Echoes of Stratford, Ohio: The Old Mill Town

Today, Stratford, Ohio is an unincorporated community just south of Delaware. 

Platted in 1849/1850, Stratford had its own post office until 1900. Stratford Road, which was the old State Rte. 23, angled off today from US 23 near Olentangy River Road/315, follows the Olentangy River — once a major transportation and industrial corridor, especially for milling operations — which were first powered by water (and later steam).

Milling operations along the river were the foundational economic engine for Delaware. The steam-powered mill era in Ohio beginning in the 1830s-1840 fostered the development of mill villages — like Stratford.

Motorists on US 23 pass quickly by two remnants of Stratford: the old Stratford Methodist Episcopal Church (opened on July 4, 1844, and vacant since 1958) was restored by Dave Kerr of DK Architects for business use (see this excellent account of the church’s history as an anchor for the Stratford mill town community).

The structure is now the obscure, vine-covered Crist Tavern-Millworkers Boarding House. The stone house provided living quarters for mill employees, later operating as a commercial tavern, then a private residence. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. In 2022 it was placed on Preservation Ohio’s List of Most Endangered Historic Sites.

Fortunately, Delaware County Historical Society’s Meeker Homestead, the Barn at Stratford, and the Millworker’s Cottage have been preserved offering compelling stories, exhibits, and tours about Stratford’s past as a thriving mill town — and later also a center for the CD&M -Columbus, Delaware and Marion — interurban train line.

The Mills and the Village of Stratford

The first mill at Stratford, Ohio, was an 1807 wooden gristmill built along the Whetstone River — renamed the Olentangy River in 1833 by the Ohio General Assembly — by John Beard.

However, the first mill in our county was a combination grist mill/sawmill built in 1804 on the Whetstone by first Euro-American settler Nathan Carpenter, who had come with his family to what is now Liberty Twp. in 1801.

Colonel Forrest Meeker bought Beard’s property in 1811. He expanded the property to cut lumber and supply provisions to William Henry Harrison’s army during the War of 1812. Meeker added processing facilities for carding and fulling wool in 1829 to support the many sheep farms in the area. 

In 1838 Judge Hosea Williams (who was the first president of the Delaware branch of the State Bank of Ohio; and built the Williams Opera House in downtown Delaware) and Judge Caleb Howard (who actually thought of the idea of a paper mill) purchased the mill property and converted it into a large industrial paper manufacturing plant, which opened on October 1, 1839.

A year later, a fire severely damaged the mill, which was rebuilt quickly. In 1844, Howard sold his interest in the mill to H. G. Andrews (Andrews House at 39 W. Winter St. is housed in the mansion built by H.G. Andrews in 1844).    

The paper mill complex was considered the most important paper operation west of the Alleghenies. At its peak, the mill produced 200 tons of printing (book) paper and 60 tons of wrapping paper every year. 

The Delaware Paper Company, named after several ownership iterations, closed in 1896. Visit the Meeker House Museum to learn the complete story of the complicated paper milling saga at Stratford.         

The mill town — at the peak of the mill’s production in 1866 — consisted of these properties: two paper mills and a business office; a church and parsonage; a school; a company store; blacksmith shop; wagon maker; a boarding house; seventeen workers cottages; the Bieber farm, Meeker Farm, and Norman-Dewey Perry House.    

Today, some of the worker cottages still stand as private homes, as do the Bieber Farm, and Norman-Dewey Perry House (the Meeker House and Barn at Stratford, open to the public, are operated by DCHS).       

The Stratford Cemetery, on the hill behind the restored church, is on the property of the Stratford Ecological Center, and can be visited there. The Center is named “Stratford” in honor of the founder’s familial ties to Judge Hosea Williams.  

Although not part of Stratford, the Bieber Mill ruins and Hinkle Mill ruins can be seen along the Olentangy River off Chapman Road and are very popular photographic sites (although not accessible to the public).  

Columbus, Delaware and Marion (CD&M) Interurban Center at Stratford

In 1901, the interurban railway company purchased the Stratford mill properties. Over the next year structures were converted to the CD&M’s main shops, including a power plant, car barns, and a paint shop. 

A fire in 1927 destroyed the car barns and power plant, leaving only a small yard for storing equipment and a maintenance and paint shop building.    

The CD&M was part of an extensive network of electrically-powered passenger and light freight trains that ran on railroad tracks in rural areas and navigated city streets like electric streetcars. 

Ohio operated the largest and most dense electric interurban railway network in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Ohio History Connection (OHC) called the railways the “original people-movers.”  

A remarkable video of the CD&M route presented by WOSU Public Media shows the Stratford complex:  

The CD&M, like other interurban and rail lines developed and promoted leisure parks to increase passenger traffic. These facilities typically included lakes/ponds (or rivers such as Olentangy) with boathouses and swimming facilities; nature trails, picnic areas/shelter houses, and perhaps dance and concert pavilions. 

Stratford Park was such a venue, opening to the public on May 5, 1903. It was one of several CD&M parks that also included Greenwood Lake Park in Delaware, Marion Park, and by far the most popular: Glenmary Park, 54 acres two miles north of Worthington. Glenmary eclipsed Stratford Park, which declined within a few years of opening.