BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

West Lancaster, Ohio

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Jefferson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 43128. It stands on Maple Grove Creek. The Survey maps it on the Milledgeville quadrangle.

West Lancaster within Fayette County

Then and now

1916 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 70 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of West Lancaster, surveyed 1986
Topographic sheet of West Lancaster, surveyed 1916

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Jefferson township, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Fayette County, Ohio, published 1872 - Jefferson Township

Preface

The Author has spent several months in constant travel and search, and taken unwearied pains, in collecting the names and records of the illustrious Pioneers, who made their homes first in Fayettte County. It has involved considerable time, expense, labor and difficulties. Visiting all the most noted places, mounds, camps, cliffs, etc., in the county, he has endeavored to portray the toils, hardships and privations of a pioneer life, when nothing but dense forests, inhabited only by Indians and wild beasts ; when the only habitation was the rude log cabin ; when the scream of the panther, the howl of the wolf, the hum of wild bees, and the war song of the savages constituted the music of the wilderness.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

73,361 words on this township

Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Fayette County, Ohio, published 1872 names this settlement in its chapter on Jefferson Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Ananias Allen, Madison Allen, James Allen, Joseph Allen, Jesse Allen, Benjamin Allen, and Ebeu Allen. Tliey live on Allen Run, sometimes called Big Run. They are men of large hearts, business qualifications, large farmers and stock dealers and useful citizens. Gen. Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame, and all the Aliens in America, are descended from Major Benjamin Allen, who fell in General Braddock's defeat, near Fort Pitt, in 1755.

Passage source: Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Fayette County, Ohio, published 1872.

Having given my views in regard to the characteristics of a gentleman, I will do the same in reference to the marks or accomplishments of the true lady. In these latter days, fine dress, and g»udy appearance makes or constitutes the lady. This is not true. Principle and friendship in a woman constitutes her a lady, let her dress be ever so fine or shabby. Her regard for the character, honor and repute of her demeanor, lies deep within her heart. She never breaks her vows, and never counsels you to do an imprudent thing. She is man's best friend. She loves with a natural love. Her devotion is genuine. She speaks to all classes, not exclusively to a few. True female friendship is to a man the bulwark, sweetness and ornament of his existence. Our early pioneer mothers were all ladies. Polite, cheerful, frank, social, and showed no distinction. All were treated alike. They could card, weave, and spin. Cold formality and arbitrary aristocracy, in those early days of purity and honesty, were never flaunted in "Love's true philosophy, - equality."

Passage source: Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Fayette County, Ohio, published 1872.

First preacher, was John Abkuec ; first school teacher, David Creamer ; first Justice, George Creamer ; first Clerk, S. Hunt ; first blacksmith, Roderick Kerns ; first doctor, Thomas McGarer; first store, D. McCoy ; first cabin, William Robinson; first County Court, held in the cabin of John Devalt ; first Postmaster in the County, Jesse Millikan ; first Commissioners, Jacob Rankin, David Creamer and William McElwin ; first sheriff, Thomas Robinson ; first carpenter in the township, Stephanus Hunt; first mill. W^m. Robinson.

Passage source: Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Fayette County, Ohio, published 1872.

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 Jefferson Township - it names this place 1 more 1 time.

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 79 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 79 specimens collected within 10 miles of West Lancaster between 1882 and 1974: 67 Animalia, 7 Fungi, 5 Plantae. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by Bowles, P. (Pearl), Brubaker, J. A. & Higgins, Brubaker, J. A. & Link, B. and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Podosphaera clandestina var. clandestina (Wallr.) Lév.Podosphaera clandestina var. clandestina (Wallr.) Lév.1882Kellerman, W.A.America borealis: prope Lancaster, Ohio, in foliis Spiraeae tomentosae.
Specimen of Spiraea tomentosa L.Spiraea tomentosa L.1882Kellerman, W.A.America borealis: prope Lancaster, Ohio, in foliis Spiraeae tomentosae.
Specimen of Phellinus ferruginosus (Schrad.) Pat.Phellinus ferruginosus (Schrad.) Pat.1898Lloyd, C.G.College Hill, Ohio
A photograph of the species Gymnosporangium globosum, not of this specimenGymnosporangium globosum (Farl.) Farl.1901Hartley C. P.Sabina
A photograph of the species Accipiter cooperii, not of this specimenAccipiter cooperii (Bonaparte, 1828)1907Hegler, A. (Almer)Fairview, Fayette, Ohio, USA
A photograph of the species Buteo jamaicensis, not of this specimenButeo jamaicensis borealis (Gmelin, 1788)1907Hegler, A. (Almer)Fairview Sta., Fayette, Ohio, USA
A photograph of the species Buteo lagopus, not of this specimenButeo lagopus sanctijohannis (Gmelin, 1788)1907Hegler, A. (Almer)Fairview Sta., Fayette, Ohio, USA
A photograph of the species Falco rusticolus, not of this specimenFalco rusticolus obsoletus (J.F.Gmelin, 1788)1907Hegler, A. (Almer)Washington C.H., Fayette, Ohio, USA
Tiphiidae1925Pallister, J. C. (John C.)Madison, Fayette Co., Ohio, USA
A photograph of the species Opsopoeodus emiliae, not of this specimenOpsopoeodus emiliae Hay, 18811926Wickliff, E. L. (Edward L.)Sugar Creek, near NE corner of Clinton County OH locality is approximate based off Fishes of Ohio distribution map
A photograph of the species Rana clamitans, not of this specimenRana clamitans Latreille, 18011929Walker, C. F. (Charles F.) & Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)SW Wayne Twp., Fayette Co., Ohio
A photograph of the species Acris crepitans, not of this specimenAcris crepitans Baird, 18541930Walker, C. F. (Charles F.) & Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)SW Wayne Twp., Fayette Co., Ohio

All 79 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms near this place

2 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Lancaster in 2 storm reports between 2003 and 2022: 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2022Thunderstorm WindWest Lancaster$1,000A semi-trailer was blown over near I-71 and State Route 435.
May 2003HailWest Lancaster-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Fayette County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Octa1.3 miles12
Edgefield1.9 miles11
Milledgeville2.4 miles12
Rosemoor3.1 miles11
Pleasant View3.2 miles11
South Plymouth3.2 miles12
Jeffersonville3.2 miles12
Pearsons (historical)3.3 miles11

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1061741. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.