Discover the first chapter of German Village’s
journey through time.
By Ronan Thompson | Historic Research & Archive Coordinator
German Village’s history as a neighborhood built by and for immigrants in the 19th
century is well known today. Villagers take pride in that legacy, embracing German food, song,
and (of course) beer. This wasn’t always the case, however, as anti-German sentiment beginning
with the First World War led to attempts to distance the neighborhood from its roots. German
language schools and newspapers were shuttered, street names were changed, and there is even
evidence of book burnings and swastikas being graffitied on the homes of local German families.
It was a moment in history marked by distrust, censorship, and an attempt to erase the people who shaped the neighborhood. While sentiments have changed dramatically since then, there is
no telling how many stories were lost and forgotten as a result of the purposeful destruction of
the Village’s history; books and newspapers destroyed, families too frightened to continue their
traditions or speak their language.
This past informs our present. Historical preservation and interpretation are the tools which German Villagers have picked up in order to reclaim our past and honor those who came before us. During times of political unrest and upheaval, historical interpretation often becomes a tool to silence voices and perspectives deemed controversial, or to justify the marginalization of certain communities. As German Villagers, we understand better than most the importance of preserving and presenting history in its fullness, giving names and voices to those whom time has tried to erase.
In the spirit of uplifting histories which often fall by the wayside, I’d like to begin our journey through time with a brief exploration of the indigenous communities that have lived here for thousands of years. Much like the history of German immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of indigenous communities is often a sore point for historical interpretation. Currently, the American Association of State and Local History and several other public history institutions are waging a lawsuit to challenge the Department of the Interior Secretary’s Order 3431, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order calls for the censorship of interpretive material relating to indigenous nations in National Parks, but the sentiment extends
much further than signage at Yellowstone. Even small, local history organizations such as the
German Village Society have recently found ourselves reckoning with the absence of Native voices in our materials. Much like the German population in the 19th century, the indigenous inhabitants of this land have had their stories and languages suppressed, and so we must continue our work of preservation and interpretation.
This graphic from the Archaeological Society of Ohio showcased the diversity and evolution of flint points. Different colors of flint can indicate where the material was originally mined, with each area of the state boasting its own unique colors and patterns.
The history of this land did not begin with John McGowan, as generation upon generation of people built their lives alongside the Scioto River long before he set foot here. So, let us begin at the beginning. If we travel back 15,000 years before the present day, we find ourselves in a frigid expanse of glacial ice as far as the eye can see. As it begins to slowly recede, we watch it carve passages in the earth that will become the Olentangy and Scioto Rivers. Fast forward a few thousand years into the Paleolithic Era (13,000-7,000 BCE), and we see people begin to explore the newly uncovered land. The climate is cold and wet, with vast rocky plains populated by megafauna such as mastodon and giant ground sloths. Small, highly mobile bands of hunter-gatherers make the most of what the landscape has to offer. They take advantage of the wealth of local flint to create stone tools, enabling them to hunt the massive creatures they live alongside.
As time goes by, the climate begins to stabilize, becoming warmer and drier. We continue to watch the scene become slowly more recognizable as trees sprout along the lush riverbed. Due to the more hospitable atmosphere, the Archaic Era (8,000-1,000 BCE) sees an increase in population. Ancient civilizations love nothing more than a fertile river valley, and the confluence of the Olentangy and Scioto offers an ideal spot for people to thrive. Communities begin to stay in the same places for longer periods of time, establishing settlements that they can return to while still following seasonal hunting and foraging patterns. The warming climate is not only more comfortable, but it also leads to an explosion of edible plants that people begin relying on and even begin to cultivate in small gardens. By around 1,800 BCE, people had begun to domesticate plants such as sunflower, goosefoot, sumpweed, and maygrass. Many of these species are still found as common garden weeds in the Village today!
Map of Franklin County from the 1914 Archaeological Atlas of Ohio. Red triangles indicate the location of a burial mound or earthworks, and cupped lines indicate burials. Notice the cluster around the South End, which gave Mound St its name.
When we continue on into the Early Woodland Era (1,000 BCE-500 CE) something
remarkable begins to happen. The world around us is about to blossom. Massive structures will
be erected, luxury goods will pour in from the Gulf of Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, and
(much like today) corn will begin to dominate the landscape. The first step of this massive
transformation begins not on a battleground, or a hunting trail, or even in a garden, but around a
fire. Clever hands mix river clay with crushed stones, shape it into a simple vessel, and set it
above the flames. Pottery is born. This technological innovation allows people to store the
surplus food they produce, enabling them to remain more sedantry and provide for larger and
larger settlements.
The Middle Woodland Era will give rise to complex civilizations such as the Adena and
Hopewell. These societies are responsible for constructing burial mounds and massive earthwork
complexes that will forever shape the landscape of Ohio, and earn the state its only UNESCO
World Heritage designation down south in Chillicothe (well worth the hour drive from the Village for a visit). These cultures deserve their own designated stop on our journey through time, and we will explore the art and architecture they produced in more depth next week.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our first stop on our exploration of German Village history! These
Ancient societies, though seemingly so distant from our own, are also a part of the neighborhood’s story. This land had already seen thousands of years of history, culture, and technology by the time McGowan was granted a piece of it in 1802. We can continue to take pride in our history as a neighborhood while also acknowledging that there were people here before us who endured unimaginable violence as they were forced off the land they’d called home for generations. In recognizing this, we take the first step towards healing these historic wounds which are still felt to this day. If you’re interested in learning more about Ohio’s most ancient inhabitants in more depth, I would recommend Robert N. Converse’s book The Archaeology of Ohio, or a subscription to the Ohio Archaeological Society’s magazine Ohio Archaeologist.
