King Hollow Tunnel

King Hollow or Mineral Tunnel is located just a few miles northeast of the well known Moonville Tunnel in Athens County Ohio. Unlike the Moonville Tunnel built mostly of brick, King Hollow Tunnel was built of wooden beams within a solid rock shaft. It was thought to be built about the same time as the Moonville Tunnel during the mid-1850s.

Via gb_packards on Flickr.

EDIT: Moonville is actually in Vinton County, says Wikipedia.

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Parts of former Athens asylum opened up for rare tour

Whether pulled to one of Athens’ most prominent pieces of land by history, tales of hauntings, or a desire to return to a former place of residence, Athens-area residents came out Friday to tour the buildings and grounds of The Ridges and to learn a bit about what was once the Athens Lunatic Asylum.

The self-guided walking tour — which included a guided tour of The Ridges’ Cemeteries Nature Walk hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness — was held in conjunction with a book signing for “Asylum on the Hill: History of A Healing Landscape,” written by Katherine Ziff, an Athens City Schools counselor. The book is the first published history of the former asylum, which opened in 1874. The asylum was closed in the early 1990s after Ohio University acquired the property from the state of Ohio in 1988. Today, buildings on the property house several OU offices.

Visitors during Friday’s event were able to tour some of the buildings on the property, including former asylum offices, the bake shop and main kitchen, among others. Most of the sites on the tour have been refurbished or renovated to accommodate new operations — the Kennedy Museum of Art in Lin Hall, for example.

Read more from The Athens Messenger (subscription required). | Photo credit: John Halley, The Athens Messenger.

RELATED: ICYMI, Ohio institution was forerunner in humane treatment of the mentally ill (The Columbus Dispatch).

For other posts about The Ridges, click here.

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Local history remembered: An exploration of false perceptions and realities

Many Ohio University students and Athens residents have noticed that the university campus and parts of uptown Athens have quite a historical touch. Walking through Alumni Gateway onto College Green on local bricks, a person can really feel the history. Most students have probably seen the Vietnam War memorial plaque in front of the courthouse. Some may know about the plaque on Washington Street dedicated to Booker T. Washington, an African American political leader and educator from the early 19th century. But what is being done to preserve history in the area? How is it remembered? What moments of Athens history have been forgotten?

One example of a not-so-visible part of Athens as a city and as a county is the rich industrial history of the region. Due to large amounts of clay, the production of bricks boomed throughout the late 19th century. For example, the Athens bricks on College Green had to be produced, which was hard and intensive work. In 1910, the Athens brick plant produced 60,000 to 70,000 bricks a day and employed 130 workers, most of whom were unskilled and worked up to 60 hours per week. Those bricks were used to pave roads and to construct buildings in Athens and throughout the whole country. A large brick factory was located on what is now Stimson Avenue. The brick industry in Athens lasted until the 1920s, when it was forced out of business because of competition from more cost-effective alternative paving techniques such as concrete.

Jessica Carmosino, a senior studying history, is one OU student who is very interested in Athens’ local history. Carmosino is currently volunteering at Athens County Historical Society and Museum, which is located on 65 N. Court St. She works on different exhibits, sorts and organizes the historical items of the museum, and sometimes gives schoolchildren tours of the museum. One activity Carmosino does with children is called “History Detectives,” in which children put on gloves, touch historical artifacts and guess their uses.

Read more from The Interactivist. | Photo via The Athens County Historical Society/The Interactivist.

Related topics: History | Old photos

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Bingham family Bible donated to historical society

A Bible belonging to one of Athens County’s pioneer families has returned to the county, thanks to the generosity of descendants who live in Rhode Island.

The Bible — which evidence indicates belonged to Alvan Bingham — contains marriage, birth and death records of Bingham family members, and is considered a treasure for local historians.

Alvan and his brother, Silas, were some of the earliest residents of Athens County. Alvan started out in the county as a judge, and Silas got his start as a deputy sheriff. The family moved to Ohio from Connecticut in 1796, according to Athens County Historical Society Executive Director Ron Luce said. Silas owned property where the current Athens County Courthouse sits, he said.

Read more from The Athens Messenger (subscription required, 3/21) or read for free from The Athens NEWS (3/22). | Photo credit: John Halley, The Athens Messenger.

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Study to delve into historical sites at Strouds

What do Swiss immigrant farmers, Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones and Indian mounds have in common?

Strouds Run State Park.

The local park includes land once owned by Jones and later farmed by Swiss immigrants, and there are Indian mounds on the park property. It also has remnants of homesteads, of a school and of a post office, not to mention artifacts that disappeared from view when part of the property was flooded to create a lake.

Read more from The Athens Messenger (subscription required). | Photo credit: John Halley, The Athens Messenger.

Related topics: Strouds Run State Park | History

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Athens counselor authors new book about former asylum

The former mental health asylum at The Ridges has been discussed in local folklore, with bits and pieces about its history in a number of other books. But now, those who are looking for a more comprehensive look at the asylum’s history can now do so through a book written by Athens City Schools counselor Katherine Ziff.

In “Asylum on the Hill: History of A Healing Landscape,” Ziff illustrates the early history of the facility, its purpose and its implementation of a “moral treatment philosophy” for patients at the asylum. The book, published by Ohio University Press, will be highlighted at a public event on Friday, March 30, at the Kennedy Museum of Art.

“This is the first book published on the history of the Athens Lunatic Asylum,” she said. “Until now, people seeking to learn about the asylum had to search in a variety of works scattered in many places. The general difficulty of gaining a coherent picture of especially the early history has contributed to all kinds of conjecture and supposition, which have served to continue the stigma still associated with mental illness that lingers about the asylum.”

Read more from The Athens Messenger (subscription required). | Photo credit: John Halley, The Athens Messenger.

For other posts about The Ridges, click here.

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Historical Society hosts Civil War Ball

Four score and 70 years ago, the United States of America was torn apart at the seams during a four-year civil war. The Civil War marked a pivotal time in the history of this nation, and Saturday night the Athens County Historical Society and Museum held a Civil War Ball commemorating the sesquicentennial remembrance of the event.

“This is the first time we’ve done it. It being the anniversary of the Civil War — which began in 1861 and lasted through 1865 — we thought to remember the 150-year anniversary of the duration of the war,” said Ron Luce, director of the Athens County Historical Society and Museum.

“A lot of Athens County people went to war and I don’t think a lot of people here think about that too much. A lot of men from here went off to fight and died and I think what we try to do is to commemorate the occasion and the importance of that war.”

Read more from The Athens Messenger (subscription required) or read for free from The Post. | Photo credit: Katharine Egli, The Post (click-through link goes to The Post’s story).

For other posts about history, click here.

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Large family with Millfield roots to celebrate 50th reunion

MILLFIELD — A desire for freedom drew Frank Miller to the Millfield community in 1905, but it is love of family that has kept his descendants returning to Athens County and the Buckeye State for the past 50 years.

The patriarch of the Miller family, Frank Miller, a coal miner by trade, immigrated from Hungary. His wife, Mary, followed a year later with their three children. They settled down on Oregon Ridge in Millfield and had nine more children. Frank continued to work in the mines, while Mary ran the family farm and served as a midwife in town.

Though Frank and Mary have now passed on, the Miller family continues to gather annually — something Mary wanted for them all.

Read more from The Athens Messenger (subscription required). | Photo via The Athens Messenger.

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