Institution

<p>The Athens County Historical Society and Museum was officially founded in 1983 - through the merging of the Athens County Historical Society and the Athens County Museum Corporation.</p><p>65 North Court Street served as the home of the organization, housing the growing collection, providing an exhibition space, and meeting area. It didn't take long for the organization to outgrow this space. The collections were bulging at the seams and the building could no longer serve the needs of the staff.</p><p>In late 2015, the 100 year old building housing the First Christian Church at the corner of West State and Congress Street came up for sale. In January, the Board responded to the opportunity to purchase the building. With the new 18,000 square foot space, the organization rebranded and became the Southeast Ohio History Center. Since then the SOHC, has become a leader in historic preservation and education for the region. The History Center has an expansive primary exhibition gallery space, an expanded genealogy and research library, flexible classroom, meeting, and rental spaces, a climate controlled collections storage space, and a modern collections lab where staff and volunteers can work on new preservation, research, and exhibition projects.</p>

A live film/music event held at the SOHC 

Another example of an exhibit at the SOHC

Website

<p>The purpose of the Southeast Ohio History Center is to collect, preserve, and share Southeast Ohio's unique cultural and natural heritage. With its rolling hills, lush farmland, fall foliage, and quaint, homespun communities, Southeast Ohio is among the most beautiful regions in the state and the country. The area boasts some of the best of what Ohio has to offer. For nearly 50 years, the Southeast Ohio History Center, formerly the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, has been serving this region. It's collection of more than 85,000 archival materials, photographs, media, artifacts, textiles, and decorative arts offers a glimpse into the lives of those who have made Southeast Ohio their home.</p>

Southeast Ohio History Center

This walking tour follows a mile-long loop and includes stops at several historic buildings, markers, and monuments throughout Athens.

<p>

</p><p>Cutler Hall was built in the late Federalist style. It is the oldest building to be built for higher education west of the Alleghenies and north of the Ohio River. It is also one of the older state universities in the nation. During the summer of 1816, the cornerstone for the College Edifice (what the building was first called) was placed. Work continued over the next two years as finances would allow. The original stonework was set by contractors Pilcher and Francis. The east end of the building was struck by lightning in August 1818, but torrential rains saved the building from burning to the ground. The damage caused by the fire postponed its opening until September 1819.</p><p>

</p><p>Over the years, the College Edifice (also known as the Center Building) served many purposes. It housed a dormitory, classroom, laboratory, library, and museum. The roof was raised approximately three feet in 1881. An iron gable was also installed, the small-paned windows lengthened and narrowed, and the handmade bricks were painted gray. A bell that was rung for more than 130 years calling students to class was replaced by chimes (that are now operated by tape). The chimes play “Alma Mater, Ohio” each day at 8 A.M. and noon.</p><p>

</p><p>The building was renamed Cutler Hall in 1914 to honor Manasseh Cutler, one of the founders of Ohio University. Cutler attended school at Yale University and was very versatile. He operated a store and practiced law and medicine. He was also a minister and scientist-statesmen.<br></p><p>

</p><p>The building was abandoned for classroom use in 1936, and when John C. Baker became president of the university in 1945, he found the site of the building displeasing. Although he was advised to have the building demolished, the building was renovated and restored to its original appearance. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.</p><p>

</p>

Completed in 1819, this three-story building was named in honor of Manasseh Cutler, a man of science and medicine who was one of the founders of Ohio University. The building is the oldest campus building at any college in the Old Northwest--the states west of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio River. The building used to house classrooms, laboratories, and faculty offices, but is now occupied exclusively by senior administrators. The building's cupola once held the bell that called students to class. Today, the cupola holds chimes that play "Alma Mater Ohio" each morning at 8 A.M and noon. 

