communities are still there but they seem to be drive-by locations, not destinations.

There was a community named Beech. The homes have been bulldozed. The only remnant of the community is Beech Road. Now, it is a server farm for large, internet corporations. This was once a homeplace to the Fisher family of Alexandria fame. It is now a road. Please, remember our past.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recall when Les Wexner bought New Albany. Things here in St. Albans went crazy as the township developed minimum lot sizes and frontages. As I write this, Intell has purchased a vast majority of Jersey Township and it has become 'New Albany.' Realtors and developers drive by my house daily. Residents of Johnstown fear they will lose their community. I cannot say their fears are unrealistic. Please save our heritage and please support out township trustees as they struggle to preserve our identity.