Our Story

John Matthews, surveyor and civil engineer, on behalf of the United States government surveyed the lands comprising Hamilton Township (which includes Lockbourne) and the early records speak of it as "Matthew's Survey," a term still used in conveyance descriptions.

These lands came into market in the year 1800 and in that year and the year following they were taken up in the usual form of "entries" in vogue in that date, and settlement began.

John Dill from Pennsylvania later became Justice of the Township. He entered 1200 acres of land in the northwest part of the Township.

He later sold half of the tract to Michael Fisher, who was from Virginia and lived in the bend of the river, where he ran a sawmill. 1st child born in Hamilton Township was Maximilla Fisher to Sarah & Michael Fisher and she became the wife of Arthur O'Harra.

In Hamilton Township, close to Lockbourne, were formerly the remains of a prehistoric fort which have been almost obliterated by the plow and several Indian mounds.

We have pretty good proof that some of the first settlers in Hamilton Township were the Mound Builders, for there was a pre-historical mound, for many years, at Baker's Hill at the intersection of Lockbourne Rd and Groveport Pike.

Hamilton Township was named after Alexander Hamilton and became a Township in 1807.

Jacob Landes 12 years old died and has the distinction of having the earliest stone in the Landes (Plum Travis) Cemetery ) in the Plague Cemetery.

The story has these deaths from some type of plague and it has been rumored these graves have never been moved due to fear that the plague would somehow been borne anew. The area all around this cemetery is farmed and vehicles are not permitted in the field. Corn is planted obscuring the view and then beets have been planted over the years. The dates have mostly eroded with time but some appear to go back to the 1830s, when Lockbourne was established and were probably people from the canal boats, workers in Lockbourne or on the canal.

This cemetery dates back to one of Ohio's oldest Catholic cemeteries in Somerset, Ohio. www.forgottenoh.com

The Decker Cemetery was established with the burial of John Decker at the age of 67. The cemetery is also the final resting place of several veterans of the War of 1812, reflecting the area’s early settlement and military history.

Governor Brown visited the area while planning the “Big Ditch,” an early term used to describe what would later become the Ohio and Erie Canal. His visit reflected the growing importance of transportation and infrastructure development in central Ohio.

The Ohio legislature passed a bill putting Ohio in the canal business. As the news of the legislature's action spread through the state, the hills, valleys, and plains blazed up in a bonfire celebration which illuminated the countryside as it's never been illuminated since.

Between 1825 and 1847, canals in Hamilton Township extended across Rohr Road and Shook Road to Canal Road, continuing into Lockbourne. The Lockbourne Feeder Canal connected to Shadeville and the Scioto River. Buckeye Lake, a man-made reservoir, was created during this period to supply water and support canal operations.

Work began on the lateral branch of the Ohio Canal connecting Columbus with the main channel at Lockbourne. At the northeastern end of Lockbourne was the North Basin, including Lock 28 and 29.

Lockbourne thrived as industrial center included a foundry known for making steel & iron rims for freight hauling wagons.

The historical significance of the Columbus Feeder at Lockbourne provided an additional water supply to the Ohio & Erie between the Lancaster Lateral Canal (Hocking Canal) and the slack water crossing of Walnut Creek at Bloomfield, seven miles below Lockbourne.

It provided canal transportation to Columbus, the State Capital, from the main canal.

Lockbourne was platted and established on the Gahanna River (Big Walnut Creek) and Ohio-Erie Canal. The eight locks thru the Village enabled barges to be lowered toward the Ohio River. The Columbus Feeder ran from the Scioto River from a pool at Mound and State Streets in Columbus to the Ohio & Erie at Lockbourne with a distance of 11 3/4 miles long.

The canal was 309 miles long from Cleveland on Lake Erie to Portsmouth on the Ohio River and was completed in 1831. A toll was paid by boats using the canal, and passengers paid a penny a mile to ride. Morgan horses pulled wooden boats that were 90 feet long and 15 feet wide and carried up to 80 tons of cargo.