Cutler Hall, Ohio University

<span>Athens resident and former Ohio Union officer Charles H. Grosvenor led the effort to create the monument in the early 1890s after previous efforts by the Grand Army of the Republic and local residents had fallen short of their fundraising goals. Thanks largely to the women of Athens, and with the promise of Ohio University to maintain the monument in perpetuity, $18,000 was raised and the monument was dedicated in 1893.&nbsp;<br><br></span><span>The monument was enhanced in 1907, with the addition of several cannons and a pile of cannonballs. During World War II, these items were selected to be part of a scrap metal drive with proceeds&nbsp;benefitting&nbsp;the United Service Organization. According to a story that ran on October 7, 1942, in the <i>Ohio University Post</i>: "In accordance with President (Franklin) Roosevelt's request, the former landmarks were turned over in the nationwide scrap metal campaign. Two cannons and approximately 50 cannonballs were sold to a local scrap dealer for $120.41. The money was turned over to the USO."</span><br>

Erected in 1893, this monument honors the 2,610 men of Athens who served the Union in the Civil War. The monument was funded by donations raised by veterans organizations and women's auxiliaries. The monument features a Union soldier at the ready, and originally included a canon and pyramid of cannon balls. Demonstrating the cyclical nature of history, these metal relics were collected during a city-wide metal scrap drive during World War II. The monument is located on the public land that serves as a divider between the town of Athens and Ohio University. 

Athens Soldiers and Sailors Monument

<p><span>Athena Cinema, originally named the Majestic, opened on June 3rd, 1915. The building had previously been used as a grocery store. The theater showed movies as well as burlesque and vaudeville acts. Admission to a film was only ten cents. The theater was given its present name after being purchased by another family in 1934. That family sold it in 1966, and the theater passed through several owners over the next two decades.</span></p>

<p>David Lundberg, owner of the Varsity Theater (now a Chipotle restaurant), bought the Athena Cinema in the 1980s. After a fire broke out in the theater on May 28, 1988, William Duerson purchased and renovated the Athena. Its reopening was especially welcome as the Varsity closed in 1988, leaving few historic theaters in downtown Athens.</p>

<p>Duerson sold the Athena Cinema to Ohio University in 2001. It was renovated and is currently operated by the university’s College of Fine Arts. The theater often showcases “art house” films as well as the classics. Athena has also hosted the Athens International Film and Video Festival since 1974. The theater employs students and is available to staff for use as a classroom during the day.</p><p><br></p>

In 1915, a family opened their grocery-store-turned-theater, the Majestic. The three-screen theater showed films as well as live performances. It was renamed the Athena Cinema in 1935 after a change in ownership. The theater has undergone two major renovations: one after a fire in 1988, and the other in 2001 after it was purchased by Ohio University. The Athena Cinema still operates today as an art house theater. 

Athena Cinema

Prior to European settlement, this area was home to nomadic hunter-gatherers that established temporary settlements throughout the valley. Around 1000 BCE, those settlements became more permanent as these native inhabitants began cultivating crops from seeds and returning to the area. Agriculture allowed the population of these bands to expand, leading to the creation of permanent settlements and even villages. Archaeologists refer to these various groups that lived in this are&nbsp;from 1000 BCE to about 200 AD as&nbsp;members of the&nbsp;"Adena" culture. <br><br><div>The term "Adena" refers to a time period and area of settlement, as well as a few common traits rather than a specific tribe or band. In fact, the name Adena comes not from records or oral histories passed down from descendants of these early settlers, but&nbsp;from the name of former Ohio Governor's estate in Chillicothe. Relatively little is known about these early settlers beyond what researchers can discover and discern from artifacts that have been found throughout the Ohio Valley.&nbsp; <br></div><div><br></div><div>The first settlers of European descent came to the banks of the Hockhocking River in 1797. Three years later, the territorial legislature of Ohio named the settlement Athens. Ohio University began its first semester in 1809, and the village of Athens was incorporated two years later. Ohio University originally offered courses that were intended to prepare rural teachers and reflected more of a high school curriculum. By 1922, the institution had grown and could offer a full slate of collegiate courses. The town itself grew much more slowly, with only 710 residents in 1840 and a population of less than 2,500 prior to 1880. It took a century for the village to reach a population of five thousand, and after reaching that benchmark in 1912, the village officially became a city. Today, more than 28,000 students attend Ohio University.<br></div><br>

Created as part of the city's bicentennial celebration, this plaque on the wall of the Athens City Building commemorates the arrival of the first settlers of European descent to the banks of the Hockhocking River in 1797. In 1800, their settlement became known as Athens, and in 1811, the village was incorporated. It was another hundred years before the village population increased to that of a city.

