Amesville in Athens County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Western Library Association
1804
The Coonskin Library
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., January 4, 2009
1. Western Library Association Marker
Inscription.
Western Library Association. In the years leading to Ohio statehood in 1803, Ames Township citizens decided to establish a stock-owned circulating library. Since cash was scarce during Ohio's frontier era, some citizens paid for their $2.50 shares by the sale of animal pelts, which were taken to Boston for sale in the spring of 1804 by merchant Samuel Brown. There he acquired fifty-one volumes, primarily books on history, religion, travel, and biography, as the first accessions for the Western Library Association. Senator Thomas Ewing later related that he paid his share with ten raccoon skins, thus suggesting the collection's popular name the Coonskin Library. Judge Ephraim Cutler was the first of many librarians who kept the library until 1861.
In the years leading to Ohio statehood in 1803, Ames Township citizens decided to establish a stock-owned circulating library. Since cash was scarce during Ohio's frontier era, some citizens paid for their $2.50 shares by the sale of animal pelts, which were taken to Boston for sale in the spring of 1804 by merchant Samuel Brown. There he acquired fifty-one volumes, primarily books on history, religion, travel, and biography, as the first accessions for the Western Library Association. Senator Thomas Ewing later related that he paid his share with ten raccoon skins, thus suggesting the collection's popular name the Coonskin Library. Judge Ephraim Cutler was the first of many librarians who kept the library until 1861.
Erected 2003 by Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The International Paper Company Foundation, and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 5-5.)
81° 57.345′ W. Marker is in Amesville, Ohio, in Athens County. It is on State Street (Ohio Route 550), on the right when traveling east. Marker is in Gifford Park, across from the US Post Office. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Amesville OH 45711, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s Hocking Hills. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Ohio River Valley, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 7, 2021. It was originally submitted on January 22, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,568 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on January 22, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.
