Westerville

Westerville is Central Ohio’s largest suburb, yet it maintains a small-town feel while still preserving its physical and cultural past. Despite a population of 36,000, residents consider the city’s charm and its historic Uptown District to be among their favorite community attributes.

In 1806, Edward Phelps, his family, and his friend Isaac Griswold, set out for Ohio from Windsor, Connecticut like many of his neighbors had in recent years, many of whom settled in what is now Worthington. He cleared the dense land and built a cabin on the 500 acres of land he had purchased along Alum Creek about where Westerville Road SR 161 intersect today. Edward and friends were the first to settle in the area.

In a few years, two brothers, Matthew and Peter Westervelt from New York, scouted the central Ohio area. Matthew and Peter were part of a lineage of pioneers in the Westervelt family, beginning with their ancestor Lubbert, who left Holland in 1662 for what is now an area near Brooklyn. The Westervelts were attracted to what is now the Westerville area because of the considerable amount of cheap, available land. On January 24, 1816, Matthew and Peter bought 890 acres of land along the eastern bank of Alum Creek for $3,562. By 1818, 4 Westervelt siblings were living in the area.

In 1820, Gideon Hart built a home on his farm along Hempstead Road. This home is significant, as it is the oldest home still standing in Westerville and one of a dozen community buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains a private residence.

By 1840 the area had over 900 residents, but without a name other than to be called Blendon Township. At this time the government decided to add a post office to the community. With that addition also came the need for a name. It was decided that because of their gift of land for an institute of higher learning (Otterbein), the town would be named after the Westervelts, hence: Westerville.

Westerville was incorporated as a village in 1858, and John Haywood became the community’s first mayor.

The Whiskey War and the Anti-Saloon League

The year after the village was incorporated, one of the first laws passed banned the use or sale of fermented spirits in the village. Westerville was one of the first communities in the state to do so. Westerville officially became a dry town that did not go unnoticed. In 1875, thinking that the town had outgrown its old-fashioned ways, saloon keeper Henry Corbin opened a saloon at 37 W. Main St. right in the heart of the village. Despite protests, he proceeded to ignore the law. For some, this became too much, and because the village authorities failed to enforce the law, they took matters into their own hands and set off a keg of gunpowder in the saloon that lifted the roof off the business. Not to be outdone by any angry mob, Corbin re-opened his saloon on State Street. However, this building too was blasted away. Later an Otterbein student confessed to setting off the explosions because his college room mate had come back to the dorm drunk.

This ended what had been called by some as the Whiskey War, but not Westerville's association with alcohol.

Prior to the beginning of the 20th Century, there was a growing movement across the country to ban alcohol everywhere that was mostly sponsored by religious organizations. This movement was spearheaded by several groups, including the Ohio Anti-Saloon League (founded in 1893 in Oberlin), the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibition Party. As these movements began to grow and have influence in the government, they also became better organized on a national scale. The National Anti Saloon League became headquartered in Chicago. However, Chicago being Chicago, the organization began to look elsewhere for their headquarters and that's when Westerville came into the picture.

The leaders of the League decided to move their national headquarters to the little village of Westerville in 1909. They were going to build an elaborate Lincoln Memorial Library to house all of their printing (they produced 40 tons of anti-alcohol publications a month). They had the ground breaking ceremonies, but the building never got built. With the League's headquarters now established in Westerville, the town promptly earned the nickname "The Dry Capital of the World." The results of these organizations directly led to the 18th Amendment of the Constitution banning the sale of intoxicating liquors. This period became known as Prohibition.

Today there is a museum at the Westerville Public Library at 127 S. State St. that houses documents about the Anti-Saloon League.

Westerville's first beer

Westerville has been dry ever since, up until 1:49 p.m., January 12, 2006. This is the time that Bill Morgan, a local jeweler in Westerville, paid $150 to purchase the first legal beer in Westerville at Michael's Pizza Shop. Voters in Westerville Precinct 1-D approved 2 liquor options for Evans' restaurant in November 2005. While not exactly a saloon, Michael's Pizza became the first establishment in The Dry Capital of the World to legally sell an intoxicating beverage.

4th Friday Celebration

The wide variety of community activities pointed out by the magazine is evident in Westerville as is its respect for its history and residents. One of its unique community activities is called 4th Friday which is celebrated throughout the warmer months of the year on any month that has 4 Fridays, which is just about every month. Each celebration is based on a particular theme.

Top 100

Westerville was named No. 46 on Money magazine's August 2007 list of 100 best places to live in America, composed of communities with a population between 7,500 and 50,000.

Everal Farm

The Everal farm, named Rosedale after J.W. Everal's rose garden, is an excellent example of 19th Century farm architecture. The farm is now part of Heritage Park located at Main and Cleveland Avenue on the west side of Westerville.

Read more about Heritage Park

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