When was the last time you took a late night trip to the old buggy repair shop on State Street for a doughnut and a drink? How much do you really know about local landmarks that you visit or pass by on a daily basis?
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Landmarks are an essential part of Otterbein’s campus and the city of Westerville. They are rich in history and bring the community together around Otterbein and Westerville by giving people a place where they can share a common experience — like buying doughnuts during a 1 a.m. doughnut run to Schneider’s Bakery.
Otterbein students will spend four years of their lives in Westerville and on campus. Landmarks around Otterbein and in Westerville help to build a sense of community. The biggest example may be Otterbein’s spirit rock, which emphasizes school spirit and campus unity.
Beth Weinhardt, local history coordinator at the Westerville Public Library said that being knowledgeable about landmarks and the surroundings in a community gives us all a sense of pride in where we live and helps us to get involved in the community.
Both Otterbein and Westerville have several distinct landmarks that offer the community this sense of pride and importance.
First Responders Park
First Responders Park was originally intended to be built in memory of David Theisen, a first responder of Westerville who died fighting a fire in Crooksville. But, with the turn of events of 9/11 the park took on a new meaning for all first responders including firefighters and police officers.
About a year after Theisen’s passing, a longtime friend and local firefighter named Tom Ullom began to raise funds for a sculpture in Theisen’s memory. Ullom made a connection between the loss of life in 9/11 and the local loss of life in daily fire and police rescues around Westerville.
Soon after the events of 9/11, Ullom began work to bring a piece of the World Trade Center
to Westerville. He was successful in this task and traveled east to personally pick a piece to be part of the park.
Today, a piece of the north tower stands near a statue of a firefighter in First Responders Park to memorialize all first responders who have lost their lives and given back to their communities, both locally and nationally.
“It’s a gathering place and a way to honor those who give back to the community,” Weinhardt said. “We honor these folks in a very visible way and for the city of Westerville, it is more than just a monument, it is a part of our community.”
State Theatre
“Even though the old marquee is striking to look at, you would not think that this theater had a connection to Otterbein,” Weinhardt said. State Theatre hired Otterbein students to play the organ as the soundtrack to the silent movies, and of course, it was a place where students would go to relax and enjoy a film.
Located in Uptown Westerville, this theater opened in 1927 as a silent film cinema and has shared many memories for some of Otterbein’s older graduates.
Holmes Hotel Building
Located on the corner of Main and State Street, where Heavenly Cup coffee shop now stands, is the old Holmes Hotel building.
In its early days, the hotel featured a barn in the back where visitors could park their buggy, or rent a buggy to travel around town, along with two stores and a blacksmith’s shop.
The hotel also featured a cupola, which was struck by lightning shortly after the hotel was built. In the past five years, the owner of the building had the cupola recreated and had it put back onto the building so that the building would resemble its original appearance.
Old Bag of Nails
This iconic building of Uptown Westerville has been a popular restaurant since 2006. Prior to this, a general store stood on the first floor as well as a five-and-dime store. These stores were a sensation across America that featured small trinkets and gifts for a low price.
Schneider’s Bakery
While Schneider’s Bakery is now a store where students flock to buy doughnuts at odd hours of the morning, it was once a buggy repair shop. This buggy repair business was called DH Buggy Works.
Built in the 1880s, this buggy repair shop would scavenge the country and area surrounding Westerville for broken buggies and wagons and fix them for resale, much like a used car lot.
Westerville Public Library
Before this building became the Westerville Public Library, it was formerly known as the saddle and harness shop of William Hanby in the 1850s.
In 1909, the building and land were given as a gift to entice the Anti-Saloon League of America to bring their printing headquarters to Westerville. According to Weinhardt, the league printed 40 tons of anti-alcohol information a month from the building and had it shipped
countrywide from the modest city of Westerville.
The library, as it stands today, was built in 1955 and was donated to the city of Westerville by the Anti-Saloon League of America.
Temperance Row
This street, also known as South Grove Street, was home to Ernest Cherrington, the head of all anti-saloon publishing in Westerville and godfather of the 18th Amendment, which included prohibition of alcohol in the United States constitution.
Now, a house on Temperance Row is home to the Otterbein fraternity Pi Kappa Phi, also known as Country Club. It is also Westerville’s only historic district as designated by the National Park Service.
Spirit Rock
Otterbein’s spirit rock, located in the grassy area in front of the Center for Career and Professional Development, has seen many hands and layers of paint over its 10 years on campus.
This rock was put in place with the assistance of Matthew D’Oyly, director of Annual Giving and Constituent Communication, on May 7, 2003 to help improve school spirit and encourage engagement within Otterbein’s community.
The Otterbein spirit rock is a place where students can promote upcoming campus events, Greek life, or other clubs and get involved in the community by taking part in painting the rock with other students.
According to Stephen Grinch, archivist in Otterbein’s Courtright Memorial Library, the spirit rock was a great improvement to the campus and brought the Otterbein community closer together.
Civil War Monument
A plaque engraved with the names of all Otterbein students and Westerville citizens who fought in the Civil War stands mounted to a stone located on the front lawn of Towers Hall.
“This monument is a great way that Otterbein University remembers part of its roots by commemorating those who served not only their community, but their country while attending
Otterbein,” Grinch said.
Hanby House
This house was home to William Hanby, preacher and composer of several Civil War era songs and hymns, along with the famous holiday song, “Up on the Housetop.” Despite its current location on Main Street, the original location of the house was on Grove Street where Otterbein’s
Campus Center now stands.
Prior to his residence in Westerville, Hanby was an indentured servant. Hanby freed himself of this lifestyle by walking from western Pennsylvania to central Ohio and eventually found himself in Westerville.
Hanby purchased the Hanby House in its original location on Grove Street in 1853 and began to use this home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Hanby was a conductor on the Underground Railroad in both Westerville and Circleville.
“Darling Nellie Gray” is a famous song composed by William Hanby’s son, Benjamin, while he was a student at Otterbein University. This song is based on the true story of a runaway slave who intended on finding his wife in the north, but died before he got the chance to see her again.
Hanby died of tuberculosis in 1867 and the Hanby House fell out of Hanby’s ownership.
The house was later acquired by Dacia Custer Shoemaker in 1927 and relocated to its current location on Main Street. The Hanby House is now staffed by volunteers and owned by the Ohio Historical Society.
Otterbein Cemetery
Otterbein Cemetery is located less than half a mile south of campus. Toward the back of the cemetery is a simple stone engraved with the words “Over the Silent Sea.” This stone marker notes the Hanby’s burial site. The first African American student who attended Otterbein is also buried in Otterbein Cemetery.
This cemetery is a place of rest for many anti-saloon leaders who took root in Westerville as part of the act toward prohibition and is a resting place of many early settlers of Westerville.
“The cemetery has more connection to Otterbein than just the proximity to the campus,” Weinhardt said.
Just as Otterbein University is named after the founder of the United Brethren Church, Phillip Otterbein, so is the cemetery where many professors and presidents of the university are buried.
For a gallery of landmark pictures click here
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