Poasttown
Poasttown was the home of the Poast family and in four generations
there was a Peter P. Poast and school children intrigued by alliteration
were heard to chant for 100 years: "Peter P. Poast was the first
Postmaster of Poasttown."
Even before Ohio became a state, in the late 1790's the first Peter P.
Poast came into the Northwest Territory searching out land for a good
farm. He had come down the Ohio river by flat boat, bought a team and
wagon and started up the trail to the Great Prairie. He crossed the
Great Miami north of Daniel Doty's holdings. He went into what is now
section 12, Madison Township, then still Lemon, finding that David
Banker had laid claim to the land along the river.
Poast decided to buy the land north of Bankers, knowing its clearing
would be hard labor, but realizing it was very fertile and level. After
buying the land for $400 in gold, at Cincinnati, he returned by
horseback to New Jersey to settle up his affairs. Once back, he began
the slow process of clearing the land. Within a few years a dirt road
was begun through the Banker farm and across his land northward on to
Germantown, another early settlement. Then came an east-west road,
Franklin -Trenton, again through Poast's land, creating a country
crossroads, making it an ideal site for a village.
Seizing the opportunity, Poast laid out a plat for a town which he named
West Liberty, in deference to an American ideal, recording his plat on
March 31, 1818. But before this in 1815 Christian Coons had already
opened a general store. Next to be opened on another corner was a tavern
operated by William Brown, a Poast cousin, to be followed in turn under
the managements of Richardson, Heffner, Stump, Spidel and Emrick.
Peter Poast prospered and when he died past the age of 80, he was
considered wealthy. Marrying Miss Van Toil, they were the parents of 6
children --- 4 girls and 2 boys, one of whom was Peter P. Poast 11.
Young Peter was born on the family farm in the early 1800's and was
educated in the little log schoolhouse that had been built. After
leaving the common school at the end of 8 years, he started out on his
own. He built a grist mill and a saw mill on Browns Run, using the water
to run his mills. Then he bought some farmland and traded horses. He
lived at West Liberty where he built 2 large cooper shops to make
barrels, employing 30 workers.
Before his early death in 1847 he had fathered 7 children. His wife,
Catherine Brown, was a native of Pennsylvania. One of their children,
William B. carried on his father's cooper's trade and also became a
broom maker. Another son, was named after his father, Peter P. Poast
Ill.
This boy was to live through a golden era of Poasttown history. When he
was 10 years old, his aging grandfather was honored by being appointed
in August of 1848. the first postmaster of Poasttown. His salary was
$57.20 a year. There being another West Liberty in Ohio, it was at this
time that the U.S. Postmaster asked the name of the village be changed,
and everyone agreed it should be called after its founder, Poasttown.
Through the years Poasttown had other postmasters than Poasts, among
them Jabez Antrim, James Barklow, John Selby, William Wine, Harry Selby,
J. E. Banker. The last Postmaster was J. Albert Temple. He held the
office from 1916 until the Roosevelt
administration closed it. Then Poasttown was put on a rural route and
then followed door-to-door delivery out of Middletown.
Then general Store which had opened in 1815 watched a succession of
owners come and go. The first general store that opened in Poasttown in
1815 was operated by Christian Coons, and the second one by Samuel Van
Cort. Other storekeepers through the years included Philip Deall, George
Catrow, John Dubler, Kemp and Antrim, John Selby, William Dine, Marsh
and Poast, and Willis Thomas. Oldtime tavern keepers included: William
Brown, Mr. Richardson, Joshua Heffner, Enos Heffner, Daniel Stump,
Conrad Spidel, and Elias Emerick.
There was also other business activity in 19th Century Poasttown. On the
northwest corner of Germantown Road and the Franklin -Trenton Road was a
blacksmith shop, while across the road was an old stagecoach stop.
Through the years Poasttown had several blacksmiths including William
Tickle, Ortho Woods, Billy Breeman and Fred Seibold, who went into
Middletown to work at Shartles Machine Shop.
Poasttown also had a wagon and sleigh builder, Conrad Speidel as well as
the Woods Brothers. Peter Poast and Hal Selby ran a grain elevator. When
Peter Poast was postmaster of the village, he was also agent for the
Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad. He operated a business for the
Railroad, the C.H. and D. having erected a grain elevator on April 5,
1878. Poast's store was nearby with the post office selling groceries,
and some hardware.
When young Peter 111, graduated from the local grade school and began to
fill the void left by his father's death, which had been followed by
that of his grandfather. Remaining single, he became the leading
business man of the town, he took over the general store.
Another important business opened during this era --- a blacksmith and
wagon makers shop which was operated by the Woods Brothers.