The 1st syllable of Village of Lockbourne name derived from the circumstance of a number of locks in canal, to which Col. Kilbourne (1770-1850), agent for Joel Buttles, Demas Adams, and others, added the last syllable of his own name thus, Lockbourne was the junction located at the Ohio-Erie Canal and the Columbus Feeder.

John Marshall Minitree (age 2 years 2 months and 29 days), son of Archibald & Mary, died on March 6 and has the distinction of having the earliest stone in the Olde Lockbourne Cemetery.

The 1st Lockbourne Post Office built with Nathan G. Smith as postmaster.

Lockbourne also boasted they had the Canal House Hotel, 5 taverns, a stock yard, a distillery, a sawmill, several doctors, a store, and a gristmill which used the head of water at Lock 30 for power.

A law passed renaming the Gahanna River to the Big Walnut Creek, reportedly from an Indian name meaning three united into one.

William Monypenny distillery was established by Daniel Kellogg and produced 100 barrels of whiskey a day and was located at the northeastern end of town.

The distillery owned two canal boats, the Magnolia and the Cruiser, to haul corn and rye in and the whiskey out of Lockbourne. While a considerable amount of grain was produced by area farmers, no storage building was needed. All of the grain was used by the local distillery to produce whiskey.

The distillery complex housed a cooper shop, a whiskey warehouse, several corn cribs, and a large hog lot which could accommodate up to 1,000 animals to eat the spent mash. At its peak, the distillery employed about 30 people and another 20 worked at the cooper shop making barrels.

The 27th anniversary of the raising of the siege of Fort Meigs was celebrated at Lockbourne by the citizens of Franklin, Pickaway, Licking, and Fairfield counties on the 11th of June.

A table two hundred feet long was spread under an artificial shade, which Lockbourne residents and citizens of the surrounding country brought voluntary offerings of "Hog and hominy" with bountiful sprinkling of hard cider and Johnny cake, etc.

Several boat loads arrived; multitudes came in on horseback and in carriages, and 2 excellent bands.

A procession, numbering upwards of six hundred, slowly approached from Pickaway county, in which was Tom Corwin's Coach (The Great Western), drawn by 12 yoke of fine oxen.

The Coach contained 110 passengers from Bloomfield the residence of Baer and Kellogg, the eloquent Ohio blacksmith and shoemaker. The coach consisted of Buckeye frame-work, mounted on two pair of immense timber wheels, 12 ft. in diameter, on which were arranged two tiers of seats (one over the other) calculated for the accommodation of 120 passengers.

Next followed a log cabin from Jackson Township, Pickaway County, the jolly inmate of which dealt out the hard cider with profuse liberality to all such as favored him with a call.

Next came numerous Tippecanoe clubs, with their appropriate banners and badges, from Harrison, Scioto, Darby, Muhlenberg, Jackson, and Walnut Townships. These were met, at a short distance from the town, by the Tippecanoe Clubs of Circleville and Pickaway Townships, and citizens from various parts of adjacent counties. The crown numbered upward of 2,000 to 2,500, but the number was estimated much higher. The scene was graced by the presence of 300 or 400 ladies.

The venerable J. Kilbourne presided.

Hewlett's Mill was built as a canal warehouse at the west end of Commerce Street and converted to a gristmill in 1863. The body of Daniel Crossen, was found in the Main Canal, but the verdict of the jury was that the deceased came to his death in a way and manner unknown.

United Brethren Church erected, later, meeting much opposition from rougher element which was attracted by the canal system, disbanded and the building became the Lockbourne Town Hall.

Dr. Marshall from Blendon Township was a physician for a number of years then became a representative in legislature in the General Assembly from 1866-1868.

A record $799,024 in tolls was collected in 1851, but then declined because of railroad competition.

 Josiah Hulva Old Hotel/Tavern was built along with the Masonic Society Lodge #232 F+M granted Charter in 1853.

Shadeville was established and also a Post Office was established and operated for about 10 years.