Saturday, September 23, 2000
Yesteryear Book takes look back at Butler
HAMILTON — In 100 years, Butler County has gone from RFD to suburbia.
The county's rise is recounted in The 1900s: 100 Years in the History of Butler County, a new book by Hamilton writer Jim Blount, with contributions from Dr. Phillip Shriver, president emeritus of Miami University, and Middletown historian George Crout.
“In 1900, Butler County's business and social activities relied on real horse power,” Mr. Blount wrote. “Even with the best conditions, a buggy trip from the courthouse in Hamilton to Seven Mile or Venice (Ross) could consume two to three hours.
“Almost every aspect of life — housing, family matters, employment, shopping, schools, medical care, communications and travel — has changed.”
A century ago, the county's population was 56,870. More than 58 percent of the people lived in Hamilton and Middletown. Now the population is 330,000, with 36.8 percent of the people living in the two major cities.
In Oxford in those days, Miami University's student body numbered 144. It's now about 16,000.
As late as 1938, electricity finally arrived in a few rural areas, through the Rural Electrification Administration. Thirty families received power initially.
Mr. Blount, a retired teacher and former newspaper editor, has spent a lifetime digging into Butler County's past. He said his book captures events and physical changes the county experienced in the 1900s.
The book features numerous photographs. I like the one on the title page: Two men run from the High-Main Street Bridge as it collapses during the March 1913 flood.
Mr. Blount said the flood is the No. 1 event or trend that most influenced and changed the Hamilton-Fairfield area in the 1900s. Others include Hamilton's industrial exodus of the late 1950s, Fairfield's formation in 1954-55 and the development of Union and Liberty townships.
“Residents of Butler County in 1900 or 1901 wouldn't even recognize the area 100 years later,” he wrote.
The 80-page book may be bought by mail for $14. Send orders to Past/Present/Press, 524 Shultz Drive, Hamilton, OH 45013-5107.
LEBANON — Hilda Watkins, retired Springboro math teacher, will continue her research into Lebanon's Normal University.
She wrote about it this summer in the Warren County Historical Society's newsletter.
Unfortunately, through some misunderstanding, a group officer thought Mrs. Watkins had recently died. I mentioned this in a story about the school. It surprised Mrs. Watkins' friends. Then she called me.
“For a corpse, I sound pretty good,” she said.
Her call resulted in a lively conversation about the teaching school, which lasted from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.
“Principal Alfred Holbrook was an original individual,” she said. “He made do with what he had. He bought the first sewing machine in Lebanon. But when it arrived, it didn't work. So he got busy and repaired it himself. His wife, who taught at the school, sewed sheets and other things for students.
“It's amazing what they accomplished at the school with so little to work with. Today, when a computer goes down, a business practically has to close.”
Randy McNutt can may be reached at 860-7118 or at The Cincinnati Enquirer, 4820 Business Center Way, Cincinnati, OH 45246.
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