Crossroads of Montgomery

It may seem like an ordinary intersection, where Cooper Road and Main Street meet, and one you might drive through every day without a second thought. But this crossroads has witnessed centuries of history. In this episode of the Montgomery Memories Podcast, hosts Tracy Henao and Kevin Chesar explore the stories behind one of Montgomery's most recognizable intersections.

Long before Montgomery existed, Native American tribes gathered here to trade. Over time, the area grew into a settlement where travelers stopped at taverns and neighbors came together. The intersection was once home to the beloved Dr. Blackerby and was even the site of a tragic plane crash that claimed six lives, including four FBI agents.

Join Tracy and Kevin as they take a journey through the people, events, and moments that shaped this historic corner of town. After hearing these stories, you'll never see the intersection of Cooper Road and Main Street as just another intersection again.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to Montgomery Memories, where we explore the stories, people, and places that shaped our community. I'm Tracy Annell.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

And I'm Kevin Chezar. And today we're talking about the intersection of Maine and Cooper Road.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

That's right, Kevin. And I'm sure that our listeners are thinking, why are we talking about an intersection? Well, it's the intersection where it all started, and a lot has happened here at the original heart of Montgomery.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

So let's take you back, Tracy. Let's think about this intersection. Not as it is today, but how it was over 200 years ago. There were no buildings, no street lights that were set at 2300 Kelvin, so we could have a nice hue. It was nothing more than uh no cars, no pavement. It was just the intersection of two Native American trails, two well-worn dirt paths cut through the forest.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

That's right. And they weren't just random trails. They were established by Native American tribes, like we've talked about before, the Miami and the Shawnee, who traveled, traded, and lived throughout the region. And right here at what is today Main Street and Cooper, those trails crossed long before Montgomery existed. There was already a natural meeting place at this intersection.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Fast forward a few years, and the settlers arrived in the late 1700s. After spending a few years further north, they finally settled right here at the crossroads. They built their community at the crossroads, and soon it became a stop along the main route between Cincinnati and Columbus and then on to Cleveland, Ohio. Eventually, the main route became what is today Montgomery Road or U.S. Route 22, and at one time was also known as State Route 3. Now these routes were not built as brand new highways, but stitched together from existing pioneer roads and auto trails to eventually become the 3C Highway. And why is it the 3C Highway? I think you got it in there.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yeah, great question. We get that one all the time. Uh 3C Highway because it connected Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. So the three major C's throughout the state of Ohio. We could probably do a whole episode on transportation in Montgomery. And we probably will. But for today, it's just important to understand that Montgomery has always been a natural stopping point for people. In the early days, there were a lot of teamsters. Just think of those as the semi-truck drivers of the early 1800s. They were hauling goods, except instead of a truck, they were doing it by horse and bucky. So when they would stop in Montgomery after a day's travel, they needed a place to stay and they needed a place to maybe have an adult beverage.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

And that's why Montgomery became known as a tavern town. Maybe the most famous of those taverns was the Yost Tavern. For those of which you are not familiar, Yost Tavern still stands at the intersection of Main Street and Cooper Road.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

That's right. It's that little maroon building that today is the home of Denos International Gifts. So Abraham Yost lived here and ran the inn. If you look at the building today, you think it's pretty a large building for a little inn, but it would have just been a very small section of the inn. Um, and then the rest of the building would have been to house his family. Uh so it went just a very small area, probably just large enough for a counter and a few bar stools. Um, but it became very, very popular. And within four years, business was so brisk that records note that customers consumed more than 50 barrels of whiskey in 1809 alone. This is still, there's still a circular cellar with rock walls on the east side of the building where the barrels of whiskey would have been stored. And if you've ever been on our lanterns and landmarks tour, Kevin might have led you down the stairs into that circular rock cellar lined with LED bath power candles, not you know, not real ones, but it's a pretty cool little feature that's still there.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

And so I know you said by 1809 what that record show how much whiskey was sold, but what year was it built? Do we know approximately?

