Covington
History – Covington Village in Ohio |
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Map:
Official Geographical Location:
40.11912 North, 84.35089 West
Geographical Description:
Zip codes: 45318, Population in 1990: 2,603 (2,575 in 1970)
Land area: 2.649 sq. kms.
Population History:
Median Age: 34.6, Persons under 18: 25.4%, Persons over 65: 18.7%,
Median home: $52,100
A village in Miami County, West Central Ohio, between Greenville &
Piqua, 20 miles North of Dayton, at junction of Stillwater River and Greenville
Creek, 73 miles North by East of Cincinnati, South of Lima on U.S. Route 42.
Covington is located on the Stillwater River, and the surrounding
countryside includes a number of scenic areas, including Greenville Falls, a
nature area managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and several
preserves operated by the Miami County District Council
History:
Settled 1807 and incorporated 1835, its main trades are Grain, tobacco,
dairy products, livestock, poultry, sawmills. The largest financial concern in
the area is The Covington Savings & Loan Association, 117 North High St who
appear in The Million Dollar Directory, 1988.
When Mad Anthony Wayne's army marched off to the Indian Wars, one of its
campsites was at present-day Covington. The site was called Fort Rowdy, and is
the name behind Covington's Annual Fort Rowdy Day festival.
In the area's early days, it was the site of Fort Buchanan, a frontier
outpost. The Covington armoury stands on the site where the fort was originally
located.
In 1816, Daniel Wright surveyed the area and along with partner Jacob Ullery, made the first steps toward starting a settlement.
Those names -- Wright and Ullery -- are familiar to
Covington residents today as the names of streets in the vicinity of the
original settlement.
Covington was known by various names, including "Friendship,"
"Newberry," and Stillwater." There were just two families living
there in 1826. That number increased to 451 in 1850 and 1,791 by 1900.
Recent History:
Operated by the Covington-Newberry Historical Society, the Fort Rowdy
Museum is located on Spring Street across from the village of Covington's fire
station and post office. The building itself dates back to about 1850 and has
served many tasks for the town, including a schoolhouse. What you will find
inside is an impressive mix of Covington/Newberry Township artifacts.
The walls of the downstairs are covered with early photographs that date
from the mid 1800s to the mid
1900s. Display cases are full of products and promotional pieces from
local merchants and political campaigns. Some of the products represented are,
soap, talcum powder, cigars and Rogers drums.
101 Spring Street
Covington, OH
(937)
473-2270
(937) 473-3488
In the
back of the first floor are tools and parts of early Newberry Township mills, mixed
with saws that were used to cut ice out of local ponds in the era before
electric refrigeration. There is also a small collection of flower bags from
mills in the Covington area that are long gone. On one wall is a painting of
Leonard Covington, an officer that served with General "Mad" Anthony
Wayne during the Indian wars, and for whom the village of Covington was named
after.
Not to be missed, the upstairs contains a collection of antique toys and
clothes, as well as kitchen items once produced in the Covington and Piqua
areas. The museum also has a collection of vintage clothing, including military
uniforms that were donated by long-time residents.
The Museum is open by appointment and on special occasions - like the
Fort Rowdy Days Festival. The Covington-Newberry Historical Society holds an
annual Bean Supper Fund Raiser every year in September on the Saturday
following Labor Day.
The Covington Story
Dear Mr. Covington;
I am writing in answer to your inquiry about the name Covington; Please
accept my apology for taking so long to answer, I will try to be brief, the
following is some of what we have in the Fort Rowdy Museum, sponsored by the
Covington - Newberry Historical Group.
In 1793 Leonard Covington a lieutenant in the Calvary was sent north on
the Ohio River from Fort Washington, which is now Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington,
Kentucky, to this area where Greenville Creek and the Stillwater River meet and
made an encampment on the east side of the river. Here he established Fort
Rowdy, named after one of the men who helped to build the fort, It was also
rumoured that it could have been named after the behaviour of the men. A short
time later General Wayne and his troops moved in and soon they signed The
Treaty of Greenville with the Indians. The town of Greenville where this took
place is located about 15 miles from here.
