Learning is an on-going process

One afternoon while returning from a trip to our rig for some additional needed items I noticed a new (to us) historical marker on County Line Road near Shakertown Rd.  Naturally, as is the case with many states' historical markers, there was no place to pull over safely to read the marker so I decided to check online to see if the City of Kettering had any information about the marker.

Of course, growing up in Kettering I was familiar with the history of the area as a settlement of "Shakers" or Shaking Quakers.  The name "Shakers" came from the fact that during worship services the members would shake their bodies while moving their arms and legs.  They believed in communal living, celibacy and equality for all.  The original group of Shakers established a settlement called Watervliet in New York and when they divided into four segments to establish new settlements the part of the "family" that arrived in the Montgomery/Greene County area named itself Watervliet after the original settlement.  Watervliet, Ohio flourished from the early 1800s to 1900 with the members supported themselves by selling seeds and farm produce.  Eventually, membership dwindled since the adults were celibate so the only way to enlarge the "family" was by adopting children or assimilating new members from the area so the farm land and buildings were sold and the remaining members moved to the Lebanon, Ohio area.  For years afterward, the large farm buildings and land were used for raising crops and cattle to supply food and milk and meat for the Dayton State Hospital (the hospital for the "insane" in those politically incorrect times).

What I also discovered online (I just love the Internet) was that the state of Ohio had placed another historical marker in the area while we've been traveling; one along Mad River Road south of Kettering.  For years, Mad River Road was the easiest route for us to use to get to the Dayton Mall and it was always a pleasant and scenic drive due to the large, upper-middle class homes and thickly wooded lawns.  What I discovered by searching through the Remarkable Ohio website was that Mad River Road was actually part of the first road cut between Cincinnati and Dayton in 1795 and is the last remaining traceable portion per survey records.  I guess I always assumed that either Far Hills (State Route 48) or S. Dixie Drive (US Route 25) was the main thoroughfare between Cinci and Dayton that simply developed into the more traveled routes they have become today.  So although I lived in this area for 45+ years, I'm still learning about it.  And considering there are over 1,000 historical markers in Ohio alone, I imagine you could spend a life time traveling across the country looking for historical markers and learning about the area.  Hmm, I'll stick with our goal of playing golf in all 50 states, even though my golf playing days are currently on hold.  But hey, if we see a marker along the road and there is a place to pull over....