By: Mary E. Mortimer
When Bellefontaine was established in 1820, the main street was named Cincinnati St. because it was part of the road that ran to Cincinnati. Other principal streets were named for Ohio cities, Sandusky, Chillicothe, and Columbus. Detroit St. and Mad River St. were also original streets. Bellefontaine has the distinction of having the first concrete street in America, Court St., and the shortest street in America, McKinley St.
After William McKinley spoke from the back of a train to a large crowd during his Presidential campaign, it was decided to name the shortest street in Bellefontaine McKinley St. in his honor.
Lawrence St. is located in the Lawrence Addition on the west side of the city. It was named for Judge William Lawrence who moved to Bellefontaine in 1841 to practice law. Over the next sixty years, he became an influential figure in local, state, national, and international laws and politics. Throughout his career, Lawrence held many different positions, including, schoolteacher, newspaper reporter, medical student, lawyer, judge, wool grower, state legislator, U.S. Representative, vice-president of the American Red Cross, Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury, author, mentor and much more.
Lawrence served on the Ohio Supreme Court and in both the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate. He championed the interests of farmers and wool growers. He established the Bellefontaine National Bank and authored Ohio’s Free Banking Law of 1851. President Rutherford B. Hayes named Lawrence the First Comptroller of the United States Treasury, which put him second only to the Secretary of the Treasury.
Judge Lawrence also helped Clara Barton get President James Garfield’s support for the American Red Cross. Lawrence then served as the organization’s first vice president. Mr. Lawrence also served in the U.S. Congress and helped create the Justice Department.
West St., named for Judge William H. West, is located between W. Williams St. and W. Sandusky St. West came to Bellefontaine in 1850 to study law under William Lawrence. He eventually became Lawrence’s partner. Over the next several decades he rivaled his mentor as an influential person in local, state, and national politics and law.
West was one of the founders of Ohio’s Republican Party in 1854. He and several other prominent men in Bellefontaine, including Lawrence, quickly turned Bellefontaine into a Republican stronghold. West and William Hubbard bought The Logan County Gazette and renamed it The Logan County Republican. West served in the Ohio House of Representatives in 1857 and 1861 and in the Ohio Senate in 1863. From 1865-1867 he served as the Attorney General of Ohio.
In 1871, West was elected to the state Supreme Court. While on the Supreme Court, he lost his eyesight, but it did not stop him from fulfilling his duties. West was best known for his speaking ability. It was this ability and his lack of sight that gave him the nickname “Blind Man Eloquent.”
Pratt St. is located on the west side between Garfield Ave. and W. Brown Ave. It was named for Dr. Edwin Pratt. Edwin Pratt came to Logan County in 1850 when he established a medical practice in Bloom Center after “reading” medicine under an uncle and then graduating from Starling Medical College in Columbus. Dr. Pratt then moved his practice to Bellefontaine in 1865, where he practiced for more than thirty years.
Dr. Pratt’s brother Moses L. Pratt began practicing medicine in Quincy in 1863. He would serve that village for many years. Dr. Edwin Pratt’s son, Lester Cross Pratt, also became a physician. Dr. L.C. Pratt graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and then returned to Bellefontaine to open his medical practice in 1883. During his long service in Bellefontaine, Dr. L.C. Pratt tended to hundreds of patients, served as the first president of the reorganized Logan County Medical Society, and sat on the U.S. Pension Board for 16 years.
The McCracken Addition on the west side was laid out by J.E. McCracken who named several streets for his children, Charles, Myrtle, and Florence. Cook Ave. was named for Mrs. McCracken’s mother. These streets are located between Troy Rd. and W. Williams.
Brown Ave. was named after Dr. Benjamin Brown. This street runs from Walker St. on the west side, across Main St., and dead ends at the First Church of God at 1000 E. Brown Ave. Dr. Brown was one of the early physicians in Bellefontaine and was the first Logan County surveyor. He was commonly referred to as the “director of the town”. He opened Bellefontaine’s first drug store in 1844, was a County Recorder, and was the county’s weatherman. He was also one of the founders of the Logan County Fair in 1849. After Dr. Brown died in 1873, his widow donated the land for Brown Park. She also placed a life-size statue of her husband in Brown Park.
Colton Ave. was named for Robert and Joseph Colton. The brothers operated a flour mill near the Big Four Depot starting in 1869 and were in business for over fifty years. Their main product was their Peerless Flour which was shipped wholesale throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the New England states. They also shipped their flour to England, Scotland, and Ireland. Colton Ave. runs from S. Main St to Ludlow Rd.
In 1903, streets in the Belleville addition were named Fair Ave., Pine Ave., and Spruce Ave.
Some streets had names that weren’t official like the Zanesfield Pike, now known as Eastern Ave., Sidney St, now W. Columbus Ave., Lima Rd, now Garfield Ave., and Marion Rd, now E. Sandusky St. There are ten streets in Bellefontaine bearing Presidents names, Washington, Jefferson, Pierce, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, McKinley, Harding and Harrison.
Williams Ave. is named for John and Rebecca Rutan Williams. In 1913, Mrs. Williams donated her 880-acre farm near Ridgeway to the City of Bellefontaine with the agreement that the proceeds from the sale of the property would be used to build a new hospital in Bellefontaine. She also requested the hospital be named in memory of her mother, Mary Rutan. At the same time, she also gave Bellefontaine the land tracts that are now Rutan Park. Mary Rutan Hospital opened in March 1919. The hospital exists today because of the generosity of Mrs. Rebecca Rutan Williams
Palmer Ave. was named for John P. Palmer. He owned pasture lots for his horses in this area. The original entrance to Mary Rutan Hospital is located on Palmer Ave. The street runs from N. Madriver St to Seminole Rd.
Russell Ede named the streets in the Lake Addition Superior, Erie, Ontario, Huron, and Michigan. The Bellefontaine Development Co. named the streets in the Indian Heights addition Seminole, Omaha, Dakota, Iroquois, and Miami.
Newford Dr. is located in an addition on the east side developed by L.P.Z. Construction. It was named by request of the previous landowner, the late Norma Wolford. Newford is a combination of the names Norma, her sons, Eugene, and Wayne, and their last name Wolford.
Visit the Logan County History Center to learn more interesting aspects of Logan County History.
The History Center is open for tours Wednesday – Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
