Darke County Ohio Ghost Towns Data Chart

 Town Name   Township &   Post Office Dates

GPS Coordinates & Location Notes

Short Description

Bruss

Butler Township

1883 - 1885

 39.990000 -84.631764  on US 127 at the intersection of Arcanum Hollansburg Rd, former one room schoolhouse at the intersection of Arcanum Hollansburg Rd & SR 503 east of the gps coordinates

The town was founded by Civil War veteran Asariah Bruss (1843 - 1923) & Mary (Hittle) Bruss (1848 - 1916). They settled in section 11 of Butler Township in 1872, had 11 children, & were buried with relatives in Oak Grove Cemetery on SR 121.

Chenoweths

Washington Township

1824 - 1839

 40.092228 -84.783666   on the north side of Greenville - Nashville Rd along North Fork Kraut Creek between Stocksdale Rd (279) & Hillgrove - Southern Rd (T-52), Chenoweth (Carnahan) Cemetery in an overgrown area about halfway between the gps coordinates & SR 502

38.9856244 -83.5796411   It was founded by War Of 1812 veteran John Chenoweth (1797 - 1851) from Pike County & Mary (Barger) Chenoweth (1799 - 1876) from Virginia. They moved to Darke County around 1820 & had a big family. John was a farmer & brick maker. The town was listed in The Ohio Gazetteer & Traveler's Guide from 1837 - 1841. John & Mary were buried with relatives in Chenoweth Cemetery.

Danemora

Mississinawa Township

exact location unknown

The town was listed in the 1880 Valuation Of The Real Property Of The State Of Ohio & a couple of other obscure books, one from 1847 & another in 1866.

Delvin

Wabash Township

1889 - 1903

 40.324984 -84.534199   on N Star Fort Laramie Rd at the intersection of Mangen Rd (54), St. Louis Cemetery at the intersection, Tea Cup (Teacup or Weaver) Cemetery on the north side of N Star Fort Laramie Rd west of the gps coordinates

This small farming town had a church & blacksmith shop.

Hetzlerville

Jackson Township

1869 - 1881

 40.205759 -84.722309   on private property on both sides of the railroad tracks east of Young Rd between Union City - Elroy Rd & Beamsville - Union City Rd, no known remnants

It was on the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, & Indianapolis Railway, named after the Hetzler family in the county, & had a general store & steam saw mill.

Hunters (Huntertown)

Greenville Township

 40.165164 -84.637132  on Hunter Rd at the intersection of SR 118, Newcomer (Earhart) Cemetery on the west side of SR 118 south of the intersection 

The town was founded by the Hunter family in the area & had a church & school. Most of the residents were buried in the cemetery.

London

Liberty Township (formerly  German Township)

exact location unknown

It was listed in the Ohio Gazetteer And Traveler's Guide from 1837 - 1841.

Matchett (Matchett's Corner)

Butler Township

1855 - 1862

 40.001178 -84.633117   on US 127 at the intersection of SR 503, no known remnants

The town proprietor was Eric Matchett (1791 - 1867) from New York who had a few children with his first wife Joananh (Hendrickson) Matchett (1798 - 1839) from New Jersey. They arrived in Ohio around 1820, originally living in Butler County before moving to Darke in the early 1830's. Eric married Rebecca (Law) Matchett (1795 - 1862) after Joananh passed away. The town had a hotel & church. The Matchetts were buried with relatives in Greenville Union Cemetery on West St in Greenville.

    Mina      (Mina Town) (North Greenville)

Greenville Township

 40.105770 -84.639399   on N Main St at the intersection of Wayne St, Water Street Cemetery at the intersection of E Water St & Ash St in Greenville

Platted in 1818, Mina was founded by War Of 1812 veteran Azor Scribner (1778 - 1822) from New York & Nancy Scribner -Russell (1785 - 1849) who had 8 daughters. Azor arrived in Darke County in 1806, built a trading post, & was the first permanent settler of the county. He left his family behind in Middletown, OH until constructing a decent cabin in Darke & deeming the location safe enough to bring everyone else along in 1808. Azor also built a tavern which was the site of the first court session in the county. Certain details of the event have been disputed, but it's likely Azor shot & killed Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, who he personally knew & previously traded with, during the Battle Of Thames on October 5, 1813. Azor was buried with relatives in Water Street Cemetery. Nancy remarried after he passed away.

