Remember all those community projects, usually revolving around some historic site or structure, that so many communities began during our country's bicentennial celebration? Sad to say, not all of them were completed.

One project still flourishing is Valley City's township office building and Depot Museum. Back in 1975, the Chamber of Commerce acquired the depot, and the community rallied around the project of moving it from its home at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks, just east of Valley City, to a new location on Route 303. Among the many organizations and individuals involved, was the bicentennial committee which organized a dedication ceremony on July 4, 1976. Out of that group, the Valley City Historical Society evolved into a group now numbering nearly 60 members.

"People said at first, 'You'll never get this thing moved.' Then they said, 'You'll never get things for the museum,'" says Linda Kelta, former president of the historical society.

BUT THERE IT stands, an attractive building that includes a meeting room used by Liverpool Township officials and the historical society, and the one-room museum that is chock full of colorful donations - a sign advertising "nice cloth covered caskets" (modestly priced at $30 to $50), a barber chair, and a dress form tastefully attired in a black beaded dress cover.

If you ask Jean Kemp, a third generation resident of Valley City, a question about the area's history, she scurries to a file cabinet and produces one of the society's treasures, a copy of several pages of a book. You can learn about the salt spring around which the settlement of Marysville (later Hardscrabble) sprang up from "A Pioneer History of Medina County."

This history is actually excerpts from diaries of people who were there, dealing with the Indians, squabbling with other settlers over rights to the salt spring, and boiling the salt water down in great iron kettles brought from Canton. "It was a hard scrabble" accomplishing all of this, one of the pioneers wrote, "and people have been calling this place Hard Scrabble every since." The book, by N. B. Northrop, was published in 1861.

OR JEAN MIGHT open an atlas of the county, circa 1874, to a page of engravings that show a busy industrial town called Liverpool (later changed to Valley City at the request of the federal government to avoid confusion with East Liverpool). Liverpool's industries included a foundry, the Parmalee Woolen and Flour Mill, a tannery and the washing machine works, home of the "Imperial Washer."

Or, if you're interested in the daily happeneings of the community, there's a November 1899 issue of "The Valley City Visitor" that assures that the area was largely rural Notice! A 2-year-old Durham Heifer was found in the pastures of John Miller, Liverpool, O. Owner can have same by proving property and paying board, etc.

The paper also kept residents informed of the latest visitors from out of town. Miss Lola Parmalee and Mr. Jones from Cleveland called on relatives a shore time ago and while here Mr. Jones had the pleasure of testing his muscles, climbing trees and rolling. But if you ask Laura Peckham, the society's president, what's new at the museum, she points proudly to a chandelier of gilded metal that holds four oil lamps. Society members are currently restoring the chandelier, preparing it to be installed int he museum's ceiling. The chandelier, along with a pew in the meeting room, are donations from the congregation of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Valley City.

Although moving, restoring and maintaining the depot have been a struggle, a "hard scrabble" you might call it, the result is a useful, attractive addition to the community and the preservation of a piece of the past. Abe Lincoln, or rather his cast concrete likeness, waits patiently for visitors to the Depot Museum and Liverpool Township Office Building.

The late Paul Hasel of Valley City build this working scale model of a steam engine. When operating, the 125 pound model can develop one horsepower. The Liverpool Township Office Building, which contains the Depot Museum, was dedicated on July 4, 1976. It is located on Rt. 303. The museum is open to all from 2 to 5 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month, and group tours are available on Wednesdays by calling 483-3817.

A trio of oil cans, remnants of steam engine days, stand in a row at the Depot Museum. Although it had been removed from the building at one time, the coal stove has been returned to the Depot Museum as a donation. To the right is the entrance to the meeting room.

Return to Index