Lewisburg: 200 years in the making

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LEWISBURG — Lewisburg was the eighth village to be platted in Preble County. Greenville Street (Ohio 503/Commerce St.) was the sole north-south street and Water, Dayton and Twin were the three east-west streets.

Lewisburg was the first village in Preble County to secure self-government by incorporation which took place on February 9, 1830. The population at the time of incorporation was 144. There were 48 lots in the village and on them were 44 homes, stores and shops.

Village officials were the mayor, five trustees, recorder, treasurer, and marshal. It is not known who occupied these offices because all the village records were lost in the “Big Fire” of 1857.

On Jan. 6, 1857, everything standing on the east side of Commerce Street from Twin Street north to the first alley went up in flames.

In 1840, Andrew Kizer, one of Henry Horn’s grandsons, acquired 7.95 acres from his grandfather’s estate and made the first large addition to the village plat. It contained 27 lots and extended the southwest part of the town west to Hapner Street. It was bound to the South by Clay Street and to the North by Dayton Street.

North Floyd Street had already been established and Kizer’s plat added a third north-south streetwhich he named Main Street. Market Street was laid out as a west extension of S. Water Street and where it crossed Main Street, Kizer provided for a large market square with a dimension of one hundred and six feet each way.

Soon after, an open-sided market house was built in the center of the square by William Schleiger and sold farm produce for many years. Schleiger built his home on Lot 87, at the northwest corner of the square. In 1841 William Alloway made an addition to the village containing 21 lots.

It became known as the Alloway & Horn addition and was bounded north and south by No. Water and Dayton Streets and extended west to Horn Street.

Lewisburg is inviting the public for an afternoon or evening with the 16th President of the United States. Impersonator Danny Russel will be performing two shows at the Lewisburg Community Center, 261 E. Clay St., on Saturday, Feb. 17. The first show will be at 3 p.m. and the second show at 7 p.m. Both shows are free to the public, but you must have a ticket to get in.

Tickets can be picked up at the Lewisburg Village Office or The Bicentennial Storefront.

Public invited to Lincoln impersonator presentation

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