SPEAKER_01 3:58

1801.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

1801. Yes. Okay. Um, architecturally, Yoast is a simple gable front with a rear lean to. Okay, what's a simple gable front?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

It's just a very basic uh roof structure, um, kind of a V point at the top, but I am no architect. So please tell me the Wikipedia definition, given.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

So there we go. So, you know, I'm not an architect either, but I wanted to understand what a simple gable was. So essentially it's a type of construction where the load-bearing walls are on the exterior that hold and overall hold the the two stories plus the roof, which Yoast is, versus a platform building, which is think of it, first floor, second floor then is constructed in such a manner, um, and it can use lighter weight wood and it's quicker than the at second floor is used then to support the roof and structure above it. So that it sparked my interest in just what exactly is a simple um gable front. So there's what I found from um really brief Wikipedia. Yeah, I knew it.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

I knew it was Wikipedia.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Um just the the two-story frame again sits on a stone foundation and it does have that metal roof. Um, the authentic authenticity of the exterior, along with its documented early use as a tavern in the village, helps support its listing as a local landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, which occurred in 1993.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yeah, and so as far as we know, um the Yost Tavern is the oldest surviving building in Montgomery, but it wasn't the first or only tavern at this intersection. Osborne's Tavern was also located at the southeast corner. This one was a log tavern that has since been destroyed. All this was very convenient because they would stay at the Montgomery Hotel that was located on Montgomery Road, where designer items and more is located today.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

After Abraham Years sold the property, the building transitioned into a residence. White Miller purchased it in 1807 and it stayed in the family until 1968. When the Miller family were looking to sell a property, the local Kwanis Club acquired it to make sure the building was preserved. They shared artifacts with the Historical Society, which are still on display at the Wilder Schlein House. After restoring the building, it was donated to the city of Montgomery in 1979. The city still owns and operates the building today.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Yeah, and keep in mind that the Yoast Tavern is one of six Montgomery landmarks that we have on the National Register. So I think we've talked about it before, but we have local landmarks. They would just have protections by the city. And then we have some that are local landmarks as well as national registers. So those uh are the six: the Yost Tavern, the Wilder Swam House, the Crane Conklin houses, the salt boxes on Cooper Road, which we'll probably have a whole episode about. And then, of course, the Universalist Church.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

So we've talked about how this intersection was the crossroads of two Native American trails, and we've talked about the Yost Tavern. What else about the other sides or portions of the intersection? Can you tell us?

SPEAKER_01 7:01

So you remember how we talked about the Osborne Tavern? It was located on the southeast corner, but after it was demolished, the beautiful two-story brick house that's on the corner now was built around 1818. So it's the yellow house that sits right at the corner. It's the only residential property that's still left at this intersection. It's not a landmark, but it certainly qualifies. We refer to it as the Reese House, and it sits on lot seven of the original plot of Montgomery filed by Nathaniel Twiliger.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Very interesting. Do we know anything about the people who built or lived in the house?

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Well, the the house is known as the Reese House after Emily Reese and her husband Dan. And he was an architect. And before that house was occupied by Emily's family, the Mullins. Interestingly enough, Dan Reese was a pretty well-known architect. And he designed a number of buildings in Montgomery's business district and even had a prize-winning house plan appear in Better Homes and Garden magazine. After her husband passed, Emily Reese continued to live in the house, and it's been owned by that same family for generations, still is today.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

It is, it's it's good to note that the house is really built beautiful, and it and it is really cool to think about there being a long, a long tavern there, even before the historic own um was built with those travelers arriving into Montgomery, their horses tied up outside, and stories being traded over drinks, most likely whiskey. Um, this intersection really was one of the earliest gathering places in Montgomery because of that day's travel time from Cincinnati north.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Exactly. Now you're probably thinking there cannot possibly be anything else to talk about about this intersection, but you'd be wrong. We haven't even started to talk about Dr. Blackerby. So Dr. Blackerby um moved to Montgomery in 1898 with his wife Effie. They purchased an old home on the northeast corner that earlier had been guess what? It was a tavern. So he had three taverns at this intersection. And the house was built in 1814 and thought to be the first home of Nathaniel Twilliger.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

So you've told me what Dr. Blackerby's wife's first name was. Effie, what was Dr. Blackerby's first name?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Jed. Oh you thought you were gonna give me, didn't you? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Where and when was he born?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Okay, you got me there. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