In 1851 the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad was built just
north of the village, making Poasttown a shipping point. Peter Poast
branched out into the grain buying business. Becoming an agent for the
C.H. and D. Railroad he convinced them to erect an elevator, for grain
storage, which they did in 1878. At the same time, tobacco was growing
in importance, and Poasttown became a shipping center for the big,
wooden tobacco boxes on the way to market.
During this period, one of Peter's brothers, William carried on a
correspondence with his mother's family which reveals intimate details
of personal as well as that of life in the Poasttown area. These letters
were discovered by author John Baskin and are reported in his book on
New Burlington.
On Jan. 10, 1874 Poast wrote his cousin, Ed Brown that the snow was 10
inches deep in Poasttown and that a fox hunt was being planned in which
around 500 men would be involved. On Nov. 19, 1877 Poast advised Cousin
John that there was some available work for repairing shoes and harness
in the Poasttown region, but little harness and few shoes were being
made by hand any longer, being shipped here from the East, and thus
ruining the business.
In Feb. 1882 Poast complained that the roads were a sea of mud, and that
the rains continued to fall. He noted that some of the young men of
Poasttown had gone to Dayton to find work. The writer also tells of
family gossip, of the courting days of a cousin who seemed to
be making headway, having been invited to his girlfriend's house "to
drink sugar maple beer."
Poasttown had held its own among the Madison Township towns. in 1875
Madison (West Middletown) reported 158 population, Miltonville, 179,
Poasttown, 200 and Trenton 340. Middletown had 3,046. Although a toll
bridge, the Poasttown Bridge and the improved Middletown Germantown,
turnpike made travel to the city easy.
Peter Poast III lived on until 1908 dying at the age of 72.
He also had another brother, Michael, who enlisted in the Civil War, in
April 186 1, joining the Middletown recruited Company B, Second
Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He spent the next four years in a
blue uniform. Upon his return to Poasttown, he joined his brother Peter
in his various business ventures, particularly in the tobacco business.
He also purchased his own farm where he lived until his retirement.
Michael married Mabel Thompson of Germantown and they had two sons ---
Martin and Peter Poast IV. This Peter enlisted in the Spanish-American
War, spent 5 years in the Philippine Islands, first as a soldier, then
as a member of the Manila Police Department. Next he went to China where
he helped build a railroad. When lie returned to Ohio, he continued to
work in the railroad industry, never returning to Poasttown, but living
in Cincinnati.
Meanwhile his aging fattier, Michael continued to reside in Poasttown on
the southwest corner of the old crossroads where the town had begun.
Here he died at age 95. Knowing that death was imminent, Poast prevailed
upon his friend, Bill Hollenbaugh to build him a pine coffin, advising
him to buy the best timber possible. This Bill did, but when Poast died
a niece decided her uncle would have a proper burial in a fine steel
casket. He was laid to rest in 1938 at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Cemetery
atop the hill overlooking Poasttown. thus ended the Poasts of Poasttown
and the postmark disappeared in 1957. However some descendants of the
family still live in the area. Even the Poast home was demolished to
make way for the new Route 4 and an enlarged intersection with the
Franklin -Trenton Road. The highway at that point was also raised to
prevent the frequent flooding of the years gone by.
Through the years attempts were made at Poasttown to develop businesses.
Peter Poast ran the freight office of the railroad and operated a
tobacco and coal business. He operated the business for 34 years. Then
Hal Selby bought it, selling out to Sol Thomas, who closed down the
business.
In 1918 Mr. and Mrs. Ira Rains and Joseph Ritter of Middletown began a
canning factory. At one time they employed 20 people in the summer
canning tomatoes and sauerkraut grown by farmers of the region.
Then the canning factory moved out, and the vacant building was used for
other businesses, all of which were of short duration. The loss of all
the small businesses once housed in the Poasttown landmark was due to
changing times.
During the Depression years and those following, according to Alice
Hollenbaugh, historian of the area, Poasttown had two general stores,
one on each side of the road, competing for business. On the west side
was Sigel's store, next to the old schoolhouse. Carl Sigel, a longtime
Madison Township trustee, also ran a coal business in a small building
north of the store with coal yards along the railroad tracks. Albert
Temple, across the road, was a short, jolly man, who had the post office
in his store along with ice cream cans from which he dipped out cones.
That post office merged with Middletown in 1957.
According to the historian, the Depression hit Poasttown hard. But the
people never lost their resolve or sense of humor. She recalls a
depression party held at the home of her aunt, Martha Crout, where
tablecloths and napkins were made from newspaper and the light was from
kerosene lamps. Neighbors came dressed in worn-out clothing, and some
like Alice, in dresses cut from feed sacks.
The historian notes that a federal program of the Depression era gave
the community a badly needed new school, which opened in 1937. The next
big improvement was the construction of the railroad underpass on the
Baltimore and Ohio line, which was in the early 1940's. The highway was
widened at the time, the front yards of the old homes were thus cut down
and the stately trees cut. Poasttown was never to look the same again.
