Butler County has a long and storied history with some spooky twists. When European settlers arrived, they found not only Native settlements but also earthworks that remain a mystery--as are the strange lights still seen near them. The disturbed spirit of a frontier soldier roams the basement of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Pioneers Monument, and Busenbark is haunted by the Hatchet Man, who committed his crimes 175 years ago. At Miami University, the ghost of Helen Peabody wanders the building that bears her name. Just outside of town, many drive to see the Oxford Ghost Light, and a weekend visit to the Screaming Bridge of Maud-Hughes Road is a high school rite of passage. Hamilton native and owner of an actual haunted house Daniel D. Schneider explores the terrifying train tracks, creepy canals, scary streets, and bewitched bridges of Butler County.

Historically, Ohio seems to have had everything--great physical beauty; rich resources of coal, oil, gas, and fertile soil; a central location with easy means of transportation by land and water; inventive and dynamic people; and the kind of national political influence that wealth and a large population can give a state. It was no accident that eight of the nation's presidents had an Ohio connection. In character, the first Ohioans exhibited qualities that seemed typical of Americans in general. "The spirit of the place was large, vigorous, and buoyant," Walter Havighurst writes of the colorful early days when settlers attached forests with ax and fire. "Keep the ball rolling" and "Give it a try" became Ohio slogans as boosterism surged, fields were planted, towns were founded, and canals were dug. Steamboats, steel plants, and the rubber industry brought growth to Cleveland, Cincinnati, and other major cities, making Ohio a commercial and industrial as well as an agricultural heartland.

This booklet is the final endeavor of the Oxford Bicentennial Planning Committee to develop activities recognizing the City's 200th anniversary in 2010. It contains articles of Oxford history topics and biographical sketches of notable people who had lived in the town.