Historic Lyme Village Outside of Bellevue, Ohio – Part 2

September 28, 2023

We toured Cooper General Store and got to see a demo of a bottle capper. We were very familiar with bottle cappers since we had one when Bruce bottled his home brew beer.

The old cash register still worked. It would allow for cash as well as purchasing on account.

Schug Hardware store had many old machines. I was particularly interested in the milk separator.

Groton Township Hall built in 1880 is used as a museum to the town’s veterans.

Part way through our tour, the tour guide’s grandfather came to let him know he needed to leave to get ready for something. The grandfather took over the tour.

The Historic Lyme Village has an old farmhouse that was part of the Underground Railroad. This was the first house in the Historic Lyme Village, moved in 1976. It was built in 1836. The house was lived in until 1948 by the Seymour family.

John Seymour and his family helped hide runway slaves on their way to Canada. When the house was moved to its current location, the basement was not dug again.

We toured one of two log churches in Ohio. While the walls were carefully labeled for reassembly, the ceiling wasn’t because the team thought they knew how the ceiling went together. They should’ve label it. Services are still held every Sunday in the church.

The Wright Mansion is a beautiful three story brick building in the Second Empire style. It took two years to build and was completed in 1882. It is on the National Register of Historic Homes. Mr. Wright was very forward thinking. He had a cistern installed in the attic and a bathroom on the first floor, using water from the cistern.

We had to climb a narrow staircase to get to the ballroom.

Lastly, we got to see the Schaefer Barn. The exterior was built in 2017 on site. It is metal. The interior is sided with wood from a donated barn that was built in 1860.