BERLIN
The village of Berlin is the oldest existing village in Holmes County. It was laid out in 1816 with 108 plots, and all plots were purchased by 1821. Gradually Berlin became a thriving village and the center of commerce for the surrounding area. When the National Road was completed and Zane's Trace was improved to permit wagon traffic southward to Zanesville, storekeepers could more easily send wagons to obtain needed supplies. It was at this time that Berlin grew rapidly and out-distanced Benton as an outstanding business center. The town had machine shops, a foundry, dry goods stores, hotels, tailor shops, hat factories, blacksmith shops, a tannery, a chair factory, grist mills sawmills, and distilleries. In fact, the first real factory in the county was built in Berlin in 1847. This company made the first threshers to be manufactured in Ohio. Berlin was also home to the Berlin Academy which opened in the 1860s.
Historical Towns
BECK'S MILLS
Beck's Mills had its start in 1822 when the Beck family arrived in Doughty Valley. A dam was built across Doughty Creek and a sawmill was constructed. Later a four-story gristmill for making wheat flour and corn meal was...
BENTON
Benton was laid out in 1829, and it was the first real town to develop commercially in the county. It had gristmills, a woolen mill, a factory to make windmills and spinning wheels and several distilleries where whiskey...
BERLIN
The village of Berlin is the oldest existing village in Holmes County. It was laid out in 1816 with 108 plots, and all plots were purchased by 1821. Gradually Berlin became a thriving village and the center of commerce for...
BIG PRAIRIE
Big Prairie was laid out in 1871. It was the Monitor Sadiron Company that put Big Prairie on the map. There was also a Monitor Hotel and a Monitor Theater where silent movies were shown, and various other business shops and...
BUNKER HILL
The small community of Bunker Hill was settled in Berlin Township. A major attraction for early settlers was good soil and ample water supplied by springs that dotted the area. Farming, therefore, supported most early...
CHARM
Charm began as a village called Stevenson around the 1860s. In 1886 the community made application for a post office. The government submitted a list of town names from which the patrons of the post office could choose. The...