Settlers had begun to come to this territory but the first to stay was
in 1802-03-04, but as the war of 1812 started, and this section was affected,
some of the families moved about 15 miles to the east. They then returned after
the treaty was signed and the troops and Indians moved to other areas. The
Michael Ingle family was the first to stay. In 1816 David Wright and Aaron Ullery laid out 36 plots and the influx of people was good
as three main roads come to this point. These men called the town Friendship
and later Oldtown, then Newberry, Trade became quite accessible and many of the
people brought special skills and vocations with them like wheelwrights,
blacksmiths, weavers, bankers etc.
The mail also ran these routes. One of these roads was called the Pikes
Peak and Ocean to Ocean highway and now state route 36, going east and west.
State route 48 starts at the Ohio River and ends about 40 miles north of here,
running north and south. State route 41 runs from the southeast to route 48,
but used to run farther west I believe to Greenville. The first post office was
named Stillwater, but in 1835 they adapted the name Covington it is
incorporated as such. There were soon woollen mills and grist mills and seven
stone quarries. Stone from these quarries were used to form the railroad arches
and several small business buildings still in existence today.
When these people came, they brought with them their faith and desire for
education, They started churches and schools even if there were only a few
students at first building larger ones as the need arose. We now have a
building that house kindergarten through sixth grade, another for 7th and 8th
grade and the High School that houses 9th through 12. For the 11th and 12th
grade they can choose to stay at the home school and take subjects to help them
enter college or they can go to a Joint Vocational School located about six
miles away in Piqua to learn a trade and work part time as they learn. There is
also off campus branches of Wright State and Edison State Universities located
in Piqua, We, have a Church of the Brethren and three branches of it, a Grace
Brethren, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Catholic and old
German Baptist. One of the branches of the Brethren has their own school. Since
1895 there has been a women's Literary Club, Other clubs are Avocation,
Grandmothers, and 2 garden clubs. Other organizations include Oddfellow
and Rebeccas, Masonic, Eastern Star, Eagles, Kiwanis,
and Optimist.
Service organizations include American Legion, Amvets
and Veterans of Foreign Wars. There is a Ministerial Association that helps the
needy on a short term basis.
The town’s slogan is "In Covington We Care"
These are the more important things I can think of at this time.
The following is the important part of a letter received from a
historian at Sackets Harbor, New York in 1988:
General Covington was stationed at Sackets Harbor,
New York and along with General Wilkenson’s army
went to invade Montreal They engaged the British in battle on the Canadian
shore of the St. Laurence River on a location known as Chryslers (Chrystlers) Farmland on November II, 1813. General
Covington fell mortally wounded, and was buried at French Mills, New York, At
American winter quarters and they named the town Fort Covington, New York
In the early 1800's a permanent garrison at Sackets Harbor
and the new commanding officer consolidated all burials into one cemetery. Due
to the expansion of Madison Barracks in 1909 and the old cemetery was moved to
outside the reservation. In the transfer confusion set in and records were lost
or none were found along with the deteriorating wooden markers and. some were
not located,
The name of General Covington had remained in obscurity as far as the
local people were concerned but in 1988 a movement began to erect a memorial
for General Pike but not for Covington although a marker was placed for him and
11 other notable officers. In 1989 one of the historians was to try to have a
memorial placed by Pikes.
Another letter in 1988 from a Historical Society in Prince Georges
County, Maryland stated that on April 23, 1989, The Prince Georges County Hall
of Fame would induct General Covington as a member at the St. Georges Day
Dinner, Riverdale, Maryland.
Hope this may help you in some small way.
Sincerely, Mary Nickel
Member of Covington-Newberry
Links to other websites:
VISIT COVINGTON
OHIO OFFICIAL WEBSITE
VISIT COVINGTON OHIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WEBSITE
VISIT COVINGTON EXEMPTED VILLAGE
SCHOOLS WEBSITE
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