Ridgeway, Ohio

The old Indian trail spoken of in the history of Dudley Township passed through the northwest part of Hale Township, leading from the Indian towns in Logan County to their village at Upper Sandusky, and upon this route, Simon Kenton, while a prisoner of their tribe, was taken to Sandusky, and od their way passed through a small Indian village which was said to be the residence of the celebrated chief Logan, and this village, it is believed, was near what is known as " Grassy Point." It is said that when the first settlers came to this section they found a portion of ground at this place cleared of timber, having been cultivated, but which at that time was thickly covered with grass, and hence came its name, " Grassy Point." Another interesting point in the history of Hale Township was first brought to the knowledge of this community while constructing the Bellefontaine & Indiana Railroad through this township. This consisted of a " double mound," or burial place of some pre historic race, and is located nearly midway between Mount Victory and Ridgeway, which was opened for the purpose of obtaining gravel for ballasting a part of said road. But we only intend to allude here to this point of great interest as it will be found fully discussed of in the chapter upon the Mound-Builders, in the general history of the county.

Passage source: The History of Hardin County, Ohio, published 1883.

The principal streams of the township all flow in a northeast course and are tributaries of the Scioto River. In the central-eastern portion of the township are the South and North Wild Cat, which take their rise near the south boundary line of the township and flow northeast into Dudley Township, where they unite and form one stream. The North Wild Cat flows through the south and east part of the village of Mount Victory. Panther Creek rises near Ridgeway by two branches, flowing in a northeast direction and converging into one stream near the center of the township, on the farm of E. S. Butler, thence, continuing its same general course, it flows into Dudley Township. A small stream called Lick Run enters the southwest corner of Hale Township and becomes a tributary of the West Branch of Panther Creek, emptying into the latter on the farm of Moses Kennedy. In the northwest part of the township is Wolf Run, which rises in the Ansley neighborhood, and flows northeast, passing Grassy Point, into Buck Township. These are all small streams, furnishing no water-power, but good water for stock. The soil of the greater portion of the township is of clay and loam formation, with a limestone gravel subsoil, very rich and productive, yet from its capacity to hold water it is naturally very wet and requires thorough draining to be easy of cultivation, and to bring out its full power of productiveness. It is excellent grass land, and hence a line country for stock. It also produces very large yields of corn, wheat and oats, the land that is well tiled and drained yielding probably as large an amount and as line a quality of grain as any township in the county. This township has labored under considerable disadvantage, through large tracts of land in the central and eastern parts of the township being owned by non-residents, which, of course, are but little improved, and hence produce but little; and not only this, but to some extent the improvement of surrounding farms, the building of pikes and the general progress of the country are hindered. This condition of things is also against the growth and prosperity of its towns and villages, limiting the trade and business of the merchants, and, in fact, is generally detrimental to the public good and welfare of the people.

Passage source: The History of Hardin County, Ohio, published 1883.

One advantage this township possesses over the more northerly townships of this county is its abundant supply of gravel for building pikes and constructing good roads Although this township has as yet many bad roads, still it has several excellent pikes, viz., the Mount Victory & Kenton, the Kenton & Ridgeway, Mount Victory & Dudley Township and Mount Victory & Taylor Greek Townships pikes, besides some few cross and connecting pikes, now built and in process of construction. In addition to the tine pikes, this township has one good railroad - the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis. It was first incorporated, February 25, 1848, as the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis Railroad Company. The road was completed in 1852. This township subscribed $15,000 to the capital stock of the company. The road passes through the center of the township in a diagonal coarse, northeast and southwest, about seven and one half miles of the road being in this township. Situated as this township is, in the extreme southeast corner of the county and remote from the county seat or other railroads, this road has been of great value to the progress and business interests of the people.

Passage source: The History of Hardin County, Ohio, published 1883.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Hale Township - it names this place 21 more 21 times.