Each month, we feature an Ohio Legacy City on our #GOPCThread series, #OHCommunitySpotlight. This month, we spotlight Southwest Ohio’s Xenia.
Welcome back to another edition in GOPC’s #OHCommunitySpotlight series, where this time we’re heading southwest to #XeniaOH
Xenia (county seat of Greene Co.) was founded in 1803, the very same year that the state of #Ohio was admitted into the Union. The word ‘xenia,’ means hospitality in Greek, contributing to the city’s nickname as the “City of Hospitality” #GOPCThread
The arrival of The Little Miami Railroad in 1843 prompted an economic and demographic boom in the @cityofxenia where the city’s population more than doubled in one decade
While the railroads are now gone, today a replica of Xenia Station stands at the intersection of 5 regional bike trails
Xenia is one stop on the 295 mile Miami Valley Bikeway system, the nation’s largest paved trail network that winds through southwestern #Ohio
At one point, #Xenia was home to number of manufacturers, including Hooven & Allison Cordage Co., a natural fiber rope manufacturer. The #brownfield sat vacant for decades before the city cleaned it up; now, a new owner hopes to redevelop the site
Xenia is home to @wilberforce_u, the nation’s oldest private, historically Black university owned and operated by African Americans. The college was founded on the former Tawawa House resort property in 1856 #GOPCThread
The city has been the site of two extraordinary natural disasters, the first in 1886 when 28 people were killed in one of the state’s deadliest flash floods
The second was the infamous tornado of 1974, where a F5 tornado leveled much of the city. The tornado was part of one of the worst storm systems in US history. Coverage of the storm and its damage earned the @xeniagazette a Pulitzer Prize in news reporting
The center of destruction was in the northwest part of downtown, which the community replaced with Xenia Towne Square, a suburban-style shopping plaza. The community is now engaged in plans to redevelop the site to match with the Historic downtown
Tornadoes are so common, legend has it that the Shawnee (the original inhabitants) referred to the area as “place of the devil wind.” The city has since upped its alert system, allowing residents to poke fun at the city’s ‘curse’ with establishments like @devilwindbrew
If you find yourself in downtown Xenia looking for sights to see, visit one of several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Carnegie Library, the Samuel N. Patterson House, or the Hollencamp House
Xenia has three designated historic districts and offers incentives to further development in Downtown Historic Xenia through the Design Assistance Program and the Design Code Assistance Program
What’s your favorite part about Xenia? Where should we highlight next? Check in again next time for another installment of GOPC’s #OhioCommunitySpotlight threads!
