Bloomdale

How Bloomdale began

Bloomdale grew up in Bloom Township, southern Wood County, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was completed to the site in 1874, two miles south of the older village of Eagleville. The old 'Bloom' post office, which had been moved to Eagleville in 1861, was transferred to the new town in 1877 or 1878 and renamed Bloomdale, a 'commendatory' name according to Wikipedia rather than one honoring a founder. It incorporated as a village in December 1887 and that post office finally closed in March 2019 after roughly 145 years of continuous operation under one name or another.

Incorporated village, December 7, 1887, on a petition of 58 residents filed July 30, 1887.

Where the name comes from

Bloomdale's name is described only as 'commendatory' -- chosen for its favorable sound rather than for a founder or feature -- in the sources consulted; no fuller explanation was found. The county's own 1897 history adds that the post office, named 'Bloom' from the start and moved in 1861 to the neighboring village of Eagleville, was transferred to the new town of Bloomdale in 1877 or 1878 and renamed.

Before the town

No mound, earthwork or named Native village specific to Bloomdale was found in any source consulted; the county's own 1897 history states that no such evidence exists anywhere in Wood County.

Nations recorded here: Ottawa.

Timeline

1. 1833-04-03 — Jacob and John Leathers unload their goods under an oak on Section 33 of what becomes Bloom Township, the first settlers in the township the village later grew in.
2. 1835-03-02 — Bloom Township is organized from Congressional Township 3, Range 11; the village does not yet exist.
3. 1852-02-18 — The neighboring townsite of Eagleville, two miles north of the later Bloomdale, is surveyed for J. M. Bronson.
4. 1858 or 1859 — The first post office for this part of Bloom Township opens on the Cornelius Simon farm, about four miles from Eagleville, with Dr. Ozias Baird as postmaster; it carries the name 'Bloom.'
5. 1861 — The 'Bloom' post office is moved about four miles to the village of Eagleville, with James M. Bronson as deputy postmaster.
6. 1874 — A post office opens in Bloomdale.
7. 1874 — The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is completed to this point, according to the county history; Wikipedia also dates the first post office to 1874.
8. 1877 or 1878 — The 'Bloom' post office is transferred from Eagleville to the new town of Bloomdale and renamed 'Bloomdale.'
9. 1880 — The census counts 130 residents.
10. 1885-05-07 — The Bloomdale Rifles, Company H of the 2nd Ohio National Guard, are organized with A. B. Probert as captain.
11. 1885-10-03 — The Methodist Episcopal class is formed with E. D. Beam as leader; its church is built 1887-88 and dedicated March 4, 1888.
12. 1886 (approx.) — A gas well at Bloomdale is producing about 3,000,000 cubic feet of gas a day during the peak of Wood County's natural gas boom.
13. 1887-12-07 — Bloomdale is incorporated as a village, after a petition signed by 58 residents and a remonstrance against it; the first officers, elected April 2, 1888, are A. B. Probert (mayor), M. G. Snyder (clerk) and D. N. Easley (treasurer).
14. 1888 — A special school district is created for the village out of old District No. 7; a two-story brick school building follows.
15. 1891 — The Exchange Bank, established by T. J. and O. E. Campbell, erects the village's first modern brick business block, at Main and Walnut streets -- described in the county history as the largest brick building built for banking and commercial purposes south of Bowling Green and east of North Baltimore.
16. 1892 — The two-story brick town hall is built by contractor J. L. Easley for $1,800 paid from the general tax.
17. 1900 — The census counts 740 residents, up from 419 in 1890.
18. 2019-03 — Bloomdale's post office closes after 145 years of continuous operation.
19. 2020 — The census counts 665 residents.

Stories

The Bloomdale Rifles

On May 7, 1885, the village organized its own militia company, Company H of the 2nd Ohio National Guard, known locally as the Bloomdale Rifles, under Capt. A. B. Probert. The company built an armory in 1887-88 at a cost of $1,500 and went on to win the regiment's first-place marksmanship prize in 1893; the next year its sharpshooters scored 385 out of a possible 500 points at 200 and 300 yards, with four of its members earning spots on the regimental rifle team. In June 1894 the scattered members were called together within two hours and sent to Wheeling Creek to help protect property during regional labor unrest, a reminder that a small farm-town militia company could be mobilized on short notice.

Eagleville in the winter of 1866-67

By the winter of 1866-67, when Squire W. S. Richard gathered the township's early history, the ridge settlement of Eagleville, two miles north of the later Bloomdale, already had a store run by E. P. Emerson, a grocery, two shoe shops, a carriage shop, a tannery and a blacksmith, and E. P. Emerson was its postmaster. The Union church there had been built more than forty years before 1897 by the Universalist preacher James Bronson, and was shared by Universalists, United Brethren and Christians until the Christians bought it in 1883. The Christian Church had been organized in 1854 with a dozen members including Asa Baird and Asa Bigelow. Five steam sawmills ran in the township that winter, one at Eagleville and another a quarter mile north of it. The Bloom post office was transferred from Eagleville to the new town of Bloomdale in 1877-78.

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

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

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2021: 2 of 2 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

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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