Rushville Historic District

The Rushville Historic District is a historic district in Richland Township, Fairfield County Ohio which bounds the original village of Rushville. The district is considered both historically and architecturally significant due to the preservation of many houses and commercial buildings representing a period from the 1820s to the early 1900s. It features examples of log construction, Gothic Revival, Federal, Italianate, and Queen Anne style architecture.[2]

Rushville Historic District
Building at northeast corner of Main Street and Market Street, in 2013
LocationBremen Ave., Main and Market Sts., Rushville, Ohio
Coordinates39.764167°N 82.430833°W / 39.764167; -82.430833
Area33 acres (13 ha)
Built1810
Architectural styleLate Victorian, Gothic Revival, Federal
NRHP reference No.80002996[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 24, 1980

Founded by Joseph Turner in 1808, Rushville is one of the earliest settlements in Fairfield County and stands along the original Zane's Trace road constructed by Colonel Ebenezer Zane in 1797. Zane's Trace ran from Wheeling, WV to Maysville, KY and was the first road into Ohio and lead to the establishment of the first towns in the interior of the state. Because of its location along this route Rushville became a successful commercial area which featured several inns, taverns, and merchant shops.[3] Rushville was also a stop on the Underground Railroad in the years preceding the Civil War. Several prominent abolitionists lived in the village including the Rev. William Hanby and his son, composer Benjamin Hanby.[4][5]

Today Rushville is bypassed by modern U.S. Route 22 which seems to have left the village largely untouched by change since the mid-20th century. The District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[6][7][8][1]

Town Hall and Masonic Hall building

The district includes 87 contributing buildings in a 33 acres (13 ha) area.[1]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. Nancy Recchie (June 1979). National Register of Historic Places Registration: Rushville Historic District. NARA. Retrieved January 24, 2022. (Downloading may be slow.)
  3. Graham, Albert Adams (1883). History of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio. Chicago: W.H. Beers & Co. p. 248.
  4. "Memorial marker installed for runaway slaves in Rushville cemetery". Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. "Benjamin Hanby and His Anti-Slavery Song, Darling Nelly Gray". Westerville Public Library. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  6. "OHIO - Fairfield County - Historic Districts". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  7. "Ohio National Register Searchable Database". Ohio History Connection. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  8. Lorrie K. Owen, ed. (December 2008). Ohio Historic Places Dictionary Vol. 2. State History Publications LLC. ISBN 9781878592705. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
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