Blakeslee

How Blakeslee began

Blakeslee is a railroad town in southern Florence Township. In November 1880, John Boman, who had lived on the site since 1853, laid out fifty-six lots there and named the village for Schuyler E. Blakeslee, a Bryan lawyer. The post office opened that May, and residents gave the railroad depot grounds, right of way and about $1,000 to secure a station on what became the Wabash line southwest of Montpelier. The village incorporated in 1894 and reached its peak of 239 people in 1900. The 1920 county history remembers it as the last place in Williams County with an open saloon. The 2020 census counted 104 residents.

Settled 1853 (John Boman on the village site), platted November 1880, incorporated 1894, by John Boman.

Where the name comes from

Named by John Boman for S. E. (Schuyler E.) Blakeslee, whom the 1882 county history calls a lawyer and 'distinguished citizen' of Bryan. The same Blakeslee defended Andrew J. Tyler at the 1848 trial for the murder of David Schamp, a case recounted in the Jefferson Township file.

Before the town

No Native village, trail or treaty site inside Blakeslee is recorded in the sources checked. For Florence Township, the 1920 county history records that Margaret Singer, an early settler, said that for three years after she and her husband settled she saw no other white person and their only visitors were Native people. The 1817 Treaty of the Maumee Rapids had transferred Indian title to this part of northwestern Ohio to the United States more than six decades before Blakeslee was platted.

Timeline

1. 1853 — In April, John Boman begins living on the land that becomes the village.
2. c. 1865 — St. Joseph Catholic Church is built north of the future village for about $4,000 by a congregation that starts with seven families. The 1882 history dates it about seventeen years earlier.
3. 1880 — On May 4, the Blakeslee post office is established with John N. Chilcote as first postmaster.
4. 1880 — In November, John Boman lays out fifty-six lots on Section 34 of Florence Township and names the village for S. E. Blakeslee of Bryan. J. N. Chilcote builds the second house in October and has the first stock of goods.
5. 1881 — Chilcote and Somerlott build a sawmill in February, and James Fitzgerald opens a lumber yard. Residents give the railroad company depot grounds, right of way and about $1,000.
6. 1881 — The first school term in the village is taught in the summer in Peter Hewart's building. Each pupil pays the teacher 75 cents for the three-month term.
7. 1881 — Additions of eighteen lots in December and Conrad Sachar's thirty-six lots in November enlarge the plat.
8. c. 1881 — An arsonist burns St. Joseph Catholic Church and is sent to the penitentiary for fifteen years. By 1882 the parish, now about fifty families, is building a brick church on the site expected to cost about $8,000.
9. 1894 — Blakeslee incorporates as a village.
10. 1894 — The Blakeslee town plat is printed on sheet 20 of the Atlas of Williams County, Ohio.
11. 1900 — Population peaks at 239. The 1905 county history describes Blakeslee as a trade center on the Wabash railroad ten miles southwest of Montpelier.
12. 1920 — The county history records that the open saloon had been banished from Blakeslee, the last place in the county to have one.
13. 2020 — The census records 104 residents, a 56 percent decline from the village's 1900 peak.

Stories

A depot bought by the village

Blakeslee existed because of the railroad. John Boman had farmed the site since 1853, and in November 1880 he laid out fifty-six lots and named them for the Bryan lawyer S. E. Blakeslee. Within a year the village had J. N. Chilcote's store, Theodore Long's store, two groceries, a hotel kept by J. F. Snyder, a sawmill and a lumber yard. To secure a station, residents gave the railroad company the depot grounds and right of way and raised about $1,000 in cash. By 1882 G. H. Meredith was station agent. The 1905 county history places the village on the Wabash, ten miles southwest of Montpelier.

The last oasis

The 1920 county history says Edon was among the first 'dry' communities in Williams County, while Blakeslee was the last 'oasis in the desert.' People came from many miles to Blakeslee's saloons, and according to that history, citizens grew tired of seeing so much drunkenness on the county's roads. Blakeslee stayed 'on the map of the wet world' after the dry towns were no longer destinations for drinkers, until the open saloon was finally banished there too. The history does not give the year.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org

No water-system data is linked to Blakeslee's ZIP codes yet.

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-07-06: county board of elections.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-06-18

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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