Cities along the Route

‘NIA Cities along the Route (from Wikipedia)

California, Ohio was named after the state of California. California was annexed by the City of Cincinnati in 1909.  California is a small neighborhood also commonly called Grove Park, after Coney Island's original name. It is located at the confluence of the Little Miami River and Ohio River. Because of this, many of its historical homes have water damage. It is not uncommon to see a home with two or three stories only being inhabited on the uppermost story. It is also the location of the Greater Cincinnati Water Works' main treatment plant.

Oregonia, Ohio is an unincorporated community in northwestern Washington Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States, on the east shore of the Little Miami River about five miles northeast of Lebanon and six miles south of Waynesville.  The first settlement there was around 1802, where there was a mill operated at various times by Nebo Gaunt, Ignatius Brown, and David Brown. Around 1820, it was known as Freeport.The Little Miami Railroad reached the village c. 1845. A post office called Oregon was established in 1846, and the name was changed to Oregonia in 1882. The post office has since been consolidated with the Lebanon post office.

Today, Oregonia is a stop on the Little Miami Bike Trail which follows the former train route along the Little Miami River. Bikers, hikers, and canoers often stop at the market or a restaurant along the trail which follows the river on the former train route. In October of each year, the "Devils Staircase" motorcycle hill climb is held on a hill just south of the main settlement.

Xenia, Ohio is a city in southwestern Ohio and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. The name comes from the Greek word Xenia, which means "hospitality".  Xenia was founded in 1803, the same year Ohio was admitted to the Union.  From the summer of 1851, tourists would come from Cincinnati, as well as plantations from the South, to visit the nearby Xenia Springs and Tawawa House, a hotel and health spa about three miles away. It was established as a summer resort to draw on interest in the medicinal properties of the springs. Skin specialist Dr. Samuel Spilsbee from Cincinnati served as Superintendent of the hotel. It was three stories high, and the grounds of the complex also included separate cottages. After it went out of business, the complex was purchased for use as Wilberforce College, a historically black college founded by a collaboration between the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and the Cincinnati Conference of the Methodist Church. By 1860 most of the 200 students were mixed-race children of wealthy white fathers from the South, planters and businessmen who were prevented from getting them educated there. In the early years of the war, the college closed briefly after Southerners withdrew their children. The AME Church took it over, and continued to operate it. It was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans and is still affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME).

Rushylvania, Ohio was originally called Claggstown, and under the latter name was platted in 1834.

Among the businesses in Rushsylvania is Michael Angelo's Pizza, which is owned by and employs winners of national and worldwide pizza-making competitions.   

Other Locations along the Route

Bellefontaine takes its name from the French for "beautiful spring", and is purported to refer to several springs in the area. However, locally, the original French pronunciation is not used, and it is pronounced "bell fountain."  Around 1777, the Shawnee war chief Blue Jacket (Weyapiersenwah) built a settlement here, known as "Blue Jacket's Town". Blue Jacket and his band had previously occupied a village along the Scioto River, but the American Revolutionary War had reached the Ohio Country. Blue Jacket and other American Indians who took up arms against the American revolutionaries relocated in order to be closer to their British allies at Detroit.  In 1891, Bellefontaine became the location of the first concrete street in America. George Bartholomew invented a process for paving using Portland cement, which until then had been used in stone construction.

Urbana was founded in 1805 by Colonel William Ward, who chose the name Urbana based on the word "urbanity" which was based on a Greek word meaning politeness. For a time in 1812 Urbana was the headquarters of the Northwestern army during the War of 1812. It is the burial place of the explorer Simon Kenton.  The town was incorporated in 1868 and today has a population of about 12,000 residents and once home of Urbana University which closed in 2020.  The Johnny Appleseed Museum not far from the trail is planned for reopening Fall of 2022.. 

Springfield is a city in and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Springfield is home to Wittenberg University, a liberal arts college. The Little Miami Scenic Trail, a paved rail-trail that is nearly 80 miles long, In 1983, Newsweek magazine featured Springfield in its 50th-anniversary issue, entitled, "The American Dream." It chronicled the effects of changes of the previous 50 years on five local families. In 2004, Springfield was chosen as an "All-America City.

Yellow Springs is a village in northern Greene County. It is home to Antioch College.  In 1825, the village was founded by William Mills and approximately 100 families, followers of Robert Owen, who wanted to emulate the utopian community at New Harmony, Indiana. The village was named after nearby natural springs with waters high in iron content

Spring Valley was founded in 1844 by a Quaker father and son duo, Edward Walton, and Moses Walton. The Cincinnati-Xenia Pike crossed the Little Miami Railroad, and with the many natural springs and Little Miami River, the location provided the perfect crossroads to build an agricultural market. Today, at 4 East Main Street in Spring Valley, you can find the George Barrett Concrete House, which was built in 1853, and was one of the very first concrete homes built in the Midwest. Barrett was the victim of several fires in his home and, seeking a building material that wouldn’t catch fire, he built a two-story concrete wing using river rock and concrete mortar, and reinforced the mixture with animal hair. Today, the Concrete House serves as a museum and public meeting space.

