HCHS set to explore Olde Town Millersburg in detail
Historic Downtown Millersburg around 100 years ago. The Holmes County Historical Society will explore Olde Town Millersburg during its Our Town presentation on March 28 at 7 p.m. in the newly refurbished American Hall.
Did you know there is an Olde Town and a New Town in Millersburg?
In the village’s past, there are many interesting and little-known facts that have taken place over the past 200 years, and as the bicentennial of Holmes County creeps closer in 2025, the Holmes County Historical Society will roll out a two-part program featuring Millersburg, with the first of the two presentations taking place March 28 at 7 p.m. in the newly refurbished American Hall.
Our Town Millersburg: Part I will take the public on a journey through time, spanning the eras from 1815-1900, where presenters will share about the years that helped build Millersburg from a tiny startup town into the county seat of Holmes County.
“I am so excited about this program,” Holmes County Historical Society Director Mark Boley said. “Originally, we had just one scheduled, but once we started to really dive into the research, there was so much that we felt it deserved two evenings. Our goal in these series is to generate excitement about our local history. Our history and how we got where we’re at today remains important.”
The presentation will begin with a brief history of the American Hall, which has been recently renovated by Dylan and Jackie Kaufman.
That will be followed by presentations from HCHS board members Debbie Kline and Carmen Camacho, who will paint a picture of what life was like in Millersburg in the early days.
Kline, who spearheaded the research for the presentation, said learning even more about the town’s vibrant past should be an eye-opening experience for those in attendance.
“This will be so much more than just names and dates,” Kline said. “It’s going to be all these really fascinating stories about the people and events that helped shape Millersburg.”
The level of research invested into creating this program was immense. Kline said Victorian House curator Candance Barnhart was instrumental in the process, presenting Kline with a book about Millersburg’s early days from author George Newton. In addition, the team of researchers explored old archives and visited the Holmes County Library’s archives, exploring old articles on microfilm, utilizing Brooks Harris’ book “Holmes County Historical Sketches” and diving into Google to do research.
“If we’d share everything we have, we’d be there for a week,” Kline said. “There’s so much great information that we hated to take anything out, but we managed to include what we felt were the most important and entertaining stories.”
She said getting those in attendance involved also was part of the equation, wanting to give the audience plenty of time to ask questions or present topics and memorabilia.
The presentation will begin with an overview on the American Hall’s history including its recent renovation and the storefronts that have called it home over the many decades.
It also will include some very rare postcards and photos from the Duers family, who had a large amount of memorabilia that was formerly unavailable for viewing stored in their home.
Kline and Camacho will give their presentations, and Boley said Mayor Kelly Hoffee went digging into the council meeting notes and produced the first council meeting notes after their first incorporated meeting.
“We’ve blown that up to poster size so people can see the true first minutes of that inaugural meeting,” Boley said.
He said while the original can’t be displayed because of its age and deterioration, they are digitizing the notes from 1835-54.
In addition, Barnhart has created a beautiful timeline of the village’s chronological history beginning in 1815, which also will be available for viewing.
The George Newton book information has been reproduced and will be available for purchase.
Boley said presenting these types of historical moments in the various villages throughout the county is imperative to keep the history of each town alive in each community.
“We wanted to reach out into each community all around our county,” Boley said. “Our mission is to present history to the people by reaching out into each community to share local history so they can get excited about their own hometown.
“We’ve been doing these Our Town series over the past years, and we’ve done some of the smaller villages in the county, and since Millersburg is bigger, there is just so much to get into,” Boley said. “The hardest part was to keep the presentation to one hour because we felt it was very important to give the floor to the public to share their thoughts and stories about our history. That is the most enjoyable part when people start to share, and it just opens the door for more stories and conversation.”
While seating is limited and the audience is expected to be quite large, the HCHS has turned to WKLM to provide additional coverage for the event. The local radio station will livestream the event for those who can’t attend.
The second part of the series will take place in September on a date and place to be determined, but for those who love local history, this is an event not to be missed.