Castine

How Castine began

Castine was laid out in 1832 as New Castine on land belonging to John Ellis, Joseph Danner and Frederick Smith, at the crossing of the Greenville-Eaton road and the New Garden Road (named for the Quakers of New Garden, Indiana who traveled it to meetings). The original proprietors began selling lots before completing a legal survey; new resident Dr. J. P. Love, who arrived in 1833, warned them they faced a $50 fine per lot sold and prompted a proper plat. Incorporated in 1842-43, the village let its charter lapse and had no corporate existence by 1880; the Little Miami Railroad's bypass through West Manchester later slowed growth until the Cincinnati Northern Railroad revived it in 1894.

Platted 1832 (replatted 1833, after the informal first sale of lots), incorporated 1842-43 (charter later lapsed through default), by John Ellis, Joseph Danner and Frederick Smith (landowners); Dr. J. P. Love and Samuel Brosserman soon bought out Danner's and Smith's shares.

Where the name comes from

Originally called New Castine before shortening to Castine; the reason for the specific name was not found in the 1880 county history or other sources checked, though the township itself (Butler) was named indirectly for Butler County, Ohio, the previous home of many settlers.

Before the town

No Native American village or site specific to present-day Castine is documented in the sources checked. The village sits in Butler Township in southern Darke County, part of the broader Miami and Shawnee homeland ceded under the 1795 Treaty of Greenville.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Miami.

Timeline

1. 1832 — New Castine is laid out on land belonging to John Ellis, Joseph Danner and Frederick Smith; the proprietors begin selling lots before completing a legal survey.
2. 1833 — New resident Dr. J. P. Love, versed in legal matters, warns the proprietors they are liable for a $50 fine per lot already sold without a proper plat; a legal plat is made immediately afterward, and Love occupies the first house built in the village.
3. 1842 — Castine is incorporated; the charter is later allowed to lapse through the default of its citizens, leaving the place with no corporate existence by 1880.
4. 1843 — Russell Evans opens a hotel on Main Street, having previously run a grocery in rented quarters; his hotel later burns down in the fall of 1879.
5. 1849 — The United Brethren build the village's first church, promoted by George Byers, Samuel Coblentz and Henry Wehrly.
6. 1870 — Population peaks at 177 residents during the village's early prosperity as a road crossroads.
7. 1894 — Construction of the Cincinnati Northern Railroad revives the village's economy after decades of slower growth caused by the Little Miami Railroad bypassing it through West Manchester.

Stories

Selling lots before they had the right to

New Castine's founding was not, at first, entirely legal. The three landowners who laid out the village in 1832 -- John Ellis, Joseph Danner and Frederick Smith -- hired a surveyor to divide the land into lots and began selling them without the legal notice or formal process the law required. It took a newcomer to set things right: Dr. J. P. Love, who arrived the following year and had some grounding in legal matters, informed the proprietors that every lot they had already sold exposed them to a $50 fine. A proper plat was drawn up immediately, and the necessary legal steps were taken to head off prosecution. Love went on to occupy the first house built in the village and to become one of its most prominent early citizens -- a fitting turn for the man who had first told its founders they were breaking the law.

Bypassed, then rescued, by rail

Castine's founders in 1832 picked their site for a reason that made perfect sense before railroads existed: it sat at the crossing of two important wagon roads, the Greenville-Eaton pike and the New Garden Road, the latter named for the regular pilgrimage of Quakers from Miami County traveling to semi-annual meetings at New Garden, Indiana. That crossroads location brought early growth and, by 1870, the village's peak population of the 19th century. But when the Little Miami Railroad was built through the area, it passed roughly two miles south of Castine, through West Manchester instead, diverting the trade and traffic that once had no choice but to pass through the village itself, and growth slowed. Castine's fortunes did not fully recover until 1894, when construction of the Cincinnati Northern Railroad finally gave the village its own rail connection.

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Arcanum Village93% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Verona, Village Of7% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)

Money issues on the ballot since 2023: 2 of 2 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

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

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2025-01-23

Cite this page