Corwin began as a depot on the Little Miami Railroad.  A post office called Corwin was established in 1898, and remained in operation until 1918. The village is named for Thomas Corwin, 15th Governor of Ohio.

Fort Ancient is a Native American earthworks complex located in Washington Township, Warren County, Ohio, along the eastern shore of the Little Miami River about seven miles (11 km) southeast of Lebanon on State Route 350. The site is the largest prehistoric hilltop enclosure in the United States with three and one-half miles (18,000 ft) of walls in a 100-acre (0.40 km2) complex. Built by the Hopewell culture, who lived in the area from the 200 BC to AD 400, the site is situated on a wooded bluff 270 feet (82 m) above the Little Miami. It is the namesake of a culture known as Fort Ancient who lived near the complex long after it was constructed. Maintained as a state historical park, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark for its significance. The State of Ohio purchased the land and made it Ohio's first state park in 1891. In addition, this is part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, one of 14 sites nominated in January 2008 by the U.S. Department of the Interior for potential submission by the United States to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

South Lebanon was first settled in the 1790s. The village was originally called "Deerfield" because it was the main settlement of Deerfield Township, Warren County, Ohio, but renamed because of its proximity to the county seat of Lebanon. The new name of "South Lebanon" was adopted when the railroad was built through the neighborhood. A post office was established under the name Deerfield Village in 1828, and the name of the post office was changed to South Lebanon in 1871. 

Morrow was platted in 1845, when the railroad was extended to that point.  The village is named for Jeremiah Morrow, 9th Governor of Ohio. The Morrow, Ohio Brewery was built in the 1850s, later  in 1902 when the county went “dry”, the brewery was converted over to produce soft drinks. The town is the subject of a song called "I Want to Go to Morrow", about a man who wishes to take a train "to Morrow" and return "tomorrow" night, playing on the similar pronunciations of the two phrases. An early recording of the song, by Dan W. Quinn, was released in 1903. The song was popularly recorded by The Kingston Trio and also appeared in episode 5 in the first season of The Muppet Show.

Kings Mills on the western shore of the Little Miami River was established in 1884 as a company town for the King Powder Company, and the Peters Cartridge Company which ceased operations in 1944. Once thousands of munitions workers labored in the buildings at Peters Cartridge Factory. The quiet, sapling-covered hillside once was a Superfund cleanup project. Another town, GAINsboro, was platted on this site in 1815, but it did not prosper. The Little Miami Scenic Trail, which runs from Milford to Spring Valley, passes by the community on the eastern shore of the Little Miami River in the former Little Miami Railroad right-of-way.

Butterworth Station A state historic marker on the trail 2.6 miles north of Loveland tells the story of Butterworth Station and the Quaker family who operated the southernmost stop on the Underground Railroad in this stone farmhouse. Until nearly 1850, at great personal risk, the family fed and sheltered large numbers of runaway slaves before transporting them to the next station. When the Little Miami Railroad was built in the 1840s, Henry Thomas Butterworth donated land and water and assisted with the construction. In appreciation, the railroad created a stop here called Butterworth Station and gave his family lifetime passes. On this site, a water tower with a passenger waiting area was built that served as a railroad water station for decades.West Liberty

Loveland is a city in Hamilton, Clermont, and Warren counties. Once a busy railroad town, Loveland is now a major stop along the Little Miami Scenic Trail. The city is named after James Loveland, who operated a general store and post office near the railroad tracks downtown. Loveland has incorporated a "love" theme throughout the city. Loveland water towers and park signs sport the city's logo: a red heart inscribed with a sun, clouds, and the Little Miami River, and surrounded with the city's nickname, "Sweetheart of Ohio."

Maineville derives its name from Maine, the native state of a large share of its first settlers.The settlers came mostly from the Maine town of Phillips; and some from nearby Farmington. Originally, the relocation of these people involved nearly one hundred families (the relocation took 30 to 60 days). The town was called "Yankeetown" and "Maineville", and in 1850 it was incorporated as "Maineville". A village flag was designed and created by John Michael, later to become Mayor of Maineville. The flag includes Ohio and Maine, the state seals and a connecting reference to the two areas. The flag was adopted unanimously by the Maineville Council in 1994

Miamiville was laid out in 1849, and named for the nearby Little Miami River. A post office called Miamiville has been in operation since 1848. Miamiville's low profile as an unincorporated community was a benefit during the Great Depression, when Prohibition outlawed alcohol consumption in the United States. The Miami Boat Club operated as a speakeasy during the 1920s and 1930s. Miamiville also played a small role in the Civil War during the Battle of Miamiville as rebels known as Morgan's Raiders marched toward Camp Dennison and Cincinnati in the 1860s.