Athens First Settlement Plaque, 1797-1997

<p>Edward C. Berry began his career as a bricklayer before opening several small businesses. After finding success as restaurant owners, he and his wife Mattie Berry opened this modest twenty-room hotel in 1882. This establishment soon became the premier hotel in the city. The Berry Hotel boasted a restaurant, barbershop, coffee shop, and ballroom and grew to include ninety rooms at its peak.</p>

<p>Berry sold the hotel in 1921, allowing the couple to retire in style, purchasing land and building a substantial home while also donating land and funds to Mount Zion Church.&nbsp;Edward Berry died a decade later. During the Great Depression, the hotel was purchased by a local car dealer who modernized the building. Ohio University purchased the hotel in 1961-a time when the university was growing rapidly. The building served as a dormitory throughout the 1960s but proved to be a financial liability to the university and the board of trustees approved its demolition as part of a larger cost-savings plan in 1974.</p><p><br></p>

The Berry Hotel was established in 1882 by African American entrepreneur Edward C. Berry and his wife Mattie. What started out as a modest hotel grew in both size and reputation over the years. According to local historian Ray Abraham, four American presidents stayed at the hotel, as well as actor Bob Hope, poet Robert Frost, and writer Carl Sandburg. Berry has also been credited with being the first hotel owner to place Bibles in each of his hotel rooms, though this claim is unverified. The Berry Hotel was demolished in the 1970s after being used as a dormitory for Ohio University.

Berry Hotel, 1892-1974

<div>In 1909, Athens citizens formed a new militia company. This company entered the Ohio National Guard as Company L, 7th Infantry. Co. L initially held drill in the Campbell Block, located on the corner of Court and State Streets. In 1912, the state's Armory Board approved Co. L's&nbsp; request for an armory. Construction began in 1914 and the Armory opened for use in 1915. By then Athens had formed another militia company, the Machine-Gun Company, 7th Infantry, which also held drill in the Athens Armory.</div><div><br></div><div>Co. L and the Machine-Gun Company were mobilized in 1917 when the United States entered the First World War. They became part of the 37th "Buckeye" Division and served on the Western Front. In Athens, local organizations used the Armory to support the war effort and the county's draftees were inducted into service at the building. After the war, a Battery of the 134th Field Artillery, Ohio National Guard, held drill in the armory, until they were mobilized for service in World War II. During the Cold War, a battery of air defense artillery used the Armory, before the Ohio Army National Guard consolidated its formations and sent the air defense artillery to McConnelsville.</div><div><br></div><div>The Athens Armory served as a public event space in addition to its military role. Local organizations used the drill space for fundraisers, dances, rummage sales, and other large indoor events. Over the years the building became iconic of uptown Athens, and its likeness was used as the logo for the Growing Up in Athens project.<br></div><div><br></div><div>The city purchased the Armory from the Ohio National Guard in 1997, paying the sum of $300,000. Although city leaders had grand plans for the historic building, the structure has done little more than serve as storage for city records since the time of its purchase. A 2003 study revealed that the building needed over a million dollars worth of structural repairs, asbestos removal, and general improvements to bring the building up to modern standards. Since the study, the City has worked to maintain the building and put a new roof on the structure.<br></div><div><br></div><div>In 2018, a marker that details the history of the armory was unveiled. The marker came about through the combined efforts of the City of Athens, the Athens Historic Preservation Commission, and the Southeast Ohio History Center.<br></div>

The Athens Ohio National Guard armory opened in 1915. The process of bringing an armory to Athens began in 1912, when the local Ohio National Guard company and city businessmen lobbied the state to provide funds. The state Armory Board approved the request and acquired land from the Athens Brick Company. Construction began in 1914, and by December of 1915 the building was open for drill and public events. The dedication ceremony took place in 1917, as the United States entered World War I and began mobilizing for war against Imperial Germany. For the next 80 years, the Ohio National Guard used the armory for drill while the Athens community held events in the building.

