“This was considered coming out into the country. People from Dayton flocked to this place,” OHS president Debra Edwards said.
Visitors traveled an hour by horseback and buggy to enjoy the rural surroundings, officials said.
“They’d spend the entire day there picnicking, drinking wine, just strolling the beautiful gardens,” Edwards said. “So, it really was a great place for them to come and just stay the whole day. It was like a big park for them.”
The plaque that states German immigrant William Kramer’s site would “bring good cheer to the thirsty people of the city” is the third in a series of markers in a project the historical society started last year.
The endeavor honors the 150th anniversary of the platting of the Town of Oakwood in 1872, some 30-plus years before the city incorporated.
The first two were installed on Park Avenue. One is at the city building and the second was dedicated across the street at the former site of the town’s first library.
Two others are planned for dedication this summer, likely in July and August, Edwards said. One will commemorate the Schantz Park Historic District and other the Four Mile Tavern, officials said.
All three are being funded by The Rotary Club of Oakwood, according to a release from the city.
The rotary club sees “great value in memorializing and highlighting the character of our small community,” club President Chris Epley said in the release.
Aside from the two other locations this summer, sites to be commemorated with future markers haven’t been finalized, Edwards said.
“We’re still gathering funding for this project,” she said. “And as we do, some of the people who donate this money” are consulted about the markers “and sometimes they have a preference. They ask about (the) ones they want to support. So, we’re just taking it one at a time.”
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