I can't help but be amused reading this thread, but mainly just astandupguy's post made me laugh.
I'm from Mephis, TN. Born and raised for 22 years in a town that practically worships death and idolizes the dead. A place where my next door neighbor (a policeman) had to put in a flood light between our houses because we had criminals running through our neighborhoods to evade police capture (and that was in the late 80's early 90's, it's gotten worse since then.) I went to a private school and you -still- couldn't keep your doors unlocked on-campus because people had CD's and other items stolen from their vehicles. Violence, racism, sexism and just about every other 'ism' that is possible exists there (granted, it can exist in a plethora of other places as well, but I have personal knowledge of Memphis).
Two years ago (I am now 24) I moved to Ohio, I spent 8 and a half months in Columbus working there and experiencing almost the same thing I had in Memphis. The only difference being I was north of the Mason-Dixon line instead of south of it. That and it snowed, a new experience in and of itself. In late June of '06 I moved to Chillicothe, my (now) husband's hometown. The main response I have for it? It is like the difference between night and day.
The idea of being able to go to the store, leave your windows down with half your shopping in the backseat, go inside for an hour, and come back out with everything still there was foreign to me, but it happens. I don't have to lock my door the second I walk in or out of my house and for the year and five months I've been in Chillicothe the only time I've seen lights and sirens was either an ambulance, fire truck, or a policeman going to an accident site.
It's very nearly November now and there have been all of three shootings in Chillicothe thus far this year. All of them were accidental. After a major police crackdown (no pun intended) on drugs even the drug issue that Chillicothe had/has has decreased substantially.
A few months ago while I was at work I had the unfortunate circumstance of seeing an auto accident occur in front of my work. I asked my boss if I should go out and, trying to guage the situation, we watched as the two cars involved (no one tried to run off) stopped, along with SIX other vehicles and other people parking in the areas off to the side of the road to help tend to the accident victims. In a matter of minutes a policeman was on the scene, minutes after that an ambulance was there, and the whole thing was dealt with, the crashed cars removed, and the area cleaned up within an hour. I've seen car crashes that were -minor- in comparison shut down Malfunction Junction in Memphis for hours.
When my parents came up and visited me for the first time late this summer, my mother and I had to go to Wal-Mart for something she'd forgotten. As we were leaving, she was mentioning something to me and a woman who was walking out with me started a conversation with us on the way to our vehicles. It was very pleasant and when the woman found out my mother was visiting from out of town, her parting words were, "I hope you have a great visit, come back and see us again!" I told my mother afterwards, "Congratulations mom, you've just had a 'Chillicothe Moment'."
Chillicothe is a very small town in comparison to major cities like Memphis or Columbus. It takes 15-20 minutes to get ... just about anywhere. And a "back-up" in traffic means it takes about 20-25. Compare that to most major cities.
Most of the people here grew up here, or have been living here for a very long time. There is Kenworth and the Mead papermill (which does smell, but not nearly as badly as some make it out to). In truth, actually, the paper mill really is only noticable to me when it rains, and that passes rather quickly, even my parents stopped noticing it after a couple days, and they were only here for 5 days.
In my experience, people have been exceedingly friendly and beyond that, it's the standard (instead of the exception) to have people go above and beyond what is required of them if you need help. Not necessarily everyone is well-educated, but then, show me a city where everyone -is- well-educated. Chillicothe has a very down-home feel to it, it isn't uncommon to go out and talk to your neighbors if you have a problem, one of mine let me borrow a weed eater not too long ago to deal with my hedge.
Holidays are family affairs, and the whole town is like one big family. Just last night there was a Halloween parade, I rushed home from work to be able to make it on time and reveled in the fact I could walk from my house the block and a half over to the (absolutely gorgeous) Yoctangee park, by which the parade was passing, and at which I saw people I work with -- including my manager, who was in the parade -- and people from my husband's workplace. Parents were dressed up right along with their kids in halloween costumes and there were floats from neighboring counties promoting their festival queens and attendants. Also, the schools had multiple marching bands performing in the parade, some coming from neighboring counties to march in the parade. It was one of the best evenings of my life and I shared it with over half the town.
The city itself is getting smaller, population numbers are dropping as people move out of the city and into the surrounding counties. A result of which, the city schools are shrinking while the county schools are growing. Chillicothe High School just had a major remodel of it and there's the middle school which just opened (before there wasn't a need for it, but the dwindling number of student numbers necessitated a smaller school, which this building offered) is in the middle of a residential area right by the Chillicothe City Administration Building.
I have, myself, not yet met a person incapable of speaking English, even if English wasn't their first language. So as to the question of illegal aliens, I've not seen any, but I imagine it's possible for them to be working as hands on the farms that surround the area.
The biggest incident with fires includes two dates. The first being, if memory serves, four years ago when the police chief's son and the fire chief's grandson committed arson on a building called the Carlilse building, a historic place that, when it was built, was the tallest building in Ohio. However, reading the local newpaper three days ago, the city has taken over ownership of the building and sold it to a third party who has already set up contracts with contractors to begin renovation, as the city and this third party realize the historal significance that the Carlilse building hold to Chillicothe.
More recently, as far as fire's go, the box-office of the Majestic Theatre and the building beside that caught fire (I honestly don't recall if it was accident or arson but I -think- it was ruled as arson) actually became something of a blessing in disguise. Once the frame of the building was brought down to avoid an unsafe area, it was discovered that the building -next- to that (that was unharmed) harbored a mural on it that had been hidden by the barely foot of space between the buildings. In the early 20th century, it wasn't uncommon for industries and brands to put murals on the sides of buildings to advertise their wares, and this building housed a mural for a brand of tobacco (yeah, I realize the irony in that, but still) that had actually been out of business for decades. However, the historal significance of the mural being intact, in near perfect condition, and suddenly visible for everyone to see and go "Oh, hey, I remember that!" speaks for itself.
