Washington Courthouse, Ohio is a city in Fayette County located in Union Township of southern Ohio, between Columbus and Cincinnati. Washington Courthouse was established in 1810, originally named only “Washington” in honor of former President George Washington. While many locals referred to the town as “courthouse” or “Washington Courthouse” long before then, the town officially changed its name in 2002, making it the longest city name in Ohio. The name change was initiated to differentiate between other towns with the name Washington, but it is unclear how exactly the name was picked. It could potentially be because the town has held the county seat since its establishment and therefore is home to a very large courthouse that sits in the center of the town. Washington Courthouse is not set up like a usual midwest town. The streets in Washington Courthouse are off, running northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast instead of the typical east-west and north-south. This was done so for the simple reason that those building it wanted the courthouse building to receive sunlight at some point in the day all throughout the year. If it had been set up the usual way, the winter months would leave the courthouse building very dark. As mentioned in the interview with Donald Moore, this seemingly small and odd change has made a very large impact on the structure of the streets in town, making many of them come to a very odd point and is something that locals still deal with and can be problematic for construction. Washington Courthouse remained fairly small for a long while after its founding and by 1846, only ninety-seven residential homes existed. At the time, Washington Courthouse was still only a village and contained two churches, eight stores, two newspaper offices, two woolen mills, two grist mills, and a saw mill. A grist mill is a bit more uncommon but is used to grind grain into flour. Now, Washington Courthouse is home to over 14,000 people and a number of businesses, some of which have been thriving for decades while many of which have joined the community in very recently years. A couple to highlight are those on Main Street. Back-en-thyme Flower and Gift shop has been in business under a new owner for 20 years as of May 2022 and holds a variety of floral arrangements and small gifts to put along side them. Also along main street is Harry and Annie’s antique shop which holds an assortment of unique antique items one can chose from. Many boutiques also have found homes within Washington Courthouse, namely Three Birds Boutique, Sweetwater Bay Boutique, and BOM-Boutique. Within these shops you can find an array of styles to match your own. New to Main Street is Vinyl Coffee, a coffeehouse recently opened and ran by locals of the area. The town also holds a variety of other bakeries like Two Scoops of Sugar and Atkinson’s bakery. Washington Courthouse is home to many grocery stores for the size of the town; having a Walmart, Aldi, Kroger, and a Save a Lot as well as a Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar General. Washington Courthouse is home to many local and chain restaurants such as Street Side 62, Bob Evans, The Willow, and Our Place. Some other shops you’ll find around Washington Courthouse are North Shore Primitives and Antiques; an Antique shop that has found its home in a very old storage barn not far from the center of town and Mystics, a variety store that holds locally handmade items and is placed in Washington Square, a small strip home to a few stores on the far side of down. Washington Courthouse is also home to the Blue Lions. Starting with just a one room log cabin in 1814, the school has moved to beautiful newly build elementary, middle and high schools. Washington Middle School and high school are connected through a small auditorium named Liberty hall while the old middle school/high school auditorium is still used for large performances like band and choir concerts as well as the plays and musicals that the schools host throughout the year. The rest of the old school has been converted into senior apartments. The middle school is currently home to roughly 531 students with a 22-to-1 ratio of students and teachers. The high school holds similar numbers, with roughly 600 students in grades 9-12 and about 50 staff members. Some notable alumni from Washington City Schools include Travis and Jeff Shaw, famous for the records in baseball. Travis, nicknamed the Mayor of Ding Dong City, has played in the Major Leagues of baseball, playing for teams such as the Boston Red Socks, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Toronto Blue Jays. His father Jeff is a time-time All-Star pitcher. |