Mount Pleasant

Washington, Greenville, & Liberty Township

 40.094685 -84.707130  on New Madison - Coletown Rd at the intersection of Greenville - Nashville Rd, Hiller (Heller) Cemetery on the west side of New Madison - Coletown Rd north of the intersection, Dininger Cemetery on the west side of New Madison - Coletown Rd south of the intersection

It had 2 churches & a school.

Saint John

Greenville Township

 40.131789 -84.599186  on SR 121 (Marker Rd) at the intersection of Jaysville - St Johns Rd, St John Lutheran Church & Cemetery on SR 121 northeast of the intersection 

German immigrants purchased the land in the area that was passed up by earlier settlers who thought it wasn't any good. With hard work the Germans turned it into nicely cultivated farms & tobacco was the main crop. They formed a Lutheran congregation in 1851 & built a log church the following year. It was replaced by the brick church that still stands in 1876 as the success of the farms kept growing. Saint John had very nice houses & tobacco sheds in the late 1800's to early 1900's. It was never abandoned but was annexed into Greenville & lost it's status as a separate town.

Sampson

    Neave,     Van Buren, Butler, & Twin Township

1850 - 1858

 40.004669 -84.598124  on Hollansburg - Sampson Rd at the intersection of Jaysville - St Johns Rd, no known remnants 

Sampson was platted in 1846 & had a general store, tavern, steam saw mill, school, & church. The population in 1880 was around 350. It was abandoned in the late 1800's when the Dayton & Union Railroad was built through Delisle & Sampson couldn't keep up with it economically. 

Seven Mile Prairie

1841 - 1863

exact location unknown

 

Strakers

(Straker's Station)

Patterson Township

 40.306231 -84.495347  on Yorkshire - Osgood Rd at the intersection of Foote Rd, no known remnants 

The proprietor, Civil War veteran Henry Straker (1827 - 1901), moved to Ohio from Germany with his widowed mother & brothers in 1834. He married Nancy (Swallow) Straker (1836 - 1871) in 1852. They had 10 children & Nancy passed away just two weeks after their last children, a set of twins, were born. Henry remarried twice after that. He accumulated over 500 acres & ran a tile factory & steam saw mill on the land. Products were shipped out from a train station on the Dayton, Ft. Wayne, & Chicago Railway. Henry was buried with relatives in Greenlawn Cemetery on N Greenlawn Ave in Versailles.

    Wiley     (Wiley Station)

Harrison Township

1864 - 1904

 39.935119 -84.759922  on Braffettsville - North Rd at the intersection of Wiley Rd, Providence Cemetery on the south side of Wiley Rd 

It was founded by Caleb Wiley (1799 - 1888) from Virginia & Elizabeth (Sprowl) Wiley (1817 - 1909) from Preble County, OH. They had 7 children & a nice farm.   Caleb built a saw mill & the town also had a church & school. It was on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, & St. Louis Railway. Caleb & Elizabeth were buried with relatives in Providence Cemetery.

Bear's Mill Ohio ghost town Darke County history travel abandonedBear's Mill, OH - (1832  - present mill town with less residents than in the past)

Classification: small town

Location: Adams Township, Darke County - On County Highway 34 (Arcanum Bears Mill Rd.) south of U.S. 36

Bear's Mill was settled by Major George Adams (1767 - 1832) who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War & the War of 1812. The township was named after him & he had a sawmill & corn cracker built on the land in 1832 but died later that year. In 1848 a new mill was built on the same spot by a local contractor Manning Hart (1821 - 1891. He sold it in 1849 to Gabriel Baer (1791 - 1859). Gabriel finished the new mill including the wood siding that still lines the outside today. It's unclear when or why the name of the mill was changed to Bear.