The old oneroom school became the Grange Hall, and later the Madison
Fire Department.
Hollenbaugh had lived from one end of Poasttown to the other, making
four moves within the village. During the years she made many friends
among the old Poasttown families, among whom she recalls the Bowlus,
Ballards. Poasts, Paullins, Dickeys, Bankers, Crouts, Bakers, Temples,
Graves, Sharitts, Whites, Selbys, Michaels and Thompsons.
Poasttown itself remained small, with its suburb Poasttown Heights being
many times the size of the original village. The historian noted the
changes, remembering when the Catalina Mobile Home Park was farmland.
She had seen the change from a retirement Community to a suburban one.
The old Baptist Church is gone, but the one on the hill survives next to
Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Across the road still stands the old Sorg house
used by Arthur Sorg. The Poasttown signs disappeared with the building
of the new road, but Hollenbaugh persisted, and finally the Ohio Highway
Department responded and put up new signs marking the ancient village.
Another major event in Poasttown history was the building of the
underpass, which became necessary as traffic increased. It would change
the appearance of the whole village. By the end of January 1941 work was
progressing on the underpass for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at
Poasttown on Rt. 4, between Middletown and Germantown. Motor traffic was
detoured by way of Thomas Road and the Franklin -Trenton Road. Time for
construction was I I months. The project was planned by the Ohio
Department of Highways as part of the 1941 safety improvement program.
This grade crossing was one of the greatest hazards in the area.
A Poasttown landmark disappeared due to construction. It was a building
erected by the old Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, as a grain
elevator. It stood near the crossing and had to make way for the new
underpass.
After operating the elevator a few years, the railroad had sold it to
Jost-Durst Milling Co., which bought and sold grain.
All have admired one of Poasttown landmarks, and shivered at this folk
tale about it. North of Poasttown, on a hill above the village known as
Mount Pleasant, sits a beautiful home across from an ancient cemetery.
The great mansion was built by multi- millionaire Paul. J. Sorg as a
wedding gift for his new daughter-in-law, Grayce Aull Sorg. It was
rumored to have been inhabited by what was known as the Ghost of
Grayce's Mansion. the ghost had once been a lovely young maid who served
the Sorg family during their summer retreat to the country. One evening
the maid tripped, falling down the narrow, steep back staircase, used by
the servants. Those who rushed to her aid found her dead. Her earthly
body was carried away,
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but her spirit refused to leave the Mansion, for she was so entranced by
its great halls, its luxurious furnishings, the rich, imported
draperies, and the shining brass, gold plated fixtures.
During the day, the friendly ghost hid in the cavernous basement with
its many partitioned sections, where she amused herself by dropping
pebbles into the cisterns in the cellar that supplied the house with
water. They were so deep that a stone dropped took a second to splash,
resounding with a hollow, eerie sound, sometimes heard by those
upstairs. Only at night could the ghost be seen, peering from behind
closed blinds and draperies. The long winter nights belonged to the
ghost, for the owners were in the city. Passers-by would, from time to
time, report seeing the young ghost in the shadow of a candle in the
window.
Although only a small village itself, Poasttown was to have its suburbs.
The original Poasttown consisted of 25 lots, 12 along the east side of
Germantown Road (Route 4) and 13 along Franklin-Trenton Road. Just
before World War I the first addition was laid out off the Oscar Michael
farm along the west side of Germantown Road across from the original
plat. This consisted of I I lots known as Miami Moor. Lots were sold but
it wasn't until 1929 the first house was built by Charles Mears and then
a second one by Michael. Paul G. Bowlus recalled as a boy playing ball
in that open field waiting development. Bob Wise bought the remainder of
the Michael Farm from which his trucking firm operates.
Next to be developed was what was called Poasttown Heights Baby Farms.
The original plan was for 30 lots along old Germantown Road. Wes
Zimmerman built the first house in this plat in 1924 to be followed by
one built by Bert Billet. Several more were built by the time of the
Depression which halted the building boom. However, in August 1933 a
most unusual home was constructed in Poasttown Heights, when the George
Creech family erected the area's first Armco Steel House, from steel
sheets manufactured at Middletown.
Another section of Poasttown Heights lay along Meyer's Road with 14
large lots in the original plat being sold off the Warren Meyers farm.
Poasttown Heights is generally considered to be the land from Germantown
Road west to Browns Run. In this area are still many acres awaiting
development into home sites.
Two industrial sites have been planned in the area. One is just west of
old Poasttown and south of the CSX railroad tracks. It is a 12 acre
site. A much larger industrial site of 261 acres lay north of the CSX
tracks, bound on the north by Thomas Road and Route 4. It is noted as
having abundant ground water. These two sites have awaited development
largely because of lack of being served by a sanitary treatment plant or
city water, but railroad access is a plus, with the 1-75 interchange
only 7 miles southeast.
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