Athens Armory

<p>The congregation has roots in the Stone-Campbell Movement of the early-nineteenth-century. This movement originated with Barton Stone in Kentucky as well as Thomas and Alexander Campbell, immigrants from Ireland, in Pennsylvania and Virginia (later West Virginia). Both Stone and the Campbells renounced their Presbyterian backgrounds and human creeds, instead seeking Christian unity based on Christian fundamentals and, especially for Alexander Campbell, a return to the simplicity of apostolic Christianity based on the Bible. The separate strains joined in the 1830s to form a general union, their churches were sometimes referred to as Christian Churches or Churches of Christ, and their members were called Christians or Disciples of Christ. The most significant sign of their churches was that they believed baptism was a step of salvation for the remission of sins, and many excluded instruments from worship. </p><p>	</p><p>Following the Civil War and northern prosperity, northern churches increasing accepted instrumental worship as doctrinal. Division over theological differences eventually splintered the group into the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) and the Churches of Christ and was reflected in the 1906 Census of Religious Bodies. The second major division had a long division process. Although the International Church Convention created a Commission on Re-study which met from 1934 until 1949 to promote unity by examining the movement’s history, methods, successes and failures, the Commission proved unsuccessful. When the Christian Church redesigned itself in 1968, it exacerbated growing tensions. During an era of Fundamental/Modernist schisms in American churches, the conservative element split from the Christian Church in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it was extending its ecumenical goals and promoting open membership (including members who had not been baptized). More than forty percent of the Christian Church broke with Disciples mainline institutions, and eventually 3,000 congregations and 800,000 members withdrew, many of which formed the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. The division was reflected in the Disciples’ 1971 yearbook.</p><p>	</p><p>The Stone-Campbell Movement’s first congregation in Athens County was founded in Carthage Township around 1835. However, it was not until May of 1886, that a Stone-Campbell congregation was first organized in the village of Athens, with about thirty charter members. They purchased a lot on East Washington Street, but traded it for a lot on the corner of West Washington and Congress Streets. The congregation secured its first pastor, A.P. Frost, in November 1887. During the 1880s, the congregation met at City Hall, Blackstone Hall (45 S Court St), and Stewart Hall (40 S Court St). Then in 1890, the congregation completed the construction of its first church building. In the beginning, church growth was slow, but steady, and was aided by Professor B.O. Higley and Miss Farris who served as Sunday School teachers, and Professor James McVey who directed the choir. Within the first two decades the church grew markedly, church membership increased so that Professor Higley’s adult Sunday School class alone numbered 150.</p><p>	</p><p>Despite an initial church split, the First Christian Church experienced exponential growth under Everett Delonzo Murch who began pastoring the congregation in November 1911. Following national trends, the congregation endured a church split with a minority in the congregation who opposed instrumental music and choirs. Led by the Wilkes and Gaskill families, the group soon after broke off to form a congregation of the Church of Christ. Basing her history largely off her mother’s accounts, in 1967 Blanche Deweese, argued that the split was slow growing and should not be attributed to Murch. Despite this setback, Murch also made a decision that would fundamentally alter the congregation—he invited the Fife Brothers to have a revival in Athens.</p><p>	</p><p>The Fife Brothers came to Athens in the spring of 1913 and stayed from March 13 until April 7. People from throughout the region surrounding Athens gathered for this revival. In fact, so many gathered that the church could not host the revival, it moved to various churches and Ohio University, but all of Athens’s buildings were too small. To ameliorate this problem, lots on Carpenter Street at the north end of Court Street were leased for free and a large structure was constructed. In just over a day, the Fife Bros Tabernacle was erected, including telephone, gas stoves, two pianos, twenty orchestra pieces, decorations, and electric lighting. This massive structure could seat 1,800 in the audience and 200 in the choir. Still, the seating was inadequate and people were turned away. On Easter Sunday (March 23), there were