Lockville

The 66' Chevrolet Delivered in person

2010-09-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just Imagine, Your new car delivered to you at your house?

That really did happen in Lockville in 1971. Grandma had been driving a 1960 Mercury that was hand me down from my father and on an icy winter day she slid into the old Silver Bridge in downtown Lockville on her way home from work. A 1960 Mercury was one tough car and she was not hurt and she even drove it home and to work for a few days to follow. Still the Mercury had seen its better days and it was time for a new car. One of grandma's customers at Shades Restaurant was Wes Montang and he was salesperson for Bob McDorman Chevrolet and he heard of grandma's situation and sold her a nice 66 Chevrolet.

Grandma never even see this car until Wes drove it to her house and parked it in the front yard. It was a 4 door Bel air and deep blue green. In the bight sun it appeared green, otherwise it was deep blue. It had manual steering and brakes but oddly and add on below the dash Air Conditioner that made that car ICE cold on the hottest day of the year. Those add on air conditioners were very popular in the era. It had a 283 motor and a Powerglide Transmisison. It really was a Grandma's car. It was last car she owned and it served her and the whole family very well until the 1990's. Can you just imagine buying a car sight unseen? Wes simply drove out to Lockville , showed Grandma the car she liked it and he drove the old Mercury back to the dealership and grandma just wrote him a check for the Chevrolet. Those were simple times and now seem so long ago.

Grandma drove it for years and I took it over as Grandma lost her driving ability. By the time it made it to the late 1980's it had its share of scratches and dings and even replaced doors on the passenger side as Grandma mis aimed getting in the garage.

Grandma was once ran over (literally) by the car and saved by neighbor Ed Baker. She had stopped to open the garage door and just left the car in neutral. as she got back in it rolled backwards pulling her under it! She had a good pair of Lungs Ed recalled as he heard her screams. He ran over and drove the car forward off of her. Thank you Ed! She was not really hurt just black and blue all over . His daughter also helped pull Grandma away and helped her up. That was pretty much the end of Grandma's driving. It was just was well as I'd get calls saying Rich , we just seen a 66 Chevy going down the wrong side of the road as Grandma would drive down the road past the homes of friends of mine. She only drove to Canal Winchester and anytime she needed to go other places we drove her. Thankfully Grandma gave up driving on her own with out a fight . I only hope when my time comes to quit driving I'm as graceful as she was giving up the wheel .

Today, the Chevrolet lives on as we sold it to my friend Bryan from Wooster, Ohio and its motor and drive train and yes that add on air conditioner now powers a 57 Chevrolet Nomad Wagon that Bryan restored.

The Orginal Church

2009-07-23T17:45:00.001-07:00

Picture this building 15' longer in the back and perfectly proportioned windows down the side. It would look like a huge New England Salt box home, more than a church. This photo was taken about 1971.
The Original Church

Today the original Lockville Church located at 5950 High St N.W still stands and is a private residence. It was most likely the very first building in Lockville and ironically built on land annexed to America by President Thomas Jefferson an atheist. This building with stood the test of time and even the first depression in the 1930's. The owner at the time a guy by the name of Stone lost all his money in the 1 st bank crisis and had to make do with slip shot remodeling, despite his grand plans.

I helped care for this house threw the 1990's. As near as I can tell it was built about 1810-30 and at one time it was 15 foot longer in the back than it is now. It has a huge ash beam going threw the center of the building a stand stone foundation and wood timbers and siding. It is a very sturdy barn type building with post and pin construction. It had a metal roof for years and might have been slate when new. I spent many a summer painting the metal roof silver. When freshly painted it was so bright you could see it from US 33 a mile or two away. There was a lot of square footage up there. Today it is a modern shingle roof and still as big and as steep as ever. As I got older and older I got wiser and started parking a car at the base of the house and tying rope to the car and myself just in case I fell I was not going all the way to earth. I did the roof with out a rope for years kind of tempting the young and dumb theory.

Grandma-grandpa brought the place in the 1930s? for $6900 had a huge down payment and paid it off early. Funny back then an early pay off and big down payment were good for your credit rating. She brought it from a man named Stone. When Grandma first seen the place it had a Grand Piano in the living room. Mr Stone had big ideas of turning this massive church into a show place home. It was kind of 'church ish' but it more reflected a huge salt box New England cottage. His dream of turning it into a home was not all bad. However the First Depression was a killer for his pocket book and like nearly everyone else of the time (kind of like the depression we are in now) he lost it all. He ended up patching and piecing together things to even complete the most basic of rooms. Boards were mis matched there were not two steps in the place that were the same. The second floor Dad's bedroom was basically the recycled lumber from the back of the house.

