Our History

PORT WASHINGTON VILLAGE HISTORY

 

Port Washington, settled in 1827 by John Knight and was a major stop on the canal between Cleveland and Portsmouth. Farmers brought produce from fifty miles around for shipment via the old Port Washington Road, which connected the town with Millersburg.

  

In 1868 the village was incorporated, and at that time the population numbered about 400 industrious folks who were served by a busy down-town holding three groceries, a shoe store, a cider press, a furniture store, a lumber yard, a tannery, a funeral home, two flour mills, three taverns, several churches,  a creamery (that produced two hundred and fifty pounds of butter daily!), and many other needed and useful businesses.  

 

On the tails of the canal and its prosperity came the railroad.  Midway into the nineteenth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad was playing a major function in town.  The Port Washington station was an important fueling stop for the trains, a prominent employer for local men, mail delivery, and  transportation for area residents.

 

The large three-story brick town hall was built in 1878, and the new cemetery was designed and  created in the shape of a wagon wheel. It was named Union Cemetery in honor of the Northern soldiers who had been killed in the Civil War.

 

A larger municipal building was constructed in 1970 which houses the fire and police departments, mayoral office, and the town council chamber.

 

Today, our town retains the qualities that make it a great American village, and the prosperity of the canal and the railroad days are fond memories.