New Athens

How New Athens began

New Athens was platted in 1817 and conceived from the start as an educational and cultural center. The Rev. John Walker, a Presbyterian minister and abolitionist, founded Alma Academy there in 1818; it became a college in 1825 and was renamed Franklin College the following year. Franklin College was an early center of abolitionist sentiment in Ohio, and its alumni included Ohio's first native-born governor, Wilson Shannon, arithmetic textbook author Joseph Ray, and statesman John A. Bingham. The college closed in 1919 after a long decline and briefly affiliated with Muskingum College until 1927.

Platted 1817.

Where the name comes from

The village was named New Athens, evoking the classical Greek city, fitting its founders' ambitions for it as a seat of learning.

Before the town

No Native American village, mound, or treaty boundary specific to this place is documented in the sources consulted; the land was included in the general Ohio cessions of the 1780s-1790s (Treaty of Fort McIntosh, 1785, and Treaty of Greenville, 1795) before organized American settlement began, and it lay within range of Mingo, Delaware (Lenape), and Shawnee hunting and travel along the Ohio River tributaries.

Nations recorded here: Mingo (Seneca-Cayuga), Delaware (Lenape), Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1817 — New Athens is platted.
2. 1818 — Rev. John Walker founds Alma Academy in the village.
3. 1825 — Alma Academy becomes a college.
4. 1826 — The college is renamed Franklin College.
5. 1861-1865 — Franklin College suspends classes during the Civil War after most of its students enlist for military service.
6. 1867 — Franklin College is revived with 40 students.
7. 1919 — Franklin College ceases operation.
8. 1927 — The college's brief association with Muskingum College ends.

Stories

"Old Franklin" and its abolitionist classroom

New Athens was platted in 1817 with education in mind, and the Presbyterian minister John Walker made that ambition real the following year by founding Alma Academy, which grew into a full college by 1825 and was renamed Franklin College in 1826. Walker was an abolitionist, and the school he founded became, in the words of a later history, "an early center of intense Abolitionism," sending out what one account describes as some 400 graduates who went on to careers as ministers, teachers, and reformers. Franklin College's roll of alumni is remarkable for a rural Ohio village: Wilson Shannon, the first Ohio-born governor of the state; Joseph Ray, whose arithmetic textbooks stood alongside McGuffey's Readers in American schoolrooms for generations; and John A. Bingham, who prosecuted the conspirators in Lincoln's assassination and later served as U.S. minister to Japan. The Civil War nearly ended the college outright, when most of its students left to enlist, but it reopened in 1867 with 40 students before a long decline led to closure in 1919 and a brief, final affiliation with Muskingum College that lasted until 1927.

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

Every historic place in Harrison County on the full map

A well in the Ohio River valley (alluvial) aquifer serving the St. Clairsville-area system The water here

• New Athens89% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (wells)
• Cadiz Village10% of residentsTappan Lake
• Tri-county Water Authority1% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (wells)
• HCWSD - Georgetown1% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (wells)
• Adena Village0% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (wells)
• HCWSD - East Cadiz0% of residentsTappan Lake
• HCWSD-unionvale-kenwood0% of residentsTappan Lake

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2015: 5 of 5 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.
• Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-07-31

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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