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The Village of MINERVA is at the intersection of what was two major Highways , until the interstates came into being . (1) One being the Lincoln Highway ( Rte 30 ) the first coast to coast paved highway for automobiles , running East and West ,and (2) the North and South Highway is State Rte 183 ( was Rte 80 )
There were no roads or highways when John Whitacre settled here and purchased 123 acres of land from Isaac Craig ?? in 1813.Mr.Whitacre built a log grist mill operated by water on the Little Sandy Creek that ran through his property and still flows through Minerva and is the site of Minerva Park.
In 1828 John Whitacre and John Pool formed a partnership and rebuilt the mill for better grist milling as the first mill was used mostly to furnish lumber for building .
Another early industry was operated by the Pennock Brothers who built a foundry located at the present Southeast corner of Lincoln Way ( Rte 30 ) and Market Street . They began making plows and other items needed by early settlers.Their business grew to the extant that they built a large factory where the Minerva wax paper is ( now making tubes and cores ) . The railroad came in about this time and their factory was located on this railroad. Mr. Willard Pennock concieved the idea of an all steel railroad car , made the presses , he and his brother Isaac operated the factory . Therefore the FIRST all steel railway car, was patented and built in Minerva The patent was bought by a wealthy industrialist and moved the equipment out of Minerva .
On June 5 , 1853 John Whitacre laid out and recorded the town platt at the County Court House in Canton , Ohio
???? By the end of ten years a cluster of log houses were built near and around the mill . One of the first settlers was Pim Taylor (a teamster) . He operated two wagons from Philadephia , PA and Mansfield , Ohio . He married the daughter of John Whitacre , Meziah Whitacre by name , then built a cabin just south of the mill . Pim Taylor and Meziah had eleven children who figured largely in the Village of Minerva .
The first child born to Pim and Maziah was MINERVA ANN TAYLOR , born July 14 , 1828 and passed away on March 17 , 1915 . It was her Grandfather John Whitacre that named Minerva in her honor
Stories of GOLD ( see thumbnails below ) being buried in or around Minerva and was still hunted up until ,as far as I know,1958
Minerva is a village as the population is under 5000
NOTE :: I will be putting more facts here as I find them
NOTE :: Some of the facts were taken from the Chamber of Commerce Booklet and Remembered by Marilyn Bartley other information was taken from a pamphlet given to me from the Minerva Historical Society
The Lincoln Highway Association was created in 1913 tp promote the road using private and corporate donations . The idea was embraced by an enthusiastic public , and many other named roads across the country followed
Americans enthusiasm for goods roads led to the involvement of the Federal Government in building roads and the creation of numbered U.S. routes in the 1920s . The Federal Highway Administration and the Interstate Highway System is the culmination of these efforts
NOTE :: to learn more about the LINCOLN HIGHWAY and MINERVA go back to Index page and click on the Lincoln Way marker
a bigger picture