Posted July 11, 200816 yr In 2005, I ran across UrbanOhio and quickly discovered Summit Street's county seat threads. I found them absolutely fascinating and developed a deep adoration for Ohio's cities. I'd be a very rich man if I had a nickel for everytime I revisited those wonderful threads. The Honorable Summit Street: I didn't start out to duplicate the great Summit Street when I visited Lebanon, my home county seat, last May. A few weeks later, I had reason to be east of Columbus and visited Newark, Coshocton, and Cambridge. Throughout the coming months, I kept running across county seats, but still didn't intend to do all 88 until Summit Street said the word that encourage me go for it; then, the race was on. My Lebanon thread was posted on May 12, 2007 and my last thread, Columbus, was posted exactly one year later on May 12, 2008. Along the way, I tried to support downtown restaurants and hotels. In the end, I stayed at hotels in Cuyahoga, Gallia, Washington, Summit, Stark, Ross, Lorain, and Franklin Counties; I can't recount how many restaurants and gas stations I patronized. I'd like to know my economic impact. :lol: I've put together a simple map to lay out my various trips; the white green counties were visited individually or as part of trips that didn't involve other seats. The experience was amazing and I'm glad to be finished, but I oddly feel like doing it all over again. I've thrown together an assortment of 67 photos using no rhyme or reason for selection. Ohio is mindblowing. Hillsboro - Highland County Ironton - Lawrence County Jefferson - Ashtabula County Kenton - Hardin County Logan - Hocking County Marion - Marion County McArthur - Vinton County Marysville - Union County Medina - Median County New Philadelphia - Tuscarawas County Painesville - Lake County Paulding - Paulding County Sidney - Shelby County Upper Sandusky - Wyandot County Van Wert - Van Wert County New Lexington - Perry County Wapakoneta - Auglaize County Portsmouth - Scioto County Coshocton - Coshocton County Lebanon - Warren County Newark - Licking County Troy - Miami County Canton - Stark County Urbana - Champaign County Wooster - Wayne County Marietta - Washington County Millersburg - Holmes County Toledo - Lucas County Columbus - Franklin County Ashland - Ashland County Bucyrus - Crawford County Cadiz - Harrison County Caldwell - Noble County Carrollton - Carroll County Celina - Mercer County Chardon - Geauga County Delaware - Delaware County Findlay - Hancock County Georgetown - Brown County Greenville - Darke County Athens - Athens County Napoleon - Henry County Pomeroy - Meigs County Dayton - Montgomery County Gallipolis - Gallia County Jackson - Jackson County Bryan - Williams County Sandusky - Erie County Elyria - Lorain County Lisbon - Columbiana County Cleveland - Cuyahoga County Lima - Allen County Youngstown - Mahoning County Ravenna - Portage County Hamilton - Butler County Zanesville - Muskingum County Warren - Trumbull County Steubenville - Jefferson County Cincinnati - Hamilton County Waverly - Pike County Springfield - Clark County West Union - Adams County Circleville - Pickaway County Wilmington - Clinton County Chilicothe - Ross County Mansfield - Richland County Woodsfield - Monroe County
July 11, 200816 yr Wow, great job!! When I was younger I told my parents that I was going to buy and fix up that house on S. Main (the one pictured for Mansfield).
July 11, 200816 yr Poor Waverly :( "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 11, 200816 yr Ohio is mindblowing. If only Ohioans knew that. :| Thanks for all your work! It's obvious it was a labor of love.
July 11, 200816 yr Wow. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Quite an accomplishment. I have thoroughly enjoyed following your trip across Ohio via your photo threads. You definately have had a permanent impact on this site. Thanks for all the photos!!!
July 11, 200816 yr Wow... amazing, I've loved every minute of your endeavor! Publish a book. You would make a lot of money. I would buy it. Thats $26.99 going in your direction. Orange Frazer Press in Wilmington prints those types of books. UrbanOhio Admin: Could we make a section of Ohio Pictures devoted to county seat threads? Somedays I just like to sit and look through them, and it would be much easier if they were all located in one section on the forum.
July 11, 200816 yr Wow... amazing, I've loved every minute of your endeavor! Publish a book. You would make a lot of money. I would buy it. Thats $26.99 going in your direction. Orange Frazer Press in Wilmington prints those types of books. UrbanOhio Admin: Could we make a section of Ohio Pictures devoted to county seat threads? Somedays I just like to sit and look through them, and it would be much easier if they were all located in one section on the forum. Ditto on the book, though I´m still waiting for the Urban Ohio guidebook which would blow away Lonely Planet, Fodors, etc. With pictures it´d end up being as big as the yellow pages. As for searching for towns, I´ll still plug my idea for an interactive map. County Seats could have a courthouse icon to identify them. I´m a genius, I know.
July 11, 200816 yr These are some of the best photos on UO, ink. I think we all agree on that. Congrats! Looks like you had a blast and learned a lot, too.
July 11, 200816 yr as another one of us who walks around with a camera and does this kind of thing...i salute you! and i'm jealous, too. i throughly enjoyed all your trips and threads ink. congrats on getting to them all at last. very nice work.
