CARDINGTON — I remember learning, while in grade school, that the Greenville Treaty Line runs through the village.
To mark that line, a plaque, presented by the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers, the Citizens of Cardington and the Ohio Historical Society, was placed in the American Legion Community Park in 1964.
A year ago, a concerned citizen noticed the plaque was in disrepair.
It was cracked and all of the paint had peeled making its wording illegible. Wes Goodman did some research and found the company that had made the plaque, Sewah Studies of Marietta, Ohio. He contacted them and they gave an estimate for complete restoration.
It was completed late last year and the plaque was placed this spring. The decision was made to move it from the Legion Park to South Marion Street and placed directly on the treaty line on the north west corner of the property of Troy and Dawn Ruehrmund.
Mayor Susie Peyton donated the funds for repair of the plaque in memory of her parents, the late Wayne and Pat Jenkins, who as historians had purchased and resided in the oldest brick structure in Cardington, at 209 Center Street. Cardington’s first mayor, John Shur, had purchased and resided in the home in 1863.
The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc. was a 1795 agreement between the United States and indigenous nations of the northwest territory (now midwestern United States). This included the Wyandot and Delaware peoples, which redefined the boundary between indigenous peoples’ lands and territory for European-American settlement.
It was signed at Fort Greenville, now Greenville, Ohio on Aug. 3, 1795 following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers a year earlier. it ended the northwest Indian War in the Ohio country, limited Indian country to northwestern Ohio and began the practice of annual payments following land concessions. The parties to the treaty were a coalition of Native American tribes known as the Western Confederacy and the United States government represented by General Anthony Wayne and local frontiersman.
The Greenville Treaty line enters Cardington from the east, crossing Water Street and follows Boundary Street, crossing Center Street, the field between Center and South Marion, exiting at the Ruehrmund property on South Marion Street. It follows a line that crosses South Marion, Third Street, and Washington Street.
Its path continues south and intersects Route 42 south of the village.
