How did Middletown get it's name?
Printed From: MiddletownUSA.com
Category: Middletown Community
Forum Name: About Middletown
Forum Description: History and information about Middletown, Ohio
URL: http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20
Printed Date: Nov 21 2024 at 2:02pm
Topic: How did Middletown get it's name?
Posted By: admin
Subject: How did Middletown get it's name?
Date Posted: May 01 2007 at 10:57am
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Its name is believed to have come from its founder, Steven Vail.
One local historian stated that the town received its name because Mr. Vail, had come from Middletown, New Jersey. Another writer believed that the town was named Middletown because it was the midway point of navigation on the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Miami_River - Great Miami River , which was then considered a navigable stream. Vail centered the town in Fractional Section 28 of Town 2, Range 4 North.
Source: Wikipedia
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Replies:
Posted By: caclark
Date Posted: Apr 01 2008 at 10:25am
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I always thought that MIddletown was given its name because it was between two major cities, Dayton and Cincinnati! |
Posted By: Bill Rogers
Date Posted: Apr 01 2008 at 4:44pm
same |
caclark wrote:Posted By: .308
Date Posted: Apr 02 2008 at 10:16am
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Speaking of the Vail family: When I was a little boy in the 60's our next door neighbor was a very old and kind lady. She was a descendant of Stephen Vail and she had an old clock that was passed down to her from the Vail family. That clock apparently caught my eye and she noticed my fascination with it. She give it to my parents for safe keeping until I grew up. I believe her name was Molly Vail. The clock is still safe and sound. |
Posted By: HereIam
Date Posted: Jun 23 2008 at 10:28am
| I had always heard that Middletown was named after Middletown, NJ because that is where the founding father was from. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Jun 23 2008 at 5:26pm
| And, to add to the number of different stories, I was told at a young age, that Middletown got it's name because it was a stagecoach stop between Dayton and Cincinnati. The stagecoach stop was at Blue Ball. When the ball on the pole was raised , the coach was stopped to take on passengers. When it was lower on the pole, no need to stop for the stagecoach drivers. May be nonsense, don't know. |
Posted By: mhowardx
Date Posted: Jun 23 2008 at 5:29pm
| when was middletown founded anyway |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Jun 24 2008 at 3:53pm
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by George Crout
Stephen Vail obtained a contract from John Cleves Symmes which provided for the laying out of the town plat of Middletown. The town was laid out in the center part of fractional section 2S, town 2, range 4. Stephen and Shobal Vail had received from the government a patent for the whole north half of section 2S. Richard Watts received 100 acres in the center part Moses Vail had title to the 100 acres in the southeast corner. Stephen Vail’s entry was bounded on the south by the half section line; it was bounded on the south by the half section line; it was on the east side of this entry and along the line of the river that he laid out the original town plat, part of which he surveyed into 52 lots, while the remaining part of the 100 acres was left unsurveyed. This town, fronting the Great Miami River, was laid out in 1802. It is still a question as to why the town was called Middletown. One local historian stated that the town received its name because Stephen Vail, its founder, had come from Middletown, New Jersey. Another writer believed that the town was named Middletown because it was the midway point of navigation on the Miami River, which was then considered a navigable stream. Middletown, when laid out by Vail, represented another speculation in the Miami country, but it soon grew into one of the principal settlements of frontier Ohio. Stephen Vail died in 1808 without receiving a deed for his land. Although he had laid out the town plat, and had sold lots, he could not make out the deeds for the buyers. Later a case was brought before the Ohio Supreme Court by Aaron and Moses Vail, and the fact was established that some of the lots--at least 13 or 14--had been sold for $20 each. The court was asked to execute the deed. Stephen Vail built the first log cabin in the new town. Upon the death of their father, Shobal and Hugh Veil, his sons, inherited the land in Middletown. |