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About Chillicothe

Chillicothe (pronounced CHILL-uh-KAW-thee) is a city in the county seat of Ross County, Ohio known for being the first capital of the state of Ohio. Major attractions include Yoctangee Park is a public park in Chillicothe, adjacent to the Historic First Capital District, and Chillicothe Railroad Museum. Chillicothe is rich in Native American history and hosts the annual Feast of the Flowering Moon Festival each May. Among the biggest companies in Chillicothe are BBB Music Center, and Island Spice Cafe. The biggest schools here are Unioto Elementary School (PK-6), Zane Trace Middle School (5-8), and Chillicothe High School (9-12). One of the best places to visit when you are in Chillicothe is the 152-year-old continuously operating Majestic Theatre. Its stage has been graced by such greats as Laurel and Hardy, Milton Berle, George Arliss, Sophie Tucker, and many others. There are numerous famous people from Chillicothe, including Billy Ireland (cartoonist), Noel Sickles (illustrator), Neil Johnston (NBA All-Star basketball player, 1951-1959), Ben Hartsock (New York Jets Tight-End), Greg Cook (Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback), John Herrnstein (Philadelphia Phillies), Scott Bailes (former Major League Baseball player), Garin Veris (New England Patriots), John Poff (MLB player for the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers), Elbie Nickel (Pittsburgh Steelers Tight-end 1947–1957), Martha Finley (1828–1909 author of the Elsie Dinsmore series), Nancy Wilson (singer), Eston Hemings (violinist and fiddler, son of Sally Hemings and president Thomas Jefferson, later known as Eston Hemings Jefferson after his move to Wisconsin and acceptance in white community), Madison Hemings (his brother and son of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, also a fiddler), Duncan McArthur (Ohio's 11th Governor), Edward Tiffin (dominant role in political development of Ohio Country and made Chillicothe the political center), Thomas Worthington ("Father of Ohio Statehood" and Ohio's 6th Governor), Lucy Ware Webb Hayes (First Lady of the United States, wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes), Lewis Woodson (1806–1878 AME minister, abolitionist, educator, one of the founders of Wilberforce University in 1856), John Mercer Langston (1829–1899 abolitionist, activist, educator and politician - in 1855 first black in Ohio elected to public office; first dean of Howard University law school, first president of Virginia State University; and in 1888 first black to be elected to the United States Congress from Virginia), Charles Henry Langston (abolitionist and educator in Ohio and Kansas, part of Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, founder of Ohio Anti-Slavery Society; and first principal of Quindaro Freedman's School), Frederick Madison Roberts (California Assemblyman, believed to be the first African American elected to public office on the West Coast; great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson), David Leroy Nickens (first licensed African-American minister in Ohio).

-- Latest Update 2010/08/06 by KrishnaVma