The Ohio Historical Society has nominated a century-old coal company town two miles northwest of Athens for the National Register of Historic Places, said its owners, who hope to know by the end of the year whether they made it onto the register.
The Eclipse Company Town was created during the height of a coal mining boom, as companies built towns near mines so the workers had a place to live, said Cecilia Rinaldi, one of five owners of the town. The company town closed in 1948, and much of the property was left to a former mine superintendent and his family.
In 1997, Rinaldi, her husband, Athens County Planner Bob Eichenberg, and their partners decided to buy and restore the company town for an initial price of more than $200,000.
Each of the owners enjoys something different about working on the project.
I do all the landscaping out here and I love it
said Rinaldi, who owns a holistic health center in the town. 'There is something really wonderful about preserving a piece of history.
Co-owner Jonathan Sowash said he enjoys meeting visitors especially those who know about the town's history.
What's been most fun is to have people come to the site, which usually happens on big events like on Saturday G? and say they lived in certain houses, said Sowash.
Eichenberg and co-owner Wil Chandler said they enjoy restoring a piece of the area's history.
Since 1997 they have restored 13 company houses
including six for residential use
Rinaldi said. The other seven houses have been turned into businesses
including a restaurant
a caf+
a doctor's office and two alternative health care centers.
Roger Wilkens
owner and director of the Dogwood Center for Self Development
said he opened his business in the town because he liked the friendly people and the lack of fast traffic in the area. He also thought his center would fit with other alternative health care businesses in the town.
Jana Durham
owner of Jana's Soul Food Caf+
