Ghost Towns and Graveyards
Scavenger Hunt Clue:
“Bubblegum, Bubblegum in a Dish”
Head to the corner of Wheeling and Navarre and shop for bubble gum like people did as early as 1872 at the current drug store that now stands there. Take a picture of your group in front of the store with at least one person blowing a bubble as large as possible.
Want to Know More?
EST. 1872, Metzger’s General Store, Corner of Wheeling and Navarre Avenue
Metzger’s Store, known as the Old Sentinel, sat at the center of the community. People from as far east as Shepherdsville (now Bono) and far west as the Maumee River came to Metzger’s to buy their groceries, clothing, boots, shoes, and household items like pans and soap. Milk was .07 a gallon and coffee was .15 a pound. A fresh water well sat in front of the store for weary travelers to water their tired team of horses or oxen.
After Mr. Metzger passed away, his wife and daughter continued to run the store. They closed its doors in 1924 and the building sat empty, untouched for decades, until Ohio Citizens re-opened it as a bank in 1960. The original building was demolished in 1965 but the corner of Wheeling and Navarre remains a hub of activity today with a grocery and pharmacy on the corner with the bank attached.
History Fun Fact
The Metzger Building was offered for free to the newly formed Oregon Jerusalem Historical Society in 1965 but OJHS did not have the funds to move the building off the corner (which was common then) onto another site. Instead, OJHS received all the building contents and kept them in safe storage until they were moved into the Carriage House on the grounds of Brandville School Museum Complex, now the home of OJHS. Due to COVID-19, Brandville School Museum is closed to open tours for the remainder of 2020 but hopes to see many interested guests in 2021. Private and Public Tours of the grounds are free of charge.