of Chillicothe, Ross County & South-Central Ohio
of Chillicothe, Ross County & South-Central Ohio updated 8/17/04, 8/11/04 |
| A view of the cozy group that greet visitors to Chillicothe from near the entrance to the flood wall recreational trail: At the left edge is the drive through carryout; in front of that is a wood frame cottage and the Camp Sherman mess hall. Across the street is the canal tavern, German brick cottage, and (endangered by the gas station expansion) the two wood frame cottages. |
In my last newsletter I reported that the BP Gas station on North High Street at the corner of Orange Street is planning to expand into a Duke/Dutchess shop, building on the open land behind the current station along Safford Street.
I have learned that that is not the extent of it. The two wood frame cottages just south of the gas station are also said to be targets for that new station/store, at 730 and 738 North High Street. (These are across from the Camp Sherman building on the other side of High Street.)
The owners of the BP parcel at 742 North High Street own all but two of the eleven parcels on the irregular block, excluding the brick cottage at 730 and the brick canal tavern at 718 North High Street. Furthermore, the owners F.W. and B.B. Englefield appear to be absentee landlords, with a mailing address of 447 James Parkway in Heath, Ohio (near Newark). They also own the other two BP's in Chillicothe: on North Bridge just south of the river, and on East Main.
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| The almost triangular block bounded by North High, Orange, Sneddon, and Buckeye streets in an aerial photo with property information, taken from the Ross County Auditor's web site |
They also own the BP on the south edge of Piketon - which the BP on North High Street is expected to resemble by the end of this year, by one account.
I have not had the opportunity to investigate further into this situation, and do not know the exact timetable of this proposed demolition/construction. Some of this information was taken from the ownership data on the Ross County Auditor's web site.
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| Endangered Victorian cottages beside the BP gas station, 730 and 738 N. High Street. Note the "gingerbread" trim in the gables - and all those trees! Photo taken August 13th. |
More soon.