nearly 10,000 in attendance during five different services. Following morning services, about 1,500 men marched down Court Street led by the Athens Concert Band singing “Onward Christian Soldiers” while en route to the Tabernacle for a men’s service. Following that service, the women had a separate service. Afterward, there was an evening service where people had to be turned away. The Fife Bros even found time for a service at the Athens State Hospital with 1,000 in attendance. </p><p>	</p><p>While these numbers are demonstrative of the influence the Fife Bros Revival had on Athens, the Sunday School records and number of converts indicate the importance of this revival for the First Christian Church. Out of the Protestant Churches in Athens, the First Christian Church had the second highest Sunday School attendance in Athens at 803 (206 men), eclipsed only by the Methodist Episcopal Church with 1,398 (900 men). James DeForest Murch, son of pastor E.D. Murch and Superintendent of the Bible School, reportedly said that he hoped to reach 1,000 the following Sunday, which he did. The revival also witnessed more than 600 people convert their lives to Christ, of which 408 became members of the First Christian Church. Just months after losing part of its congregation from a church split, the First Christian Church nearly doubled its membership of 467 by adding converts from the Fife Bros revival.  </p><p>	</p><p>It was because of this exponential growth that the First Christian Church’s leadership decided the congregation needed a new building. During the revival a lot on the northeast corner of Congress and West State Streets was purchased for $11,000 from Josiah Allen. In May 1913, the church made preparations for the new building and hired the Columbus based architect firm Edwin E Pruitt Company. They designed a neoclassical building that would accommodate a Bible School of 1,800 people, including a gym for the youth. However, the congregation was largely comprised of youth who could not support the expenses of a new building. Disappointed that the project would not come to fruition, Rev. E.D. Murch resigned to become Field Secretary of the Ohio Christian Missionary Society. Yet in March 1915, the project was resumed because the current church building could not accommodate its members. Having already made additions to their existing church building, the congregation began accepting bids for their new structure in November 1915. By December, contractor Bart Davidson was planning the foundation. While the new building was being constructed, the church sold its former property at West Washington and Congress in May, 1916. Starting in June, the congregation met in Ewing Hall on Ohio University’s campus and continued to do so until the new building was completed. With a total cost of $42,000, the new building was dedicated on April 15, 1917, officially changing its name from First Church of Christ to First Christian Church. However, the building was not completed before several unfortunate events occurred. Shortly before the cornerstone was laid, S.D. Thompson was speeding towards his home on Lancaster Street and killed by a rope hanging across the street in front of the construction site. While building the church, a boiler fell off a wagon hitting Bart Davidson between the knee and ankle giving him a compound fracture in his right leg. Although seriously injured, he was able to pose for the picture of construction in 1916. Then three months before the building was completed, the congregation experienced another misfortune when its pastor George Owens, left for YMCA work with American troops on the Mexico border.</p><p>	</p><p>The First Christian Church had a number of organizations for its congregants to be involved in. Deweese argued that the church building’s very existence could be attributed to the heroic efforts of Ladies Aid Society, founded between 1901 and 1906. The Ladies Aid Society alone lowered the debt on the new building by over $10,000 when it hosted the Ohio National Guard at the new church building in 1917. Other women’s organizations included an Auxiliary Christian Women’s Board of Missions (est. 1893-94), the Women’s Service Council which took over the Ladies Aid Society in the 1920s, Kappa Beta (1928), and the Betsy Ross Sewing Club (1931). The church was additionally heavily involved with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Athens. The church also had active Christian Endeavor (1893-94) and Junior Christian Endeavor Societies; the former was the third ranked Christian Endeavor Society in the state in 1913. However, the First Christian Church’s greatest claim to fame came not from this youth organization, but one of its many young men who served the church in 1913—James DeForest Murch.