Perry County, Ohio - Chapter 8: The Seat of Justice, 1883 (part 2 of 2)

The Atlantic and Lake Erie, the forerunner of the Ohio Central, was organized and set on foot by men residing at New Lexington, Perry county, Ohio. They, of course, sought the counsel and aid of men all along the line of the proposed road, and in the organization and management of the several mining companies, without the aid of which the road could have made no progress, they solicited and secured the co- operation of men residing in various parts of the country. Whatever may be the future success and gigantic operations of this great railroad, it is but simple justice to state in this volume, and let the fact pass down to future generations, that the road had its origin in the minds of New Lexington men, and was pushed by them with unusual energy, in the direction of final and complete success, until crushed by the great financial revulsion of 1873, which ruined so many enterprises, and crushed so many people.

The Ohio Central now proposes an extension of a branch line from Rendville or Corning, through Bearfield township, to McConnellsville, Morgan county. There is also a projected line of railroad from Bremen, Fairfield county, by the way of Maxville, Perry County, to Chauncey, Athens county, to be called the Monday Creek Valley.

The Cleveland, Connotton Valley and Straitsville Railway Company, also proposes a line from McLuney, or Crooksville, Perry county, on the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley, by way of Moxahala, crossing the Ohio Central here, to Straitsville, or elsewhere in the "Great Vein" region. A road is also talked of to come by way of Uniontown, Muskingum county, and Saltillo Rehoboth and New Lexington, in Perry County, to intersect the ''Great Vein" Coal region, at some point between the Ohio Central and the Newark, Somerset and Shawnee roads.

It is also thought that a road will be made from Thornport or Glenford in Perry county, by way of Mount Perry and Uniontown, to intersect the Cincinnati,and Muskingum Valley, at or near Roseville. There is also the proposed Bellaire, Shawnee and Cincinnati Railway, which is designed to pass through the ''Great Vein" coal section of Perry county. New Straitsville, Shawnee and Corning, are all sure to be in some way united by rail, and other roads, now unthought and undreamed of, will doubtless make their appearance sometime in the swiftly coming years. The very desirable and highly valuable coal deposits in Clayton township, are sure to eventually bring a new road, and the limestone of Hopewell, Madison, Reading and Clayton, will be in good demand in the not distant future. Short lines and switches too numerous to be conjectured, must inevitably be made, as they are gradually demanded, to reach after the iron ores and coal, situated more or less remote from the main lines. This state of things will ultimately make the county, and especially the principal mineral sections thereof, a network of railroads, the like of which exists in but few parts of the world.

Since the foregoing was written, the Columbus and Eastern Railway Company, has surveyed a line and placed fifty miles under con+ tract. The surveyed line is by the way of Millersport, Thornport, Glenford, Chalfant, Mount Perry, Uniontown and Saltillo, to Selby's Pass, a short distance east of New Lexington. Further than that the road has not yet been located.

It is also announced on what appears to be good authority, that the Hurd Iron and Coal Company have decided to build, in the next eight months, a railroad from McLuney to Buckingham, passing through the possessions of the Hurd Company. .