Blog Post 4

This Blog is about something I'll always love, my hometown, aka the village of Dennison. Dennison was developed because of the influence of both the coal and railroad industry taking off in the 1860's. The town was constructed because it is exactly 100 miles from Pittsburgh and Columbus, which is the maximum distance railroad cars could go before needing refilled. This also sparked the creation of the Dennison Coal Company.

In 1864, The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway company decided to put the country's largest railway shops and yards in Dennison. The land was purchased for the town in 1865, but the village was not incorporated until 1873. Thousands of people moved to the area for jobs working on the railroad. At its peak, over 3,000 people worked in the railroad industry in Dennison. (Which is more than the current population of the village).

During World War 1, the Red Cross set up and operated a canteen from a boxcar. Many people of the village volunteered to help prepare coffee and sandwiches for troops as they were passing through on the trains.

Although the railroad industry in Dennison was the largest in the country, it eventually came to an abrupt ending. In 1922, a railroad strike ended the Golden Era of Dennison. The passenger trains stopping in Dennison came to a halt, the last one being in 1968. The  last of the freight trains stopping in Dennison was in 1982. Trains still roll through Dennison, but don't stop anymore. The only trains to stop in Dennison are each December, as the Polar Express boards from the depot.

Ever since the railroad industry in Dennison, the population has steadily dropped. Ever since the 1950's, people have been leaving the area in search for better and new jobs. People leaving the community has always been something that has bothered me, but I also understand it. It has always been somewhat of a dream of mine to find a way to bring Dennison back to its former glory, and be even bigger than it was before.