ORRVILLE -- The late 1850s saw the start of a transition for railroading as the fuel for the train engines changed from wood to coal.
As a result, Smith Orr's sawmill along the tracks of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad was no longer needed to supply wood. But to the benefit of the railroads, large amounts of coal were discovered in Fairview (today Burton City) and farther north into the Rogues' Hollow area in Chippewa Township. The first coal yard in Orrville was established by A.R. Walton in 1867.
By the start of the Civil War, the population of Orrville had reached 500. Jesse Straughan drew up the first plat of the town and named it in honor of Judge Smith Orr, whom everyone deemed as most responsible for bringing the railroad there. Orrville was incorporated on May 9, 1864, and Orr's business partner, William Gailey, was elected as its first mayor.
Orr, who by now had been a surveyor for 40 years and worked throughout the eastern part of Wayne County, became outspoken during the war in favor of the Union cause. When Cincinnati was threatened by Confederate forces, Orr, then 65, placed himself at the head of a company that dubbed itself the "Squirrel Hunters" and succeeded in reaching the city and assisting in its defense.
That same year, as the Civil War drew toward its conclusion, Orr was named a member of the Union Convention, which met in Baltimore, and renominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. In that convention, it was the deciding votes of Judge Orr and the Hon. Harrison G. Blake that nominated Andrew Johnson as the vice presidential candidate.
Smith Orr died in 1865 as the Civil War ended, but his legacy of railroading in the community lived on. In 1882 the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad was built through Orrville, just south of the former Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad which had become the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Line. The new railroad offered some passenger service, but focused primarily on freight hauling.
The real boom in railroading struck Orrville in 1899 as the century ran out. That year the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad acquired the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railroad which ran north and south through Orrville. At that point Orrville became a major terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad and in 1907 a roundhouse was constructed just south of the depot to service engines.
At its height, the service yard in Orrville boasted 17 tracks with a total capacity of 386 cars. During that era, 20 passenger trains and 42 freight trains passed through Orrville daily, bringing unprecedented prosperity.
Sources: "History of Wayne County, Ohio" by Ben Douglass and "Orrville, Ohio, Walking Through the Past" by Robert Witmer and Darla K. Landers
Monday: Orrville attracts diverse industry
Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055 or email@example.com.