Near Rio Grande in Gallia County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
The Homestead
Photographed By J. J. Prats, August 31, 2018
1. The Homestead Marker, Side One
The Homestead was built in 1820 by Nehemiah Wood with an
addition completed in 1822 by his son, Harrison. The Wood family,
a pioneer family of Gallia County, arrived in 1805.The Homestead
remained in the Wood family for over 100 years. The two-story
Federal style building is constructed of bricks made on site by
freed slaves who accompanied Nehemiah Wood from Virginia. The
lane just below the house was a stagecoach route that ran
between Chillicothe and Gallipolis. In the mid-180Os the Homestead
served as an inn and stagecoach stop. The Wood family sold the
farm to Rio Grande College in 1938 which used the land for
college gardening and farming programs.
Bob and Jewell Evans purchased the farm in 1953 so their children could grow up in the country. They hosted restaurant owners and grocery meat department managers, showing them that Bob Evans Farms Sausage really did come from “a farmer, down on the farm." With a country kitchen and beautiful farm landscape, the Homestead provided an ideal setting for television commercials, which Bob Evans Farms started producing in the 1950s. The Bob Evans Farm Festival began
Photographed By J. J. Prats, August 31, 2018
2. The Homestead Marker, Side Two
this page online
Erected 2013 by Bob Evans Farms, Inc. and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 19-27.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1820.
Location. 38° 52.956′ N, 82° 22.045′ W. Marker is near Rio Grande, Ohio, in Gallia County. Marker is on Farmview Road (Local Road 71) north of State Route 588. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 791 Farmview Rd, Bidwell OH 45614, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Robert L. “Bob” Evans (within shouting distance of this marker); The Village of Adamsville (approx. 0.2 miles away); University of Rio Grande (approx. 0.7 miles away); New Hope Baptist Church (approx. 1.6 miles away); Bidwell (approx. 4.4 miles away); Morgan's Raid
Photographed By J. J. Prats, August 31, 2018
3. The Homestead, Bob Evans Farms
Regarding The Homestead. The Homestead and surrounding area is a museum, open daily.
Also see . . . The Farm — History. “Bob’s television ads invited people to ‘come down and visit us’ at the farm. Before long, so many people came that it was hard for Bob and Jewell to accommodate them. So in 1961 the company built a restaurant at the farm, with four stools and six tables, to better serve them. The Sausage Shop, which is now a Bob Evans Restaurant, was the company’s first venture into the restaurant business. Visitors could sample sausage products and start farm tours from the shop.” (Submitted on September 6, 2018.)
Photographed By J. J. Prats, August 31, 2018
4. Bob Evans Farms
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2020. It was originally submitted on September 6, 2018, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 349 times since then and 26 times this year. Last updated on October 23, 2020, by Robert Baughman of Bellefontaine, Ohio. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 6, 2018, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