The second floor was not real sturdy. Yes, you could feel it sway and swing as you walked on it- a stark contrast to the rest of place which was rock solid. It was after all slap shot engineered due to the lack of money. It never had the second floor or a balcony when new as some church's did but it was tall enough for the second story. It was kind of funny when it went threw extensive remodeling in the 1990's after Grandma passed on the remodeling crew was working one hot summer day and with the windows open (thankfully) I heard them all SCREAM at once and everyone ran from the house from about every door or window possible. You heard the old timbers on the second floor groan like an old ship sinking to the bottom of the sea. Evidently they disturbed the wrong one and they feared it was going to fall in on them! Eventually they removed it from the building peace by peace but it seemed like it was going to do them in first.

Remodeling that 1830's property was a chore I can tell them the Ash log in the center of the place rotted out and I patched it with concrete repairs more than once. I can tell you walking threw the dining room was an up hill experience and the water classes on the dining room table were never filled full as they would run off the side of the glass. Still it was sturdy old house that never shook during a tornado -high wind and only did when there was a minor earthquake. Grandma used to say If this place ever shakes we have had it. You never drove a nail in the old wood you always had to drill a hole then drive a nail. The old wood was so hard.

Electrical issues were just delightful and the cloth wiring and the old 1930's fuses and wires had seen their better days by the 1970's. Neighbor Jack Creglow can attest to that as he ran up to Grandma's one night when her meter box weather head was sparking so bright he could see it from his house! He was an electrician and thankfully he knew how to pull the meter box and he saved her house from burning down. Good thing it had rained hard that night and the wood siding was wet or the place would have burnt down. You could see the burn flame marks on it and they reached a foot or two from the fire. Lockville was served by all volunteer fire departments at the time and technically we were supposed to call Bloom Township in Lithlopolis first but they were so far away. Violet Township in Carroll Was only 3 miles away but still all volunteer at the time. Still we always joked if anything caught fire we were only inviting the fire fighters to a winne roast
as it would be gone by the time they got there.

Sometime in the 1920's the original school house (still standing) became the church when the straw was cleaned out of it and stained glass windows were installed making it a church. One thing about Lockville its people reused the buildings time and again.

The new owners of the place have a very nice place with modern heat and air conditioning. Grandma heated with two Sears oil stoves for years and then only one room on the coldest days. The bedroom was never heated hers down stairs or Dads up stairs. Imagine that would be child abuse or plain poverity today haveing a child in an unheated bed room. It seems short of a disaster this building will be standing long after Lockville is gone.

The Last Outhouse

2009-07-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

"Its' behind the Church"

Even as late as 1992 there was still a standing working out house right behind the church. Living across the street from there I got to watch the shock the surprise the "oh my god effect" as tourists drove threw Lockvlle to discover this ancient relic of times past. Perhaps many had never seen one before? Let alone used one. Often times the cameras would come out and people would pose for a shot -several would open the door inspect it and even use it. This was often one of the little charms of discovering Lockville. No guided tour of any type could include the self delight of self discovery.

The locals just passed it everyday and never gave a second thought to the spectacle but the non local and passers by all seemingly got a kick out of the place.

Once a group of party folks perhaps all college aged and part of fraternity type of thing from Columbus were touring town and they started out at the park. Eventually they worked their way to the outhouse and in some sort of prank. They made members of their group go into the place naked. It seemed like all good fun.

I guess the reflection on mankind is to some degree we never quite get over the toilet humor aspect of our lives. It was amazing this small little detail or odd placed icon got so much attention. You could tell who the tourist were most would slow down look and even stop. I often thought how effective an out house would be for an advertising gimmick. Perhaps as the realtor's say its location, location, location.

My Grandma Cleaned it and the church for years on end and I even painted it and fixed the roof a few times and the Paufs a local family donated the last outhouse. It seems to have disappeared in 1994, The church has indoor plumbing finally.

This poor old Outhouse gave a new life to the term accidental tourist.

Lockville's Bottled Water Label

2008-11-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

Label From the Jefferson Springs Water Company (Lockville)

Despite saying Columbus on the label, this is a label from the "bottle house". My Grandmother Mae Schull and her husband Paul once rented part of the building A.K.A. the Samual's Mansion the old Jefferson Spring Bottled Water House. She lived there I'm guessing from 1928 to 1930 something, before moving to two other places in Lockville. My Father Jerry was born in her house at 5950 High Street the HUGE white house the first church in town. I think she found this label while she was living in the "bottle house". I remember her showing it to me many times over the years and I was born in 1962.