And speaking of murals, it isn't uncommon to see them on the sides of buildings. The city decided to hire artists throughout the years to do murals on the sides of buildings to help 'beautify' the city. I think it worked, and they are truly a sight to see.
The weather here is absolute amazing, also. I'm not used to snow on the ground (I'm more accustomed to ice), but the summers are warm, the winter is cold, and spring and fall are nippy. We are having one of the most visually spectacular falls I've ever seen in my life and everyday I have the good fortune to drive through the park by my house on my way to work. I savor that drive.
Also, if you're interested in historal things, (as I am) Chillicothe is like a hidden treasure trove of information. And lucky for me my husband is like a walking dictionary of "random stuff I never knew" about Ohio and Chillicothe in specific.
For instance, Chillicothe was actually the first and third capitol of Ohio from 1803 to 1809, when the capitol changed to Zanesville (which was done as part of a deal to get a bill passed through the house of representatives, gotta love politics) and it was moved back to Chillicothe in 1812 until 1816, when it was moved for the last, and final, time to Columbus due to residents wanting the capitol to be closer to the center of the state.
There is also the National Indian Mounds preservation park. While history can't find the actual name of the Indians that left these burial mounds, historians have dubbed them the Hopewell Indians and Chillicothe has many of them around the area (one large one even being located a stone's throw from a county school).
The Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre in Chillicothe also has the outdoor drama "Tecumseh!" every summer. The play chronicles the life of Tecumseh, the famous Shawnee leader who sought to unify the Indian tribes and led them, with the British, in the war of 1812. Tecumseh was seen as a prophet to his people and the play itself was engrossing and very informative as well. It includes live horses, the actors get thrown (or shot and fall back into) the river it's set against and they even paddle canoes along the river during the play. The carved rock around the amphitheathre allows for interaction with the landscape and many different scenes of the play are done to one side or the other, as well as the main area.
The Majestic Theatre in town is also worthy of note, a very large note in fact. It is one of the oldest (if not -the- oldest, I don't recall if it's in the top or at the top of that list) continuously working stage theaters. The Majestic has been open for 152 years and has seen as many amazing real life experiences as it has amazing greats such as Laurel and Hardy and Milton Berle. Originally, though, it was named the Masonic Opera House and at the time of it's being built it revitalized the entertainment 'industry' in the city. In 1915, the building had switched hands from the Mason's ownership to A.R. Wolf, and then to the Meyers Brothers, who changed the name to the Majestic Theatre. In 1971, the ownership changed again to Harley and Evelyn Bennett who have been working on careful restoration of the site, focusing on preservation of the original wall paintings, mouldings and the gorgeous tiled stairwell platforms, which I've seen before as I took a little 'secret' tour of the building once.
It's also considered to be one of the most haunted places in the area. In 1918, the Spanish Flu epidemic hit Chillicothe, affecting the city and the nearby Camp Sherman (it's unclear if it was the city first and then the camp, or vice versa). With the amount of deaths that happened as a result of the flu, the Majestic was transformed into a temporary morgue and autospy theater. Embalmers worked on stage (for the sake of lights) and the blood was pumped into the nearby alley (called Masonic Alley technically) which has been nicknamed "Blood Alley" and is referred to as that to this day.
Sightings of a man dressed in an old military uniform of the early 1900's walking towards stage, walking -straight- towards the stage, as the seating wasn't altered to angle downwards until decades later, men in suits and top hats moving down the isles, and sightings of ghostly girls running around the dressing rooms are only a few reports of the 'ghostly sightings' in the Majestic.
The theatre has a total of three stories, though the third is typically off-limits to public view (though I'm hoping to one day get up there, the box office is usually very helpful if you just ask), and my brother-in-law has even had his own sighting up there. When he was working on doing some restoration with some others, he was up on the third floor and saw the image of a man on the other side of the room. At first he didn't think twice about it until he remembered the guy he was working with had said he was going to use the bathroom and hadn't come back up. He looked back over at the figure and then realized that it was floating a good foot above the floor, which is where the actual floor would've been, as they were working on relaying the planks. My brother in law promptly ran and refused to ever step foot back on the third floor, and this is the guy that doesn't flinch at most things.
Another interesting thing to know about Chillicothe is that the state seal of Ohio, with the image of the sun with thirteen rays protruding out rising over a hill with a river running in front. In the foreground is a harvested field of wheat. On the field of wheat stands a sheaf of wheat to one side and seveteen arrows in the shape of the sheaf of wheat to the other side.
The significance of the seal? The hill is Mount Logan, located in Ross County (where Chillicothe resides in), the river is the Scioto river. The wheat sheaf is there as a sign of the importance of agriculture in Ohio while the seventeen arrows are there as the representation of Ohio's Native Americans and also to commemorate the fact that Ohio was the seventeenth state to join the Union. The thirteen rays from the sun represent the thirteen colonies that became the original thirteen states of the United States.
The visage of Mount Logan with the Scioto river by it and the sun rising above it is visible from the eastern view from Adena Mansion, the home of Thomas Worthington who was Ohio's first US state senator and also served as the sixth govenor of the state.
So, as you can see, there is a lot more to Chillicothe than just what's at the surface. The atmosphere is wonderful, the people for the most part are amazing and helpful and the city is working on growing in different ways. They're seeking to get more 'larger' businesses in the area while not sacrificing the 'mom and pop' aspect that the downtown area holds.
Hope this helped at least a little bit as far as some history of the city and also for generating some interest in our little town. Man I love this place.
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11-01-2007, 11:09 AM
Moving to Chillicothe
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