Newtown

• Fort Ancient and Serpent MoundOhio's Fort Ancient farmers built maize villages from about AD 1000-1650. Nearby, Serpent Mound's true age is still disputed: about 300 BC or AD 1070.

How Newtown began

Newtown was laid out under the name Mercersburg by surveyor Elijah Yates for Gen. James Taylor, honoring Revolutionary War hero Gen. Hugh Mercer, whose relative Capt. Aaron Mercer led the founding settlers here in 1792 after fleeing to Cincinnati during the Northwest Indian War; the village had grown to fair proportions by the early 1800s and had become Newtown by the early part of the nineteenth century. It incorporated as a village in 1901 and had a population of 552 in 1890. Prehistoric mounds and earthworks once stood where the village now sits, and two, the Odd Fellows' Cemetery Mound and the Perin Village Site, survive today within or near village limits. In the 1960s Newtown withdrew from surrounding Anderson Township by forming a paper township of its own. Local traditions include a Friday Lenten fish fry open to the public and an annual Winterfest in December.

Settled 1792, incorporated 1901, by Laid out as Mercersburg by surveyor Elijah Yates for Gen. James Taylor, honoring Gen. Hugh Mercer; settled 1792 by Capt. Aaron Mercer, a relative of Gen. Mercer, and a party of Virginian neighbors, on a tract east of the Little Miami three miles above Gerard Station; incorporated as the Village of Newtown in 1901.

Where the name comes from

The settlement was named Mercersburg by surveyor Elijah Yates, working for Gen. James Taylor, in honor of the Revolutionary War hero Gen. Hugh Mercer, killed at the Battle of Princeton; the settlement's founder, Capt. Aaron Mercer, was a relative of Gen. Mercer, of Irish birth and, like him, a Virginian by adoption. The 1894 county history states plainly that "Mercersburgh became Newtown in the early part of this century," but does not explain why the new name was chosen.

Before the town

Newtown was built on ground that already held Native American mounds and earthworks before 1792 settlement. The Odd Fellows' Cemetery Mound, along Round Bottom Road, and the Perin Village Site, about 0.3 miles northwest of it, both survive within or near the village, and the Turpin Site and the Hahn Field Archeological District, above the Little Miami River in Clear Creek Park, sit just outside village boundaries in the surrounding area. No cultural attribution or date range is given here for these sites beyond their general prehistoric status.

• Odd Fellows' Cemetery Mound (mound) — Along Round Bottom Road, Newtown, Hamilton County, not specified in sources consulted (en.wikipedia.org)
• Perin Village Site (village) — 0.3 miles northwest of the Odd Fellows' Cemetery Mound, Newtown, Hamilton County, not specified in sources consulted (en.wikipedia.org)

Timeline

1. 1792 — Capt. Aaron Mercer, a relative of the Revolutionary War hero Gen. Hugh Mercer, leads a party of Virginian neighbors up the Little Miami valley to found Mercersburg, three miles above Gerard Station, after the unusually mild winter of 1792 draws settlers back out from the safety of Cincinnati and the older river stations.
2. early 1800s — The village, having attained fair proportions, becomes known as Newtown in place of its founding name, Mercersburg; early merchants and tradesmen include William E. White, John H. Gerrard and Henry Diebolt (merchants), John D. Carr (shoemaker), Hubbard Brown (blacksmith), Henry Crossley (carpenter) and George Earhart (wagon maker).
3. 1801 — General James Taylor lays out the town on General Massie's survey No. 2,276 at the foot of the hills on the Little Miami bottoms, first calling it Mercersburgh for General Mercer; the whole site later takes the name Newtown.
4. 1813 — A stone building is erected at Newtown for the Methodist Episcopal church; Rev. John Strange was the first circuit rider, and "Mother Jones" is remembered as the first Methodist woman of the place.
5. 1830 — Newtown has 161 inhabitants.
6. 1860 — A fine school-house is built at Newtown; it gets an addition in 1880 and has five rooms, three in use.
7. 1861 — A new Methodist meeting-house is built on the site of the 1813 stone church, using stones from the old building for its basement.
8. 1880 — Newtown counts 427 residents; it has Methodist, Regular Baptist and Universalist churches.
9. 1890 — Newtown's population is recorded at 552 in the U.S. census.
10. 1901 — Newtown incorporates as a village.
11. 1960s — Newtown withdraws from surrounding Anderson Township by forming its own paper township.
12. 2000 — The census counts 2,420 residents in Newtown.
13. 2010 — The census counts 2,672 residents in Newtown.
14. 2020 — The census counts 2,702 residents in Newtown.

Stories

Mercersburgh in the mild spring of 1792

The 1894 Hamilton County history says the soft, early spring of 1792 allured settlers who had fled to Cincinnati back to their clearings, and called new settlements into existence, the most important of which was Mercersburgh. Its founder, Capt. Aaron Mercer, was a relative of Gen. Hugh Mercer, who was killed at the Battle of Princeton; like him, Mercer was of Irish birth and a Virginian by adoption, and had sacrificed his worldly fortune to the Revolution. He left Winchester, Virginia, in 1790, lived at Columbia, and in 1792 led a number of Virginian neighbors to a tract on the east side of the Little Miami, three miles above Gerard Station, where cold springs gushed from the foot of the hills. There he laid out a subdivision, made a clearing and built a 'garrison,' a log fortress or single blockhouse, which served as a rendezvous for militia scouting parties until the close of the Indian war. He was aided by two sons-in-law. The 1881 Ford history instead dates General James Taylor's laying out of the town to 1801, first as Mercersburgh and later as Newtown.

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

Every historic place in Hamilton County on the full map

Ohio River intake at the plant's riverfront on Kellogg Ave in the California neighborhood, east Cincinnati The water here

• Cincinnati Public Water System54% of residentsOhio River (Miller Plant, ~88%) plus Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer wells (~12%)
• Clermont Public Water System46% of residentsWilliam H. Harsha Lake plus wells in the Little Miami River and Ohio River aquifers

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