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| McBride Tavern, Woodville Twp., Sandusky County |
Michael McBride, born October 13th 1806, near Sugar Creek, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, was the son John and Nancy McBride who had immigrated to America from Ireland. As a young man, he worked as a stonecutter at Buffalo, New York. At the age of 21, he came to Ohio and contracted to build several sections of the Maumee and Western Reserve Pike (now U.S. State Route 20). It was at this time that Ohio at last appropriated funds to make permanent improvements to the pike. Culverts, ditches, and macadamizing were intended to transform the endless miles of mud from Lower Sandusky (now Fremont, Ohio) to Perrysburg, Ohio.
In 1839 Michael married a young Irish girl named Joanna Kaley. In the spring of 1841, Michael purchased tract #102 which lies today in section 35 of Woodville Twp. As with most of the tracts, they were first surveyed in long narrow parcels. This particular tract contained 96 acres and was originally purchased from the federal government by John Hollister.
The innkeeping business along the pike had flourished for the previous ten years due to the wave of people headed "west." But it was the thirty miles of road which spanned the distance between Fremont (then called Lower Sandusky) to Perrysburg, Ohio that proved to be the real boon for those hardy Black Swamp pioneers. Frequently travelers stayed in the same tavern three nights running. Initially, many residents opened their homes to the "movers." Others converted their homes into taverns. The McBrides were no exception. They too, entered the tavern business, but Michael built a building specifically for innkeeping rather than his home.
The inn was an imposing structure situated on the south side of the pike just east of Sugar Creek which passed through the tract. It measured approximately 40 feet by 28 feet with the first floor containing a sitting room, dining room, family parlor, and kitchen. On the second floor another huge sitting room extended the full length of the front of the inn. To the rear of the second floor were the guest rooms. Two large fireplaces one on either end of the inn provided heat for both the first and second floor. A full cellar with hand cut limestone walls held wine racks. A two-story addition, measuring 30 feet by 27 feet, was built on the rear of the inn. It is possible the McBrides lived in this section. Eventually it was used for buggy storage. Fruit and grain were stored on the second floor.
Michael's thrifty, hard working ways made him well-liked and respected by his predominantly German neighbors. The hey-dey of the turnpike taverns had passed by 1850, but Michael listed innkeeping as his occupation on the census that year. He valued his holdings at $5,000. He accumulated more than 400 acres of farmland. Though it was poor, rocky soil and drainage remained a problem, Michael was able to hire numerous neighborhood teens to work at the tavern and in his fields.
All four of Michael and Joanna's children: James, John, Michael, and Margaret were born at the inn. They attended St. Mary's Church in Woodville. It is unknown when the inn was closed and used only as a home, but Michael remained on the farm until his death in 1890. He was buried in the Catholic Cemetery adjacent Woodville's Golden Hill. Michael, himself, had laid out this cemetery in 1854.
Michael, Jr. eventually became the owner of the inn and maintained possession until it was sold out of the family. The building's appearance remained unchanged through the years. But in 1969, proposed widening of Rte. 20 placed it on the demolition list. Although the Clark family made a valiant effort to preserve it because of its historic value, this rare symbol of the pike's past met the fate of progress.
*Several McBride descendants have posted a sketch of the above photograph on facebook. The original of the photograph was taken by the G. O. Clark family. An article about the tavern appeared in the Toledo Blade, February 9, 1969.
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| Michael McBride Courtesy of Find a Grave |
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