Our adventure day with Mom and her friends was a Morrow County Scavenger Hunt.  Tom and I made a list of the five Morrow County Ohio Historical Markers.  Those were our main objective.  But inviting Bonnie along was a genius idea, because Bonnie has lived in Morrow County since she got married in 1973.  She is also a very curious person and loves history.  So she enhanced our outing considerably.

We started with lunch in Mt. Gilead, the county seat of Morrow County.  From the restaurant, we walked the short block to the square, where we found the first historical marker, the Victory Shaft.  The Victory Shaft, in the center of the Mt. Gilead Square, was given to the city of Mt. Gilead in 1919 after they bought the most victory stamps of any community in Ohio.  The thirty-foot granite obelisk also serves as a war memorial.  It has the names of the 29 Morrow County men who died in World War I.

While we were on the square, Bonnie pointed out other buildings and items of interest.  The Morrow County Historical Society is very active and maintains a museum on the square.  It is only open on Sunday afternoons.

While we were in Mt. Gilead we saw the second historical marker about Dawn Powell.  Dawn was an author, so it was appropriate that her marker was next to the library.  Bonnie was able to direct us right to the marker, which is in a small garden space.  Dawn published novels from the 1920’s through the 1950’s.  Although she was born and raised in Mt. Gilead, she moved to New York City as soon as she graduated from college.  Very few people today have heard of her or read her books.

We continued south, with Bonnie pointing out various farms where people she and Mom knew lived.  Our next historical marker was Pagetown, where Myrtle Page Fillmore was born.  Myrtle and her husband, Charles, founded Unity School of Christianity in Missouri in 1889.  Although related to Christianity, it is also related to Transcendentalism.

We drove by Groovy Plants Ranch.  We would have stopped, but Tom missed the entrance and Beverly had an evening meeting which gave us some time constraints.  Mom and Bonnie had both heard of it but never been there.

Having reached the southern border of Morrow County, we turned north again.  Our next stop was 8 Sisters Bakery, which has become a regular stop for Tom and me as we travel back and forth to Mansfield.  Bonnie had heard ot it but never been there.  We all got cream sticks and Tom and I stocked up on some other goodies. We also walked around the seasonal plant shop next to 8 Sisters.  They had some beautiful hanging baskets but many of their plants were wilted from too much sunshine and not enough water.

There was some debate when we got back in the car about eating the cream sticks now or saving them for later.  Tom, the driver, wanted half a cream stick now.  So we all had half our cream sticks.  It is important to keep the driver happy.

We continued our northern route until we came to the next historical marker, the birthplace of  Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States.  The historical marker didn’t say much and it was next to a farmhouse which is not the place Harding was born.  There was also a marker in the ground and a flagpole but no flag.  Harding was born at that site in 1865.

We drove by the Global Bhutanese Hindu Shrine in Galion.  It seemed like an odd place for a Bhutanese Hindu Shrine, but Bonnie said it was a big deal when it opened.  The shrine is open to the public.

The final historical marker for the day was located close to Bonnie’s house in Iberia and had a Harding connection.  The marker mentions Ohio Central College, formerly Iberia College.  Warren Harding graduated from Iberia College in 1882.  The college closed around 1900.  The only building still standing from the college is the Iberia Presbyterian Church, which served as the chapel for the school.

After a fun afternoon exploring Morrow County, we dropped off Bonnie, then Beverly, and then Mom.  We all agreed that the day was much better with a local historian as our tour guide.  We need to find one of those for all the counties we visit!