The Friends of Bear's Mill currently operates it, & the mill is the oldest industrial business in Darke County. The mill store sells several kinds of flour & pottery. It's at 6450 County Highway 34, Greenville, OH 45331 - phone # 937-548-5112. They also have a website with more info - bearsmill.com. The town of Bear's Mill was once home to scores of residents who worked in & around the mill. It's still a populated area but more spread out now & most of the big old farms are gone.

Brock Ohio ghost town Darke County history travel abandonedBrock, OH - (1830's - present farming town with less residents than in the past)

Classification: small town

Location: York Township, Darke County - On Greenville St. Mary's Rd. at the intersection of Rt. 185 (Brock - Cosmos Rd.)

Brock was never a large place & didn't have much more than a wood frame church built in 1857, a school, town hall, & general store. The population was around 100 in 1880. Brock still gets some special attention every now & then though because Annie Oakley (Phoebe Ann Moses - 1860 - 1926) was buried in Brock Cemetery.

She was born in nearby Willowdell, OH & spent much of her life in North Star, OH about 5 miles north of Brock on U.S. 127.  Annie acquired local fame when she defeated her future husband, Francis E. Butler (1850 - 1926), in a shooting competition at one of his acts in a Cincinnati suburb on Thanksgiving Day 1875. They were married the next year & Annie joined Frank's show in 1882. Annie & Frank signed up with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1885 & started touring the country. Annie also appeared in two kinetoscope films in 1894. She broke several world records before leaving the show in 1902.

There's a few places in Darke County that honor her memory. The largest is the Garst Museum at 205 N. Broadway St. in Greenville, OH which has several items from Annie's era inside the museum & a memorial park with a statue of her & Ohio Historical Marker # 2 - 19 outside. Next to Annie & Frank's graves in the "new" Brock Cemetery just south of town on Greenville St. Mary's Rd. is Ohio Historical Marker # 7 - 19 that tells more of their story. North Star, OH also has an Annie Oakley sign at the edge of town. The "old" Brock Cemetery is on U.S. 127 north of Rt. 185 where some early pioneers were buried. Brock lost it's post office in 1906 & there's only a dozen or so residences now. The town hall still stands at the intersection of Rt. 185 & Greenville St. Mary's Rd.

Dawn Ohio ghost town Darke County history travel abandonedDawn, OH - (1854 - present farming, mill, & railroad town with less residents than in the past)

Classification: semi - ghost town

Location: Richland Township, Darke County - On Greenville St. Mary's Rd. & Old State Highway 47 off of U.S. Route 127

Dawn was platted in 1854 by Lewis Wesley Johnson (1824 - 1862) who moved to Ohio from Johnsons Mill, West Virginia. Lewis built a saw mill & was also the town's first postmaster. The first post office was called Eden & was only open during 1856. The Dawn post office ran from 1857 - 1935. When the saw mill burnt down a lumber mill was built on the same spot & later upgraded with a grist mill. It was steam powered & home to the first stationary steam engine in the township.

Luckily the town got a train station on the Big Four Railway (Cleveland Cincinnati, Chicago, & St. Louis). The station was called Nevada & sat on the south side of the railroad tracks in the middle of town. In the late 1800's Dawn had a forge, tile factory, general store, blacksmith, doctor, church, & a two story school (Richland Township #4). The population declined over the 1900's as the town lost it's businesses & the train station.

Dawn still has a small old church on Greenville St. Mary's Rd. on the south side of town. There's also a few abandoned houses & an abandoned auction house that was once called Auction City. The back of the lot is set up like a fort with guard towers on the corners made to look like Fort Brier which was a War Of 1812 fort that was built a few miles southwest of Dawn. 

Miami County Ohio Ghost Towns - 1888 Bridgman's Atlas Of The State Of Ohio

Darke County Ohio Ghost Towns Research Resources

1857 - Darke County Map

1875 - Darke County Atlas

1888 - Darke County Atlas

1900's - Darke County Atlas (year unknown)

1880 - History Of Darke County Ohio

1900 - A Biographical History Of Darke County Ohio

1914 - History Of Darke County Ohio - Vol. 1

1914 - History Of Darke County Ohio - Vol. 2

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