He was born December 26, 1860, in Kentucky. Um, and they think records show that he was a well-established doctor here by the early 1920s. So again, that leads to that long 47-year history. Um, he was well respected here. He served on the Montgomery School Board and even served on the village council after the town was incorporated in 1910. Uh, there isn't a uh a fun story, I guess. The the talk about Dr. Blackerby, one of the best ones, I guess, would be about him bringing the circus in the town.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah, that's one of my favorite stories. And hard for me to believe that there was a circus here in Montgomery. Um, but Dr. Blackerby brought the traveling circus to the village in the early 1900s. And the story goes that the circus was all set up and they set up a Ferris wheel, but that where folks were way too afraid to get on this new modern contraption until Dr. Blackerby took a ride. And then after that, there was a constant line to try out the Ferris wheel. So it's kind of fun to think about. But now, since you love to quiz me, I'm gonna quiz you.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

When was the Ferris wheel invented 1823?

SPEAKER_01 10:31

1893, and it was invented for the Chicago's World Expo.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yeah, so not, I mean, what you can imagine. If it was only invented in 1890, World's Expo is the World's Fair.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Exactly. Which is also very important in Chicago from planners, but that's a whole other episode. Episode of starting the planning movement.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

But if it had just been invented in 1893 and now this is the early 1900s, and they're popping up a mobile Ferris wheel, I'm I would probably be a little trepidatious about getting on that thing too. But good old Doc Blackerby convinced people to jump on board.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

So I have caution nowadays. Uh back then, before there was probably a lot of regulations. So okay, well, thank you for that story. Um, let's just flash forward, maybe uh to talk about the intersection a little further in time. In 1982, something happened that no one could have ever imagined. On December 16th, a small plane crashed in what what happened to be Dr. Blacker Blackerby's house, then known as the Shepherd's bookstore, right at this very intersection. The plane was carrying FBI agents and a suspect, and tragically, everyone on board died in that incident.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yeah, Kevin, it was a really devastating incident, and they um were actually leading this prisoner to the Lunken Airport from Chicago in in hopes of finding the location of some money that had been embezzled by a bank in Cincinnati and was somewhere here in the local Cincinnati area. Um, but it is not buried anywhere in Montgomery. So I always caution people don't go digging up my parks or anything like that because it's not here. The um, but it was it was absolutely devastating loss of life. Um, it was remarkable that more people in the store and on the ground were not killed. There were no casualties actually within the store on the ground. A big reason for that might have been because the fire department was located right down the street on Cooper Road and were able to respond very quickly to rescue survivors.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

It's it's one of those moments in local history that people who were here still remember exactly where they were when that uh crash occurred. If you're interested in learning more about this tragedy, the city has a powerful podcast on the website called Lost Heroes Missing Money. It's definitely worth a listen as it tells the story of the tragedy, tragedy in much more detail.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Absolutely. And just props to Matthew Vanderhurst and Amy Frederick for putting all of that together. Um, really great podcast. And we had to, even some of the FBI agents' family were interviewed, as well as our own staff that were still working for the fire department and remember that day in vivid, vivid detail. So definitely check that one out. To me, all of these stories are what make this intersection so powerful. You can stand there today and it just seems like a regular intersection. But once you know the stories and the layers of history, you just can't look at it the same way. But before we conclude, because again, Kevin, you love to quiz me, and I'm gonna ask you. So we've talked about the three corners of the intersection: tavern, tavern, and tavern. So, what was on that fourth corner, which is today Montgomery Gateway Center, where varsity sports is located? Any idea? What could have been there?

SPEAKER_00 13:54

A building.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

A building.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

Am I correct? Yes, you are correct. You are correct. I know I have all the use.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

What's the use of said building? Any guesses?

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Uh, it would have been another tavern.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

That's a very valid guess, but no, it is a blacksmith building. So, you know, you still have to get things done in this town too, not just drink whiskey.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Not just drink whiskey, but I I do want to remind our listeners that the downtown historic area is adora district. So feel free um to grab a drink from one of our local establishments. And the next time you take a stroll through the intersection of being a cooper, slow down and take a moment to imagine what came before the people, the stories that helped build Montgomery.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Key words, slow down. There are pedestrians out there, so please be careful. But um, again, thanks for joining us on this episode of Montgomery Memories. Until next time, keep celebrating history.