Historic Sites

In 1794, Christian Waldschmidt, a veteran of the American Revolution, moved his family to a site on the Little Miami River and built a new community called New Germany. In 1804, he built his home, which included a store. Waldschmidt was a businessman and encouraged new settlement, staffing a church and helping to found a school, and beginning industries vital to the survival of his new home, such as Ohio's first paper mill, a cooperative distillery, woolen mill, sawmill, and a blacksmith shop.

During the Civil War, the house and surrounding grounds were part of Camp Dennison, used primarily as a general training center, recruiting depot, and hospital post, and named in honor of Governor William Dennison. The main house, now known as Waldschmidt House, served as the headquarters for General Joshua Bates.

Representative of an era in American history, this fine old Federal structure, The Pennsylvania House, stands at the junction of the National Road and the old Dayton-Springfield Pike. The National Road was one of the main trails of the westward-bound pioneers during the great transcontinental surge of the early eighteen hundreds. Along this road, many inns sprang up to serve the travelers. The Pennsylvania House is one of only a few that has endured from that time in our nation's history.

The idea of marking a highway was begun in Missouri about 1909 by a group of women who formed a committee to locate the Old Santa Fe Trail in Missouri. This committee was influential in securing an appropriation from the State of Missouri to mark the trail with suitable boulders or monuments.

These monuments were erected in each of the 12 states through which the National Old Trails Road passes. The design of the monument was that of the sculptor August Leimbach of St. Louis, and was offered by Mrs. John Trigg Moss, chairman of the DAR national committee.