CEDARVILLE VILLAGE

   Cedarville village was laid off by Jesse Newport in 1816.  The old plat consists of twenty-four lots each, 82x150 feet, of these nine are north, and fifteen south of Chillicothe St.   To this the following additions have been made, namely: Alexander's, Jacob Miller's, Mitchell & Dille's, Hinsley's, Kyle's, Mitchell, Dunlap and others, Nisbet and others, O. W. and N. and four other additions by John Orr, making twelve in all.   The town was first called Milford, but being another town of that name in Ohio, it was found necessary to change this in order to prevent all derangement in postal matters, and accordingly in 1884, the village was named Cedarville, from the fact that the banks of Massie's Creek which flows through here, were lined with that species of tree, and at about that date the people in this township got their post office.  The first postmaster was John Paris, a great temperance man, and one of the many prominent persons in the village.  Besides performing the duties of postmaster, he was also the first shoemaker in the village, and kept the post office, shoe shop, dry goods store, and   worked at watch and clock repairing, all in the same room.  This room is still standing, and now used as a kitchen by a family in the village.  Mr.  Paris kept the post office receiving for his service a few dollars each year.  The mail during his time was brought once a week from Xenia.  H. D. Cline, the present postmaster, has kept the position since about 1869.  They had a daily mail after the stage route was established between Cincinnati and Columbus in 1845, till the railroad was completed through here in 1850, after which they had two mails daily for some years.  There are six mails received here now every day.  The persons who have kept the office during the time intervening between the first and present postmaster are as follows:  A. W. Osborn, till 1848, James Small, six months, Colonel Torrence succeeded him and kept it two years, and was followed by Josiah Mitchell, and after him Win S. Bratton had the office a short time during Taylor's administration.  A. W. Osborn then kept the office during President Pierce's term and was followed by John Gibney, Jr., who kep the position till the beginning of the war, when Osborn again officiated.  He was followed by John G. Winter, for six months, and H. M. Boyd, predecessor of the present postmaster, took the office filled the position for two years. 

   The first frame house in the Village was one story high, 40x40 feet, and was built by John Orr, in 1834, who intended it for a cabinet shop.  Subsequently another story was added.  This house still stands in the same place.  The second frame was built by Robert Mitchell in 1835, and Joseph Alexander soon put up the third.

   The first merchant in the township was E. Mitchell, who started his store in Cedarville in about 1830, and kept the business there till his death in 1855, when B. McClennan bought the goods on hand and after selling goods here three years removed his stock to Kansas, where he is engaged in  the same business.  John Orr began selling goods in Cedarville in the spring of 1834, and has been successfully engaged in the same business ever since.   Mr. Orr was one of the incorporators of the Xenia and Jefferson Turnpike, the first in the township, who received its charter from the state in 1836.  After the company had expended some $80,000 the state failed to comply with her part of the agreement and the corporation became insolvent.  Mr. Orr exerted himself to the utmost to prevent this, but failed.  He was also instrumental in having the railroad brought to the village, as the original surveys were all made on a different route, till convinced by Mr. Orr that this was the cheapest and best way they could run. 

   The first tavern in the village and in the township was a double log house built by a Mr. Miller about 1825.  The amount of travel at that time was by no means as extensive as at present and at that day the arrival of a stranger in the village was an important event.   Miller kept this tavern for many years, and was considered a very hospitable landlord in his day.  Since the early days the business interests of the town have been constantly and rapidly increasing.  The commercial wants of the place are supplied by four dry goods stores, eight grocery stores, three hotels, two drug stores, one hardware store, one grain store, one butcher shop, three shoe shops, three blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, four physicians, one dentist, one undertaker, one funiture store, two milliners, one tin shop, one bakery, one merchant tailer, and two barber shops.   The place is remarkable in that it has no regular soloon within its limits, and a consequence a more quiet or orderly community is to be found in Green County.

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