</p><p>	</p><p>James DeForest Murch was the son of First Christian Church’s pastor E.D. Murch who invited the Fife Brothers for the 1913 revival, consequently almost doubling church membership and necessitating the need for a larger house of worship. Although he would go on to national prominence, James DeForest Murch spent his formative years in Athens, assisting in the work of his father. It was James, who during the revival, served as Superintendent of the Bible/Sunday School and set the goal of having 1,000 in attendance, which he achieved. While with the First Christian Church, he witnessed the church split with the conservative fundamental element of the congregation to form the Church of Christ. Later in the 1960s he witnessed another divide between the conservative and liberal elements in the Christian Church which ultimately led to another new Christian sect, the Christian churches/churches of Christ. However, this time he was not a passive observer, but a prominent leader of the movement. Seeing the Christian churches/churches of Christ movement as a middle ground between the Church of Christ and Christian Church, he vehemently resisted the label “fundamentalist.” The First Christian Church appears to have followed this middle ground solution and continued to revere the Murch family throughout the first half of the twentieth century. In August 1931, Rev. E.D. Murch returned to his old congregation in Athens to preach his last sermon before retirement. The First Christian congregation even had a funeral service for him in Athens in 1936. While serving as editor for the <em>Christian Standard</em> (a prominent Stone-Campbell journal) in 1943, James DeForest Murch followed in his father’s footsteps and returned to preach at his old congregation. He returned to preach yet again in 1951. The Murch family presided over the golden years at the First Christian Church and were influential in establishing the congregation and its church building, but the blessings bestowed on the church would not prove to be eternal. </p><p>	</p><p>After experiencing significant growth from the revival and obtaining a new building, the First Christian Church congregation struggled with the burden of the new church, but persevered into the second decade of the twenty-first century. From the beginning, the church’s youthful membership struggled to raise funds to pay off the church mortgage. Yet, through various creative fundraising means, the congregation successfully cancelled its debt for the new church in 1924. Fortunate for the congregation, this was just before the Great Depression (1929-1933), when the church suffered a significant decline in membership. During this time the congregation quit meeting on Sunday evenings and in the middle of the week because it could not sustain the expense of heating the large building. The church struggled to meet its financial obligations and debts amounted to over $6,000. The Disciples of Christ Yearbooks indicate that the congregation lost nearly a fifth of its membership between 1930 and 1940, declining from 620 to 500. However, in the following decade the church not only regained its membership level of 1930, but exceeded it, rising to 678 in 1950 with an annual church of expense of over $13,000. This trend in church membership follows the national church attendance trends of the late 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. However, starting in the second half of the 1960s national church attendance plummeted, which was not lost on the local congregation. Writing in 1967, DeWeese contended that Sunday School attendance had dropped appreciably, members were uninterested in teaching Bible classes, consequently young people were switching to different denominations. Whether people were switching denominations because of a lack of Sunday School options is questionable, but it is evident that there were clear changes in membership and that a religious apathy prevailed on a national scale. Just as the First Christian Church’s congregation followed the national trends of inclining church membership, the congregation also experienced its reverse trend of declining membership between 1965 and 1975. Between the 1950 climax in church membership and 1980, church membership at the First Christian Church declined by fifty-two percent from 678 to a mere 325 participating members. Church records indicate that after 1980, participating church membership declined by around 100 members each decade. In 2016, the congregation was too small to support the costs of the church building and sold it to the Southeast Ohio History Center. After several years of renting of the auditorium for Sunday worship the congregation discontinued its practice of meeting at the church in 2019. Just a century after its completion, the First Christian Church no longer has worshippers. Today its congregants gather for a different purpose, to learn about local history, a story that it once prominently figured into.  </p>

