• Lithopolis “City of Stone”

• The Lithopolis, US Merchant Ship

• Joseph Olds Gregg, Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor

More information on the history of Lithopolis can be found at The Wagnalls Memorial Library (adult non-fiction) or The Wagnalls Memorial Foundation office.

Lithopolis..."City of Stone"  Written by Jo Riegel

Lithopolis - a rather pretentious name for a village relatively unheard of until 1925 when the Wagnalls Memorial was completed and dedicated. Founded in 1814 by Frederick Baugher, Lithopolis was first called Centerville. Since there was already another town in Ohio by that name, the residents thought it appropriate to rename it, and in 1836 at the suggestion of Dr. William Awl, it was incorporated under the name Lithopolis. The motive for the name is the quarry located in the ravine behind The Wagnalls Memorial where Lithopolis Freestone is quarried. Lithopolis is the Greek word for "city of stone." 

The early and mid 1800's were prosperous years for Lithopolis. Located midway between Columbus and Lancaster, merchants, and hotel and saloon owners thrived on the business provided by the stagecoach passengers making the day's trip between these two towns. Contributing to this prosperity were highly skilled craftsmen, mostly of German descent, whose reputations extended beyond the village. 

Over the years, Lithopolis has suffered from a reputation of being a sleepy, non-progressive town. For at least the first half of the nineteenth century, historical recollections indicate otherwise. Poverty certainly was not unknown, but this flourishing community had every product and service needed to sustain its residents. It even had its own distillery, owned and operated by Israel Dum, which caused the Temperance ladies some concern. People debated political issues (most residents were Democrats), danced to the Lithopolis Band on Saturday nights, and went to the Methodist, Lutheran, or Presbyterian churches on Sunday mornings. It appears they lived life to the fullest, and "The Lithopolis Home News," a newspaper published by the Kramer family, recorded it. 

Unfortunately, by the latter part of the nineteenth century, the economic climate for Lithopolis had been changed by forces beyond its control - the Civil War, opening of the Groveport, Canal Winchester, Lockville, and Lockbourne branches of the Ohio Canal, and the migration to Northwestern Ohio. Both prosperity and population were greatly diminished. 
Several residents brought a modest amount of fame to Lithopolis. Dr. Ervin Minor was one of the first doctors in Ohio and helped organize the first medical association in the state. D.R. Rockey and Son Pump Factory was founded and operated in Lithopolis before moving to Columbus. The Elkhorn Hotel enjoyed brief celebrity status when the 1840, presidential candidate William Henry Harrison spurned the Neil House in favor of spending a night with his old friend from the War of 1812, Colonel James Hite. Colonel Hite was also the great, great grandfather of Minnie Hite Moody, author of Long Meadows. Lapping over into the twentieth century, Lithopolis was the site of one of the strangest inventions ever contrived. In 1905 Professor James Wilson, a teacher and inventor, invested, patented and constructed a gravity railroad on South Street, extending from the top of the hill to the bottom. Daniel F. Clancy wrote an article about the railroad which read: The Great Gravity Railroad, would have spread out its aerial arms like a huge spider from little Lithopolis, Ohio. 

Although dreams of building a great high-wire transportation network eventually vanished into thin air, Professor Wilson actually did build a two-block-long sample of his system. He was school principal in the little western Fairfield County village southeast of Columbus from 1900 to 1905, and it was in the latter year that he constructed the two block long system of poles and cables which carried a "car" down a slight incline from the village school. Some describe the car as a converted buggy seat. Others recall the whole contraption as having looked something like a roller coaster. Judging from an old sketch of the envisioned system, cars were to run by gravity from tower to tower, being hoisted at each tower for the next leg of the gravitational journey. No one recalls what sort of power was to have been used to raise the cars in the towers. First plans were to construct the railroad from Lithopolis to near-by Canal Winchester, just over the line in Franklin County. There was talk of eventual lines to Columbus and Lancaster. Although two blocks was as far as the dream ever went, it aroused great interest among Ohioans who had just seen the turn of a century and were expectant of all kinds of 20th century miracles. With the automobile on the horizon, his project never went beyond the short test line. Professor Wilson died in 1947. 

Ultimately, the most notable citizens of Lithopolis were Hester Anna Willis and Adam Wagnalls. Both born and reared in Lithopolis (Adam only until the age of 5), they are the reason for the present Wagnalls Memorial. Adam was the co-founder of the Funk & Wagnalls Publishing Company, publisher of the Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary, and Encyclopedia, and the Literary Digest. Anna and Adam did not know each other as children, but met many years later after Anna graduated from Xenia Female College. They married and had one child; their daughter, Mabel. Mabel was not born in Lithopolis (she was born in Kansas City), but with her parents, maintained ties to the village through visits with her grandmother and friends. It was her mother's dream "to do something for the little village which had never had anything done for it" and to provide opportunities not available to her as a child. After her mother's death in 1914, Mabel and her husband, Richard Jones, fulfilled her mother's dream - Wagnalls Memorial. 

The Memorial stuns first-time visitors to Lithopolis. It takes awhile to accept this improbable location for a beautiful Tudor-Gothic structure. The original building in the complex was dedicated on May 30, 1925. It was built to accommodate a library and community center, a place where residents of Lithopolis and Bloom Township could gather for social and educational events, as well as to gain knowledge in the cultural arts. 

Lithopolis once again found its name in headlines in 1927 when Richard and Mabel, after traveling extensively in Europe, endowed a school for Esperanto, the international language. Classes were implemented in the elementary school and adult classes were offered at the Memorial. 

Mabel Wagnalls Jones died in 1946. In order to guarantee the Memorial's continuance, she willed the bulk of her private fortune to the Memorial to be administered by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. Her will also provided for a scholarship that is offered only to students of Lithopolis and Bloom Township who meet certain criteria. Mabel's gift changed Lithopolis forever and literally put it on the map. After Mabel's death, money from her estate was used to add a separate children's library in 1961, an adult non-fiction section in 1983 and a new library addition in 1992 exactly reflecting the original building. 

“The Lithopolis”
United States Merchant Ship

How did a United States merchant ship receive the name “The Lithopolis?”  The story goes that Mrs. David L. Ewing submitted the suggestion for consideration.  Mrs. Ewing was the daughter of Mrs. Lucy Foster Bumbarger and cousin to Charles E. Brossman and Frank E. Grove, all of whom were Lithopolis residents.  Mr. Grove once served as the traffic officer at the Union Station entrance to Columbus.  

Mrs. Ewing was born and raised in Lithopolis.  She later married and made her home in Muscatine, Iowa.  Her husband was a high officer in the Government Marine Ship Building Service and had the authority to decide upon the name to be given to the ship.

 --Wagnalls Historical Archives

	Title:  The Lithopolis Hull, December 6 1918 Host Collection:  Burgert Brothers Photograph Collection Current Repository:  University of South Florida, Tampa Campus Library Special Collections Dept
Type:  Freight Cargo Deadweight:  3,500 tons Fuel:  coal Speed:  9-1/2 knots Length:  276.6 Beam:  42.6 Builder:  Tampa SB. Co. Keel Laid:  June 5, 1917 Launched:  March 31, 1918 Expected Delivery:  January 20, 1918