Rich Shull

Lockville's Beer

2007-08-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

Lockville's Beer- Gold top- It started the Canal Winchester National Bank!

Lockville would be very popular name today in bottled water circles if Jefferson Springs bottled water were still being produced. Jefferson Springs water and the bottle house were on the edge of Lockville in the former Smauels mansion. This bottle house still stands and is a private residence today (2007). It is likely The Jefferson Springs Bottled Water name came from the near by Jefferson Road named for Tomas Jefferson the president that "granted the land" for Lockville. I suspect all of Lockville water was same water Jefferson Springs was and it was OK but very hard. I suspect it would not meet the exceptions of modern bottled water customers.

Lockville had some natural geography, well OK, it is near the creak bottom and close to prime swamp land and the lowest point in miles so naturally water flows easier from there. They simply built the bottled water plant over spring. You must remember in the 1800s naturally flowing water was a godsend as there were few wells and no pumps yet. Bottled Water then was a necessity not a cool thing to be seen drinking. Bottled Water doesn't hold the designer status of a billion dollar water industry like it does today.

Well, now, add Jefferson Springs water base to beer and the mash from the near by Moore Farm and bottled water soon became GOLD TOP BEER.
Gold top was Lockville's' Very Own brand of beer and its slogan was
"Drink Gold Top Old Top" Today I think Goldtop might well be on par with a micro brewery as it was made in a barn for starters.

I think (will try to confirm this) the bottling operation and brewery were in the middle of Downtown Lockville (current Pickerington Road). The "monster mash" well OK, hog feed form the near by Moore Farm was discovered to better off being fermented for beer and it was worth more as beer rather than hog feed. As I heard it from some older Lockville residents Prohibition came to town and Moores took the money from the closed brewery and started The Canal Winchester National Bank with it. That bank is no longer but it was merged in the late 1970s (I think) with Bank One. So, it seems Lockville also had another chance of "stardom," but like always Lockville slept threw the chance. That is what we like about our sleepy little town.

Dynamite!

2007-07-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Buying Dynamite at the Bolenbaugh's
By Rich Shull 2007 from Columbus Ohio

KA BOOM! Honestly until the mid 1960s you could buy dynamite at the Bolenbaugh Hardware in Canal Winchester. Dynamite has many uses in a sleepy little town and it was used to clean out creek banks and even responsible for a few basements in town. Years ago and far away before 911 and other world events dynamite could be brought here in the Americas. There were no questions asked anyone could buy it and I'm not even sure you had to record your name or sign a thing. Bolenbaugh's kept it in a separate building out in their parking lot.

As a 3-4 year old I remember the most of the dynamite events in the warmer months when our neighbor George Shoemaker a farmer was using dynamite to clean the trees out his creek bank about 1/2 a mile from our place. Some of my first memories were of our house shaking and looking out the dining room window to see a ploom of smoke and dust and occasionally a tree flying threw mid air. You must admit he had the cleanest section of creek bank around. One got the idea more than once George enjoyed the blasting. Lockville was and still is to some degree surrounded by corn fields. Few people in town look out and see their neighbors home with in a foot or two of theirs.

Even as late as 1994 when I was down at the creek working from his under water bridge testing a boat motor I built I could look up the creek bank and see where the tree line was much younger that the rest of area a tribute to his explosive habits. His family still owns the property today.

Digging a basement!

As for basements former residents the Stambaugh's lived on Broad St. in one of Lockville's old log cabins and as part of modernizing the place a basement was added so a furnace could be installed in the building. My dad Jerry tells me of how he cleaned the dirt out of the basement a little bit at a time one summer. Howard Stambaugh would place 1/4 stick of dynamite in the ground under his house and then make sure everyone was out of the place and the good dishes were packed away and KA BOOM. When the dust settled there were several loads of dirt to be hauled out from under the house. My Dad job (he was teenager) was to get all the dirt out from under the house during the day and prepare for the next night's blasting. When Howard got home he would set the new 1/4 stick charges. It is a tribute to the structure of a log cabin that it with stood all those explosions and even still stands to this day (2007). The current owner might not realize just how strong their home really is.

Innocence Lost

About 1965 or so It became very hard to get dynamite and for sure you could no longer get it at the hardware store. I guess the age of innocence was coming to a close. These days if a terrorist wants to do a job it seems they just use diesel fuel and fertilizer or something worse and get the same effect. Still It is probably for the best dynamite is regulated these days.