July 11, 200816 yr Ink, you've done a fantastic job highlighting our small and big towns alike. Thanks for your dedication!! A very nice job indeed.
July 11, 200816 yr So are you ready to conquer Kentucky's 120 county seats? Or maybe you'd like to slack off and only see West Virginia's 55... Somebody named jstephenconn has been to 2702 counties but I bet he doesn't have photos of all those courthouses! http://counties.visitedmap.com/
July 12, 200816 yr Congratulations, ink! I have also visited all 88 Ohio counties and their seats! I got my last one (Meigs, county seat Pomeroy) on June 28, 1999. Buckeye1: I have completed both Kentucky and West Virginia. Other states whose counties I have completed include the following: Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Illinois Indiana Iowa Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire* New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Wisconsin * - I have yet to visit Colebrook, Haverhill, and Grafton, which are secondary county seats. I can probably get them done when I get my last nine Maine counties on a future trip! It won't be this summer because I am set to finish up Missouri (one left), Nebraska (two left), North Dakota (four left), and South Dakota (16 left)! My total stands at 1,980.
July 12, 200816 yr Thanks for the recap of your Ohio county photo series. I thoroughly enjoyed everyone of your photo tours, and also think they would be great compiled in a book. You have a real talent for catching the correct angles of buildings, capturing the spirit of the town with its streetscape, and not over-glamorizing. Since there already is a book "Courthouses of Ohio", but there is definitely room for more than one book about Ohio and its wonderful county seats.
July 12, 200816 yr Congratulations, ink! I have also visited all 88 Ohio counties and their seats! I got my last one (Meigs, county seat Pomeroy) on June 28, 1999. Buckeye1: I have completed both Kentucky and West Virginia. Other states whose counties I have completed include the following: Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Illinois Indiana Iowa Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire* New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Wisconsin * - I have yet to visit Colebrook, Haverhill, and Grafton, which are secondary county seats. I can probably get them done when I get my last nine Maine counties on a future trip! It won't be this summer because I am set to finish up Missouri (one left), Nebraska (two left), North Dakota (four left), and South Dakota (16 left)! My total stands at 1,980. Wow, I almost don't believe that; I may have to verify with your parents. ;) I do have a little desire to do Michigan and Pennslyvania; but I'm going to take a while off either way.
July 15, 200816 yr My 326 counties in 20 states looks paltry compared to some of these numbers. Nice work ink.
July 16, 200816 yr UrbanOhio Admin: Could we make a section of Ohio Pictures devoted to county seat threads? Somedays I just like to sit and look through them, and it would be much easier if they were all located in one section on the forum. I think that is a really good idea.
July 16, 200816 yr UrbanOhio Admin: Could we make a section of Ohio Pictures devoted to county seat threads? Somedays I just like to sit and look through them, and it would be much easier if they were all located in one section on the forum. I think that is a really good idea. seems a little overkill, I mean every single Cleveland thread ends up in there......
July 16, 200816 yr While there may not be a dedicated section, it looks like something will be put together to make it a bit easier to browse county seat and other city threads.
July 27, 200816 yr w00t! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 28, 200816 yr Congrats. I always enjoy your photothreads. I still can't believe that Marathon is in downtown Findlay. $2.86 gasoline. Hard to believe that's a sign i would like to see again :)
August 3, 200816 yr Ink, Thanks so much for all the hard work. Even after visiting all those places and taking all the photos, you still took the time to post them! Thanks so much. I really enjoyed them all. I started on an 88 county album back in 1999. I quit after about 6 courthouses. Of course, that was before UrbanOhio, and before digital cameras were common. I was trying to make pleasure stops during business trips, but it was too much. It takes a dedicated effort to do the task. Congratulations on a job well done.
September 1, 200816 yr * - I have yet to visit Colebrook, Haverhill, and Grafton, which are secondary county seats. I can probably get them done when I get my last nine Maine counties on a future trip! It won't be this summer because I am set to finish up Missouri (one left), Nebraska (two left), North Dakota (four left), and South Dakota (16 left)! My total stands at 1,980. I may be replying to myself, but I just got back from my trip to finish those four states, which I did. I also got a fifth state finished, Wyoming (hey, there are only 23!). I also got 11 more in Kansas (94/105, with all I need toward Colorado) and 15 more in Montana (50/56, with all I need toward Idaho). I think Maine will have to wait; I plan on finishing up Maryland (I'm at 13/24) in late March and early April so I can catch the cherry blossoms. I also plan on getting a lot of Virginia done this trip (I'm at 26/134, pretty much just in the Blue Ridge Mountains). I spoke with an expert on collecting and he suggests I stay in Frederick, MD, Saturday night and get northern Virginia (and other Washington suburbs; I have the District itself clinched) on a Sunday morning when there's little to no traffic.
September 10, 200816 yr I also got a fifth state finished, Wyoming (hey, there are only 23!). I'm sorry; did I make anyone believe I visited all 23 counties in Wyoming this trip? Entering the trip I had 19 finished and got the final four (north central part to be specific).
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