A Brief History of Alexandria
The founder of Alexandria came in a covered wagon from Frederick County, Maryland with his family in 1815. Alexander Devilbiss purchased three hundred acres of land in St. Albans Township and built a mill in 1817. In 1830 he platted out the village and created a business center to better serve the needs of the community. He also marked out the Old Cemetery at Alexandria (behind Maple Grove) where two of his nephews are buried. The town continued to grow with churches, including some that gave shelter to the anti-slavery movement (the Congregational Church and several local farms are known to have been stops on the underground railroad), a hotel called the “Old Tavern” whose Bar Room provided a meeting place for arbitration and an occasional lawsuit, a post office that collected twenty-five cents from the recipient of the letter, a dry goods store selling flour for four dollars a barrel, a bank that survived while thirty-nine others in the state failed, and even a tobacco factory.
Known for its fast running creeks (especially Lobdell and Raccoon), St. Albans Township had as many as 50 mills (grist and saw mills) running at one time or another. Over the years Alexandria and St. Albans Township have boasted a clock factory, rope factory, concrete block factory, livery stable, harness factory and creamery to serve the many prosperous dairy farms in the area. In the last century there were three gas stations, a hardware store, grocery stores, a hotel, three barber shops, a veterinarian and several doctors. The village has survived three bank robberies, numerous fires and maintained its rural character. Currently the village and surrounding township are home to many vital business concerns including a veterinary hospital, art gallery, a dental practice, two gravel quarries, golf courses, automobile repair shops, many farms (including three Century Farms), beauty shops, woodworking shops, and may other small and home businesses too numerous to mention.
According to the history of the area, as recorded in the book Alexandria and St. Albans Township, Licking County, Ohio, “the Alexandria Centennial celebration of 1930 inspired a maturity of cooperative effort and a degree of community pride that made it the outstanding achievement in the history of the village and township.” Alexandria is known as the home of the first Community Council. It was as a result of the community interest in the planning and executing of the village's centennial celebration, that the Community Council was formed to promote the community welfare. It was the brain child of William E. Huffman, then superintendent of Alexandria schools.
The Community Council was active in running the Fun Days celebrations, a four day community fair and home-coming held in the school yard each summer (before turning it over to the the Alexandria Fire Association, who ran it for many years, and then in 2012018. to the Alexandria Fun Days Committee.) They gave out scholarships and later, during the 1960s, founded the Alexandria Museum. Historic displays were housed in the Alexandria Library and in the small building next to the current museum, until it was purchased in 1985. Harry and Helen Dumbauld, Robert and Dr. Fred Nichols, Charles and Ruth Revercomb, and Betty Duke gave countless hours and donations to make the museum what it is today.
There are many historic and pre-historic sites throughout the township and village including Indian mounds, an Indian trail known as Buffalo Trail, houses, churches, and stores. The mission of the Alexandria Museum is to preserve the history of the town and surrounding area for future generations. Most recently the Museum was instrumental in setting up an Ohio historic marker to Willoughby Dayton Miller, the father of modern dentistry, who was born in Alexandria. The marker is located in front of the library on State route 37. The museum is located at 23 West Main Street in Alexandria and is open Sundays from 2-4 pm (April -December) and by appointment.
We are also fortunate to have a progressive and active public library. With 200 books borrowed from the Columbus Library, Robert Price and others founded it in 1935. The current building was erected in 1962 and it has been expanded four times, most recently in the 1990's, and it has a full schedule of programming for all ages. The Alexandria Public Library is a school district library and functions as the library for the Northridge Primary School and before that for the Northridge Alexandria Elementary School. There are story programs for ages infant through fifth grade, movies for elementary and teens, and adult programs that range from historic lectures to food tasting and craft classes. The library’s meeting room is used regularly for exercise groups, book club (there are at least 3 in Alexandria), card club, tutoring, garden club, 4-H, homeschool classes and any other non-profit groups who wish to meet there.
Four active churches give evidence to the spiritual life of the community. In addition to a full range of Sunday services, Vacation Bible School, Bible studies, Sunday school, and men’s and women’s groups, their buildings are open for civic and club activities as well. These include after school clubs, 4-H, Boy Scouts (the troop is responsible for putting out flags along our main streets each holiday from May to November), Girl Scouts, quilt group and a senior citizen club - the Alexandria Buckeyes, where more than 90 seniors meet monthly for lunch, a speaker, civic volunteerism and trips. Religious life is at the heart of our community and the pastors take an active role in helping with many village and township events and activities.