I never dreamed the early morning wake up call of George blasting would ever be fondly remembered but just as the Omar Bakery Truck and the Milkman delivered Milk and bread directly to our house the blasting days also came to a close. We also had a wonderful Sohio fuel oil delivery guy named Dick McDonald and he knew everyone like we were all his friends. He would sign our delivery slips and then add his initial to our forged signature. I remember the first time I was able to sign the delivery receipt,, It was so cool I was 7 or 8 and the only one home when he delivered a load of fuel oil and he said you can sign this! I felt so grown up!

1937 Phone Service Arrives

2007-07-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

PARTY LINES

Perhaps some readers have seen the famous Normal Rockwell Painting on the old Saturday Evening Post Cover that showed lots of people all gathered around a old wall phone ,,, well listening to the local gossip?

Lockville, got phone service in 1937 and all the lines in town were party lines. People today could not even fathom a party line or even anything like the TV show of the Era Green Acres where you had to climb the pole to get the phone. Party lines for the uninformed were simply up to 3 or 4 people sharing the same phone line. When you made a call in those days you picked up your phone and listened for others talking and if the line was clear you dialed your number. However as was sometimes the case one talkative soul was always on the phone and you never get your call out. That sometimes was a big pain in the butt but at other times the online hen party rivals any computer chat room of today. It was after all real live local gossip. Sometimes I wonder if people didn't purposely spred a bit of gossip online just for flavor if nothing else. I am reminded of the old TV show HEE HAW where one of the songs they sang included the phrase, "Were not ones to spread gossip so you better listen close the first time."

Grandma still had the same phone number and party line until she died in 1994 and her number was 837 -4915. Her last few years she had a private line by default as there was simply no one else to share it with. She was never charged for a private line. Grandma did her share of listnening in and often times I seen her at her kitchem wall phone listeneing in and motioining for me to be quiet as she was on the phone, well not on her call but someone elses. Slaming the storm door of yelling, Hi Grandma would have been pretty obvious. For many years she shared her line with the Boyers and then the Ricketts that rented the Boyer place for a few years. She learned a lot of local stuff via those tapped conversations and indeed in that era when one went to visit a "sick aunt" in a distant place it was code for she was having a child out of wedlock.

I remember Grandma running across a lady in Canal Winchester in Conrad's Market once while I was shopping with her. I remember Grandma giving her giving her a hug and saying hi and mentioing to the lady you have been threw a lot. The only thing I was told she was away visiting her aunt. Did she learn of the odeal on the phone. They both grinned when a certian guy's name was brought up. Perhaps he was the father of more than one child?

In that Era things were a bit different and party lines still worked, Smart people kept their business off the line and others used it as the underground social network of the time. I suspect more good than harm came from the use of a party line as it was also somewhat like a coffessional as well. I can remember everyone on Grandma's Line haveing Christmas Chats and exchanging greetings and even talking among them selves which familes need a little Christmas cheer.

Gone Fishing Lockville style

2007-07-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!

Back when the interurban an electric trolley came threw Lockville, the traction line as it was called ran along the former Samuel's Driveway that once led to the Jefferson Springs bottled Water company (Samuel's Home) .This also is parallels the Lockville Canal and as a result there were little ponds occasionally that were once part of the canal. In the 1920s the traction line complete with its live third rail and proximity to old canal ponds made for a natural fish fry.

More than one Lockville resident went fishing by taking a big cable and putting one end of it in the water and the other via stick or post on the hot traction line and well the next thing you know dinner was floating up to greet you. This gave all new meaning to the term Fish Fry.

The interurban dried up with the depression and the ponds were drained but still when you travel threw Lockville today all you need to do is follow the BIG Major power poles on the back side of the park (west side of town) and that was the route of the interurban.

Who ever dreamed Lockville the sleepy little town time continues to forget had such a hot-wire past?

Another Roscoe Village?

2007-07-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Stardom Revoked! "We don't want no tourist traps here" Snote Burke 1967? Lockville resident.

For those familiar with the attractions of Ohio, N.E. Ohio has Roscoe Village a restored operating Canal Town . The restored canal town is at the northern limits of the Ohio and Erie Canal and Lockville was one of the last points on the canal before it hit the Scioto River. I was a snip of a lad at the time the amusement park prospectors came threw town, this was probably in 1967 scouting out Lockville as a possible tourist trap. (as the locals seen it). I heard the comments on the day they showed up as I rode my little lime green groovy Huffy bike threw town and talked with Harry Myers junior a local cabinet maker and our next door neighbor and my Dad's best friend. Harry and possibly Junior Stambaugh (not sure) and Ed Baker another neighbor were talking over the idea and they mentioned things such as Kings Island in Cincinnati (just being built). The developers were intrigued with Lockville and its proximity to Columbus and also how amazingly intact it was (still is) as an 1800's village. They talked how easy it would be to refill the canal and repair the locks and turn it into a Thomas Kincaid picture post card type of place.

