GAYLEEN GINDY Glanntown/Silica, Ohio–Part one

Who remembers Glannown, Ohio?
Glanntown was a small community in the western portion of Sylvania Township that later became known as Silica, Ohio. On Google Maps enter in the search box “Silica, OH” and it will take you to Centennial Road, halfway between Sylvania Avenue and Central Avenue, about where Wilkinson’s Body Shop is today. Although this area is now part of the township and does not have its own government, I personally consider Tom Wilkinson of Wilkinson’s Body Shop and Wilkinson’s Storage the Mayor of Silica, Ohio, because he has over 50 years of doing business here. His grandparents and parents lived here, and Tom grew up here. His grandfather operated a gas service station in downtown Silica as early as 1925 – 100 years ago.
This area of Sylvania Township was first named Glanntown after Henry P. Glann, who in 1867 purchased 160 acres on the northeast corner of Sylvania Avenue and Centennial Road, and 40 acres on the northwest corner. The one-room schoolhouse for this area was on Glann’s property at the time and became known as Glanntown School, or District No. 5 in the Sylvania Township school district. Glann, and his partner Jacob Bick, quarried stone from these parcels. That stone was used to establish the first stone roads throughout the area, including Central Avenue.
Even before Glann started quarrying in this area others were doing so on a smaller scale. They were mostly early farmers who owned land in the area and were slowly discovering the value of their property, which contained limestone deposits, sandstone and marl, used in the manufacturing of cement. The Coopers, Lees, Shays, Brakenridges, Yates, and Bertholfs were some of the first “farmers” to start quarrying. But it was probably the commercial business of Card & Hubbard who started the commercialization in this area. They were the first to hit a vein of excellent glass sand, which they started sending shipments of this special sand to Pittsburgh, selling it from $15 to $18 a ton. From that time on commercial quarrying began.
Quarrying is defined as when materials, whether it is rock, stone, sand or other materials, are extracted from the earth and transported off the property.
Limestone was an important product used by the early pioneers and was found early on in this area. Limestone powder is used as a filler in various building materials such as concrete and asphalt, and is used for constructing roads and buildings. It is also a material found in aggregate, cement, building stones, chalk, and crushed stone. It can be used as a soil conditioner to increase the soil’s pH, making soil less acidic and more alkaline.
In the late 1890s and early 1900s the area was still being called Glanntown, but was transitioning over to the name Silica. Centennial Road from Sylvania-Metamora Road to Central Avenue, including parts of Brint Road, Sylvania and Central avenues east and west of Centennial Road, became part of this community. One example of the transition was in 1896 when the first Silica church was built at the corner or Sylvania Avenue and Centennial Road. It was later moved to Centennial Road, close to where the schoolhouse had long been established, and where many employees working for the quarries and other industrial businesses were building their homes.
Stay tuned for part two in a future issue.