Hebron: Historic Crossroads of Ohio

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Hebron: Historic Crossroads of Ohio

Hebron, Ohio 43025, United States

Created By: Licking County Library

Tour Information

Explore the stories and sites of Hebron, "Historic Crossroads of Ohio," with this tour designed by the Hebron Historical Society in partnership with Licking County Library. The village of Hebron was founded in 1827 by John Smith to capitalize on an important confluence of two milestones in transportation that would meet in the settlement: the Ohio and Erie Canal (1828) and the National Road, or the Old Pike (1835). Hebron, incorporated in 1835, was a popular center for business and industry, and it grew rapidly. The village first thrived as a transshipping point for grain and pork and a producer of lumber and spirits during the nineteenth-century height of the Canal and National Road. The decline of the Canal in the late nineteenth century threatened Hebron's prosperity, yet the village reinvented itself as a commercial stop and waypoint on the National Road when the automobile roared to prominence in the early 1900s. Transportation remains a defining feature of the area's past and future, as expressways and highways bring new forms of economic development and growth.


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What You'll See on the Tour

Frequently referred to as "The Buckeye Diner," a truck stop once stood in the center of Hebron where the current village "green space" houses a pergola and some picnic tables. The Buckeye Center sported showers, tire repair, scales, and muc... Read more
The building at 116 North High Street has had two main functions since its construction in 1877—as a school house and a Masonic Lodge. Originally, the building had been erected in 1877-as a school for Hebron children. At the time there ha... Read more
Where could you pick up all your school supplies, a snack from the candy case, and a new set of school clothes all in one stop? Dawson's 5 & 10, of course! Richard and Martha Dawson opened Dawson’s 5 & 10 (pronounced “five and d... Read more
Ground breaking ceremonies for construction of the Ohio-Erie Canal started July 4, 1825, just four miles north of Hebron. The first section ran south through the village of Hebron to the Licking Summit Reservoir, now Buckeye Lake. The Canal... Read more
The Hebron Mill located at 149 East Main Street, Hebron, Ohio was the longest running business in the village until its closure in the 1990s. The mill, operating as a flour and lumber mill, began in the early 1880s. It was a welcome additio... Read more
The Red Star Garage was built in 1920 by Ed and Art Gochenbach and sold during the depression to Paul Geiger and Ernie Crist. The business name came from their servicing the buses on the "Red Star Line. " Art Gochenbach built the very firs... Read more
In 1840, the Hebron Methodist Episcopal Church secured a deed for the current location at 502 East Main Street in hopes of moving from their location across from the Hebron Mill. The first church building, built in the 1840s, served the com... Read more
The first post office was established as "Licking Summit" in 1825. In 1826, James Freeman became the first postmaster and changed the name to "Hebron Post Office." The H. D. Burch General Store served as the first location for the post offi... Read more
When the Hebron Bank Company opened in 1903, it had $30,000 in capital. The bank closed in 1929 due to the financial crises that would lead to the Great Depression. It remained closed for many years until Park National Bank gave it a new li... Read more
In 1912, Mr. C.A. Pence built a garage on the Southeast corner of Route 79 and Route 40 ( present day Duke Station). Mr. Pence had chosen an excellent corner, the business thrived, service was good and his mechanic was known to do a fine jo... Read more
In the 1910s, this structure housed Morrison's Confectionary and the bus stop for the Greyhound Bus Line. In 1926, Dale Porter came to the area to open a barbershop near Buckeye Lake's Amusement Park.  The barber shop stood out with it's ... Read more
The 17th National Guard Armory was built through the efforts of Colonel H.D. Burch who served in the Civil War. Burch's experience in the military is credited as the reason the Armory was built in Hebron in the late 1800s. The building was ... Read more
This house originally stood in downtown Hebron just west of Porter's Barber Shop. Thomas and Lena Madden bought the house in 1880 for $25 from the Lyons Family. Thomas used his horses, a rope winch, and paid $40 to move the house to the cur... Read more
This “Dutch Colonial” house at 705 Deacon Street was built in the 1820s on a estate called “Cedar Hill.” The outside walls are a foot thick and were made of bricks drawn from claypits just south of the house’s location. The resul... Read more
On land purchased in 1913 for $3,000, construction of the Hebron School commenced in 1914. Classes started in the second week of January, 1915 as the building was completed and the school functions relocated from the old site at 116 North H... Read more
Cummins Ice Cream began operations in 1934 when Earl Cummins and Guy Kirk sold their home made ice cream on West Main Street. They moved across the street to the location that is now the current site of Clay's Café. They stored their delic... Read more
The Christian Church was officially organized by the Reverend Timothy Newcomb in 1868. The church building at 610 West Main Street was erected in 1878. Customarily, men sat on the left side and women sat on the right. The church was heated ... Read more
This house, built in the late 1800s for the Millhouse family (Thomas, Isadore, and their daughter, Helen), is believed to be the third oldest standing residence in Hebron. Mr. Millhouse was the first rural mail carrier (1900) delivering the... Read more
The municipal building was constructed in 1930s. This brick structure housed the village hall and village offices. Also located within the building was the town jail, fire equipment, emergency siren, and the library. As the village grew, a ... Read more
The railway system was established in the late 1880s with the Ohio and Toledo Rail Depot located north of National Road and west of the rail lines. The building was a long structure familiar to so many towns across the country. It had a wai... Read more

 

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