The congregation of the First Christian Church has a long and rich history that goes back over a century. Founded at the end of the nineteenth-century, this church had a prominent role in the Athens community for most of the twentieth-century. It survived multiple economic, social, and theological challenges, and only recently dwindled to numbers that could not support the costs of their church building. With the transfer of this property to the Southeast Ohio History Center, the congregation’s last visible mark on the landscape is its cornerstone that reminds the public of this building’s origins and long history.

The First Christian Church (The Stone-Campbell Movement Part I)

<p>Olivia Davidson was born in Virginia in 1854. She was the
daughter of an ex-slave and freeborn mother. Olivia was the seventh of ten
children. In 1857 the family moved to southern Ohio from Virginia. They then
moved to the northern part of Ohio in Albany and Athens after their father
died. The move allowed Davidson to attend the Enterprise Academy. The
Enterprise Academy was owned, operated and controlled by African American
educators. The area around Albany was a focal point for anti-slavery sentiment.
There were three routes of the Underground Railroad in the area. It also
provided Davidson with an opportunity to network with Oberlin College
graduates, faculty, and African American activists.</p>

<p>At the age of
sixteen, Davidson began teaching in Ohio. She moved to Mississippi at the age
of eighteen to teach freed people and their children. Davidson enrolled at
Hampton Normal A&amp;I located in Virginia in 1878 after spending two years in
Mississippi and teaching four years in the Memphis Public School system. She
delivered the commencement speech to her class in May 1879. It was here she met
Booker T. Washington, who was the postgraduate speaker at the ceremony.</p>

<p>Davidson married
Washington in August 1886 becoming his second wife and stepmother to his
daughter Portia. The couple had two sons, Booker Washington Jr. and Ernest
Washington. Davidson worked as a teacher, curriculum specialist, principal,
fund-raiser and builder and Tuskegee. She died on May 9, 1889.</p>

<p>Davidson became
Washington’s second wife in August of 1886; she was the stepmother to his
daughter Portia, and had two sons with Washington, Booker, Jr. and Ernest. At
Tuskegee, in addition to serving as a confidant, wife, and mother, she was a
teacher, curriculum specialist, principal, fund-raiser, and builder.&nbsp; She
died May 9, 1889. </p>

At this site in 1886, Olivia A. Davidson married African American educator and leader Booker T. Washington. Olivia Davidson was a well-educated woman, graduating from Hampton and completing the teacher education program at Framingham State Normal School, now a university operated by the state of Massachusetts. Olivia passed away in 1889 after succumbing to tuberculosis. Although she never achieved the fame of her husband, Olivia was a co-founder of the school that grew into Tuskegee University along with her husband. Olivia Washington exercised tremendous influence in her role as assistant principal. She also helped to cultivate her husband's capacity to raise funds and operate the school in its early years. Three years after Olivia's death, Washington married educator Margaret James Murray who also worked to build Tuskegee as a teacher and administrator.

Olivia and Booker T. Washington Historic Marker

Constructed in 1893 to serve the CW&B Railroad, this station became known as the Athens B&O Depot when the Baltimore and Ohio Line acquired the route later that same year. The station was renovated and expanded significantly in 1915, reflecting the rapid growth of the area. Rail service stopped in 1981 and the station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The station was one of over forty rail stations that once served Athens County. 

Athens B&O Train Depot

The Beasley Building, in the heart of Athens's commercial center, is an excellent example of a late 19th and early 20th-century multi-story warehouse. It has horizontal coursing and vertical window compositions, which give the building a balanced look. Construction on the Beasley Building began when The Eldridge & Higgins Company attained the property in 1904. The building was later purchased by Frank Beasley who owned a large gristmill in Amesville. It became home to perhaps the largest, electrically-powered milling operation in the area. The milling of grain was one of the first activities to take place in southeastern Ohio. After its time as a mill, the Beasley Building was used for grocery distribution.

Downtown Athens Ohio Walking Tour

Southeast Ohio History Center

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Additional Information