Glouster, Ohio

Well under 2000 people live today in the village of Glouster. It was once called "Sedalia," but its name was changed in 1886. It's located in northern Athens County and was once a thriving mining community.
When such things mattered, it was a stop on the Toledo & Ohio Central, Kanawha & Michigan, and Z&W Railways, sported a modern opera house, and had a population of 4500.

Today it has fallen into disrepair, or at least parts of it have, though there are efforts to revive it with an annual festival and "Glouster Pride" banners mounted in some cases next to woebegone buildings and tattered American flags.
I took some pictures there to illustrate a magazine feature on the place.

An 1884 description:

"Some fifteen miles north of Athens on the Kanawha and Michigan railroad is situated the thriving little city of Glouster in the center of the rich mining region of the Sunday Creek Valley. It may not be generally known that Glouster claims a population of about 3,000 and is therefore entitled to a greater degree of distinction than is usually accorded the ordinary mining village.

"The industry upon which the growth of the town is based is essentially mining. Many large mines are in operation in the immediate vicinity and at present most of them are working about full time. The development of the Sunday Creek Valley coal field is yet in its infancy and the field is practically inexhaustible.

"Glouster has no manufactories of consequence but there are beds of excellent clay in the vicinity and it is safe to predict that within the near future attention will be turned to manufacturing.

"Glouster has many large stores, some fine business blocks, good churches and a beautiful school building, which is an ornament to the Magic City."

Some of those large stores and fine business blocks are here depicted, 130 years later.

Well under 2000 people live today in the village of Glouster. It was once called "Sedalia," but its name was changed in 1886. It's located in northern Athens County and was once a thriving mining community.
When such things mattered, it was a stop on the Toledo & Ohio Central, Kanawha & Michigan, and Z&W Railways, sported a modern opera house, and had a population of 4500.

Today it has fallen in…  (read more)

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