of Chillicothe, Ross County & South-Central Ohio
of Chillicothe, Ross County & South-Central Ohio updated 7/22/04 |
| The couch that was the target of vandalism, after being dragged out of the building |
A minor arson fire damaged Union Station the afternoon of July 16th, though not severely. Two boys had picked a lock on the vacant building and set a couch inside on fire. Union Station is in Chillicothe's "East End," at the southeast corner of South Sugar Street and East Main Street, near the overpass.
I spoke with owner Ralph Cooper July 22d, and he told me that investigators have the vandal's names. Mr. Cooper has been talking with a developer to lease the building and renovate it as a restaurant, and still intends to do so. In the meantime, the building is used only for storage.
The building is a very important and yet underappreciated part of our Chillicothe, Ross County, and southern Ohio heritage.
 |
| Today's view of Union Station, Chillicothe, Ohio, with a train passing on the NS Railway, and the CSX Transportation line abandoned across the station's front |
Chillicothe's Union Station was begun in 1872 by the Baltimore & Ohio Railyard as a 1 and 2 story brick building at the intersection of the two main railroads that ran through Chillicothe, the B&O and the Norfolk & Western. It replaced the original wood frame station built nearby whenthe railroad was originally built in 1852. (A "sister" station built at the same time may still stand in Loveland, Ohio.) Union station received several additions, including a large wood frame one about 1917 to serve WWI traffic. It was also the focus of an expanded B&O railyard in 1892 that contributed greatly to the the economy, employment, and growth of the "East End" and Chillicothe.
Chillicothe historian John Grabb wrote the definitive history of "The Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, and its Successor - the Baltimore & Ohio" in 1989.
B&O passenger service in Chilicothe ended in 1981, and freight traffic ended 1985. Remaining railroad office use of the building ended about 1989 and the "Ross County Railroad Preservation Society" talked the owner (CSX Corporation) into renting it to the group. After seeing the former B&O line in front of the station scrapped and failing to be able to buy the station and part of the railyard, the group disbanded about 1994.
 |
| A popular postcard view of Union Station, Chillicothe, Ohio, c1905, with a train on the the B&O crossing the station's front, and the N&W crossing in the foreground |
Ralph Cooper of Cooper Glass nearby on E. Main St. was then able to buy the tract about 1996, and has hoped to find a good use for the building and land, but it has stood empty for most of his ownership. (He also owns the Paxton Township Hall in Bainbridge and has managed to keep the building in use as the "Paint Valley Jamboree.") Several years ago a tennant rented Union Station and used it as a antiques and refinishing business, adding an overhead door to the rear of the WWI addition, and planting ornamental trees where the B&O tracks used to sit. Cooper was unhappy about what that tennant did to the property.
Mr. Cooper is currently in discussion with a company that hopes to use Union Station as a restaurant, and whom visited the building only two to three weeks before the fire. (He did not want to give the name of the company since an agreement has not been reached). As for the rest of the part of the railyard the Mr. Cooper owns alongside Main Street, though low-cost housing has been rumored for it, he mentioned that it is out of the question.
I had spoken with Mr. Cooper about listing Union Station on the National Register to facilitate preservation and development of the property. The building supposedly had been added to the purview of the Design Review Board (along with the Pump House) by city council several years ago, though I have heard otherwise.
The article that alerted me to the fire was on the front page of the July 17th Chillicothe Gazette. In it, Dean Bethel of the fire department said
The Gazette article absurdly described Union Station as a "storage warehouse on East Fourth Street." (Apparently no one connected to the story knows their geography or history.) Union Station is located at what would be the southeast corner of South Sugar Street and East Main Street, though access is usually from near the railroad underpass on East Seventh Street, or off East Main Street at the east end of the overpass.
It's probably just coincidence that barely a couple hours later the afternoon of the fire, in Columbus, I mentioned to my brother that I'd like to try to get some sort of railroad preservation/museum group going again.
We were active members in the "Ross County Railroad Preservation Society" back about 1991-1994. I was the "volunteer curator" and he was the head of O-guage (Lionel) model railroading. I had also mentioned to him that, a few days before, I met a man who now lives in Newark but had lived in Chillicothe several years ago and has many photos of railroad activities and buildings.
