150+1 Celebration

Cridersville 150 plus 1 celebration anniversary Isaac Crider Susanna Crider village history founding Cridersville Ohio local history Cridersville Historical Society. On March 11, 1854 Isaac Crider, the oldest son of Ephraim and Polly Crider, and his wife Susanna purchased 80 acres in Duchouquet Township. They bought it from Samuel and Catherine Moyer for $2000. Three weeks later, Ephraim and Polly Crider bought 80 acres just north of Isaac and Susanna’s new property. They paid $2000 to Joseph and Christiana Weaver. It is not certain if Ephraim and Isaac intended to establish a town when they first bought their land. The Dayton and Michigan Railroad had acquired a right-of-way for a new rail line from the Moyers and Weavers in 1853. In the spring of 1856 the Criders hired Harrison Maltbie, a local surveyor. On April 17, 1856 he surveyed the original town site for what they decided to name Cridersville. There were a total of 24 lots in the new town. Seventeen faced Main Street and seven were on the north side of High Street. It is said that Main Street was platted on the path of the old Shawnee trail between the tribe’s two reservations. The lots on Main Street belonged to Ephraim and the lots on High were Isaac’s. It was no accident that the east edge of town was platted on an angle. It ran along the right-of-way of the proposed Dayton & Michigan Railroad. When the railroad was completed in 1858, Cridersville was assured success. It provided the region with the transportation link it so badly needed. The village became the place local farmers could access markets. Home and business lots were more appealing in a community with rail service. Tax records of 1858 list vacant lots in Cridersville with a tax value of $15 to $25. The variation was due to their location on Main or High Streets and their proximity to the railroad—closer was better. The first train traveled through Cridersville—from Dayton to Lima—on April 12, 1858. This map of Cridersville was made in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln was President and the nation was entering the second year of the Civil War. After the...