Area History

MOUNT VERNON — They hounded him. Spat at him in the streets. Sent letters threatening his life. All for writing a little walk-‘round. And today some even try to take that away from him. Things haven’t been easy for Mount Vernon native Daniel Decatur Emmett, the author of “Dixie,” the song which to this day […]

GAMBIER — It had been a fairly quiet day, a little warm, growing cloudy. Alex Ransom was walking down Middle Path through Gambier, on his usual afternoon walk to the post office. A briskly walking man suddenly strode past him, clearly in a hurry. The man stuck out in his suit and long coat, and […]

The golden age of radio—from the 1920s through the 40s—had its own pantheon of gods and heroes, stars and luminaries who ruled the airwaves to move the hearts and shape the lives of everyone in America. They are all long gone now and washed away in the streaming current of ever-new media, but if you […]

The May Building has been on South Park Street since 1905 when this charming landmark was built on the Mansfield Square. With business storefronts facing the sidewalk and residential apartments above stairs, the May Building was designed by architect Vernon Redding in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Among the memorable residents of the May Building […]

There are many chapters of our local story that have directly participated in our national story; when significant people or events of American History have originated from, or been influenced by, or passed through Mansfield. One of these stories happened in 1894, when a nationwide movement of desperately out-of-work men marched to Washington DC in […]

You’ve never met these people, you’ve never seen their house… but it’s possible you may have walked up their front steps. At Malabar Farm State Park there is a high and secluded meadow with forested hills known as Up Ferguson Way.  That name has stayed with the place ever since 1819 when the first Ferguson […]