Alexandria had a two storey brick secondary school from 1894 till 1955. It was a well-respected academy and students from the surrounding one-room schoolhouses fed into it, many boarding during the week with village residents, due to transportation issues. Teachers also boarded with village residents. The current school building was erected in 1923 and expanded in 1954. Consolidation is changing the organization of our schools, but currently our population is swelled each week day by 400 primary age students meeting in the Northridge Primary School. A new elementary school is being constructed next to the Northridge Middle and High Schools.
The village has been growing through annexation as well as new home building (Village records indicate a population nearing 600 and this has been relatively steady since the Civil War when the population was over 500). In the last 10 years a new subdivision has been built and several homes were annexed in conjunction with our sewer plant project. Completed in 2007, the village built a self-contained sewage treatment plant and all the homes were hooked up to it. Another huge undertaking, this time by the township trustees, was the enlargement and modernization of our St. Albans Township Fire Department. Completed in 2008,
Sports have always been a major interest in our community as well as our school. Historic photographs show a men’s village baseball team in the early 1900’s. A full range of youth sports activities continues to be offered through the Northridge Youth Athletic Association in conjunction with our community park. The Parker Community Park was created through the efforts of siblings J. Howard Parker and Miss Ollie Mae Parker and a dedicated group of citizens; the six-acre plot of land was purchased by Mr. Parker, designed and built by the publicly-steered Park Development Committee and many township/village volunteers, and officially deeded to the Village of Alexandria in September 1957 during a ceremony that drew hundreds of people. Parker Community Park has been a recipient in recent years of two Ohio Department of Natural Resources grants which have provided funds for a new play structure, a park walking path, and a scenic deck overlooking the site of Alexander Devilbiss’s original gristmill.
In November, 2019, Alexandria became one of the first towns in Ohio to be designated as a POW-MIA Community. We are proud of our veterans and have a permanent veterans memorial at Maple Grove cemetery.
Alexandria has a rich heritage and is still an active and vibrant community. We could all tell many stories of the giving volunteerism that is a hallmark of our village and township; the planning, the beautification, the caring that goes into making Alexandria what it is today. As a village and township we are looking forward to the coming years of change and managed expansion. We are proud of our rural heritage and without our active farms we would not exist as a community. Our mayor, village council members, township trustees and award-winning fire department are working hard to insure a safe and high quality of life for all the citizens of the village and township.
Known for its fast running creeks (especially Lobdell and Raccoon), St. Albans Township had as many as 50 mills (grist and saw mills) running at one time or another. Over the years Alexandria and St. Albans Township have boasted a clock factory, rope factory, concrete block factory, livery stable, harness factory and creamery to serve the many prosperous dairy farms in the area. In the last century there were three gas stations, a hardware store, grocery stores, a hotel, three barber shops, a veterinarian and several doctors. The village has survived three bank robberies, numerous fires and maintained its rural character. Currently the village and surrounding township are home to many vital business concerns including a veterinary hospital, art gallery, a dental practice, two gravel quarries, golf courses, automobile repair shops, many farms (including three Century Farms), beauty shops, woodworking shops, and may other small and home businesses too numerous to mention.
According to the history of the area, as recorded in the book Alexandria and St. Albans Township, Licking County, Ohio, “the Alexandria Centennial celebration of 1930 inspired a maturity of cooperative effort and a degree of community pride that made it the outstanding achievement in the history of the village and township.” Alexandria is known as the home of the first Community Council. It was as a result of the community interest in the planning and executing of the village's centennial celebration, that the Community Council was formed to promote the community welfare. It was the brain child of William E. Huffman, then superintendent of Alexandria schools.
The Community Council was active in running the Fun Days celebrations, a four day community fair and home-coming held in the school yard each summer (before turning it over to the the Alexandria Fire Association, who ran it for many years, and then in 2012018. to the Alexandria Fun Days Committee.) They gave out scholarships and later, during the 1960s, founded the Alexandria Museum. Historic displays were housed in the Alexandria Library and in the small building next to the current museum, until it was purchased in 1985. Harry and Helen Dumbauld, Robert and Dr. Fred Nichols, Charles and Ruth Revercomb, and Betty Duke gave countless hours and donations to make the museum what it is today.