They were talking of already built highway and the possibility of hotels and conference centers. All of this was pretty big news to a sleepy little town the frankly liked its pass me on by reputation. Weather by design or default the prospectors were privileged to talk with on Snote Burke one of the oldest most colorful characters living at the time. I guess Snote,might have met them on his porch and treated them like nosey flatlanders with a shoo-in Iron thinking they were "Insurance Peddlers" but, from what Harry said the welcome mat was not exactly obvious when talking with him.

Perhaps the scouts were from the Ohio Historical Society, In Columbus?

So it seems Lockville's chance at making it big in 1960 something seems to have vanished just about quick as it presented itself. Perhaps it is just as well as slow progress finally yielded fire hydrants in 1996. They were just as shocking to the locals as any amusement park would have been. By the 1990s Lockville was still as sleepy as ever but the Fairfield County Water system was born and the pipe went threw Lockville by default. Most thing happend in Lockville by default. The local church the former one room school house now with stained glass windows (making it a church) got a parking lot out of the left over gravel pile the county made there while storing gravel for the water lines. Lockville is surrounded my many million dollar properties today and the progress is happening no matter how Lockville tires to avoid it. It is all part of the urban sprawl from Columbus. As the water tower grew up making a presence like a possible amusement park ride would have done, the local wells typically hand dug wells in the range of 25 foot all dried up. Just as the wells dried up in 1996, the chances of being a Roscoe Village did in 1960 something.

Time remembers and time forgets, time forgives and time forgets but time never tells you what might have been.

Rich Shull, 2007 , Columbus Ohio

Lockville Ohio (2007)

2007-07-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

Lockville Legends - a living wide spot in the road-with a silent colorful history dating from the 1830's.A time capsule of Lockville Ohio written in 2007 by Rich Shull (former resident)and by other members of the community. This is a living history project, please feel free to join in or write a piece of your own. Please be kind and keep deep personal issues to a minimum.

Lockville Ohio was established in a land grant in the 1840s (?) the land grant is rumored to have connection to Thomas Jefferson. (hence the near by Jefferson Road)? Lockville was home of the some of the last canal locks on the Ohio and Erie Canal. Further on down the line from Lockville was the village of Lockbourne, they had the last locks of the canal before it dumped into the Scioto River.Lockville is located in Ohio Usa and is 30 miles SE of Columbus between Canal Winchester and Carroll Ohio. Lockville today (2007) still has 7 canal locks still mostly visible and in reasonable repair left over from the Ohio and Eire Canal.

The Lockville Park preserves 3 locks and hosts a covered bridge moved there in 1967 when the bridge was removed from service. The bridge now spans the remnants of the canal in a very picturesque park. Seemingly hundreds and thousands of people pass by Lockville every day mostly on the highway that by passes (US. 33) the town but even those that drive threw it miss the details the well hidden details. Many houses are log cabins built in the 1840's and today many have modern sidings and have additions to them but remove a bit of siding and plaster and your in the 1800's. Lockville once had a Stage Coach Inn that still stands (private residence) today. Perhaps the current owners are unaware of its history? It once hosted a silent picture movie house a church and a one room school house. ( the current church) . On the edge of town was Jefferson Springs Bottle water plant. (Samuel's Property) In the 1920's and before the Interburban (traction line) also went threw town and had a pick up in Lockville. It went from Lancaster to Groveport and on to Columbus. The noted Fruit Farm Hill over looks Lockville and has been a favorite Bicyclist challenge for years and is the highest point in Ohio between there and Lake Erie. (but not the highest point in Ohio)

The residents and former residents and those that passed threw on a regular basis might enjoy a look back to the place that many wanted to leave so bad and the onlookers from the web might get a chuckle out of the antics of a super small town. Please read over the details of our community and e mail me with more details If you have them. This is kind of the Garrison Keeler (NPR, Parrie Home Companion) saga of Lockville.

Feel free to add your part to our Lockville history by adding a comment to this blog or my writing me directly . Best Rich Shull rsschull@aol.com

As time goes by I wish to add documents and pictures If you have any please let me know. thanks... Rich