There are many historic and pre-historic sites throughout the township and village including Indian mounds, an Indian trail known as Buffalo Trail, houses, churches, and stores. The mission of the Alexandria Museum is to preserve the history of the town and surrounding area for future generations. Most recently the Museum was instrumental in setting up an Ohio historic marker to Willoughby Dayton Miller, the father of modern dentistry, who was born in Alexandria. The marker is located in front of the library on State route 37. The museum is located at 23 West Main Street in Alexandria and is open Sundays from 2-4 pm (April -December) and by appointment.
We are also fortunate to have a progressive and active public library. With 200 books borrowed from the Columbus Library, Robert Price and others founded it in 1935. The current building was erected in 1962 and it has been expanded four times, most recently in the 1990's, and it has a full schedule of programming for all ages. The Alexandria Public Library is a school district library and functions as the library for the Northridge Primary School and before that for the Northridge Alexandria Elementary School. There are story programs for ages infant through fifth grade, movies for elementary and teens, and adult programs that range from historic lectures to food tasting and craft classes. The library’s meeting room is used regularly for exercise groups, book club (there are at least 3 in Alexandria), card club, tutoring, garden club, 4-H, homeschool classes and any other non-profit groups who wish to meet there.
Four active churches give evidence to the spiritual life of the community. In addition to a full range of Sunday services, Vacation Bible School, Bible studies, Sunday school, and men’s and women’s groups, their buildings are open for civic and club activities as well. These include after school clubs, 4-H, Boy Scouts (the troop is responsible for putting out flags along our main streets each holiday from May to November), Girl Scouts, quilt group and a senior citizen club - the Alexandria Buckeyes, where more than 90 seniors meet monthly for lunch, a speaker, civic volunteerism and trips. Religious life is at the heart of our community and the pastors take an active role in helping with many village and township events and activities.
Alexandria had a two storey brick secondary school from 1894 till 1955. It was a well-respected academy and students from the surrounding one-room schoolhouses fed into it, many boarding during the week with village residents, due to transportation issues. Teachers also boarded with village residents. The current school building was erected in 1923 and expanded in 1954. Consolidation is changing the organization of our schools, but currently our population is swelled each week day by 400 primary age students meeting in the Northridge Primary School. A new elementary school is being constructed next to the Northridge Middle and High Schools.
The village has been growing through annexation as well as new home building (Village records indicate a population nearing 600 and this has been relatively steady since the Civil War when the population was over 500). In the last 10 years a new subdivision has been built and several homes were annexed in conjunction with our sewer plant project. Completed in 2007, the village built a self-contained sewage treatment plant and all the homes were hooked up to it. Another huge undertaking, this time by the township trustees, was the enlargement and modernization of our St. Albans Township Fire Department. Completed in 2008,
Sports have always been a major interest in our community as well as our school. Historic photographs show a men’s village baseball team in the early 1900’s. A full range of youth sports activities continues to be offered through the Northridge Youth Athletic Association in conjunction with our community park. The Parker Community Park was created through the efforts of siblings J. Howard Parker and Miss Ollie Mae Parker and a dedicated group of citizens; the six-acre plot of land was purchased by Mr. Parker, designed and built by the publicly-steered Park Development Committee and many township/village volunteers, and officially deeded to the Village of Alexandria in September 1957 during a ceremony that drew hundreds of people. Parker Community Park has been a recipient in recent years of two Ohio Department of Natural Resources grants which have provided funds for a new play structure, a park walking path, and a scenic deck overlooking the site of Alexander Devilbiss’s original gristmill.
In November, 2019, Alexandria became one of the first towns in Ohio to be designated as a POW-MIA Community. We are proud of our veterans and have a permanent veterans memorial at Maple Grove cemetery.
Alexandria has a rich heritage and is still an active and vibrant community. We could all tell many stories of the giving volunteerism that is a hallmark of our village and township; the planning, the beautification, the caring that goes into making Alexandria what it is today. As a village and township we are looking forward to the coming years of change and managed expansion. We are proud of our rural heritage and without our active farms we would not exist as a community. Our mayor, village council members, township trustees and award-winning fire department are working hard to insure a safe and high quality of life for all the citizens of the village and township.
Thanks to Martha Sturgill for providing the information on this page.