Fitchville, Ohio facts for kids
Fitchville is a small, unincorporated community located in Huron County, Ohio, United States. It's part of the wider Norwalk area. Fitchville is easy to find because it sits right where three main roads meet: U.S. Route 250, State Route 13, and State Route 162. Even though it doesn't have its own post office, people in Fitchville use the New London zip code, which is 44851.
For over a hundred years, from 1839 to 1968, a famous building called the Mansion Hotel stood in Fitchville. People say that Abraham Lincoln, who later became president, might have stayed there! This hotel was also an important stop for many enslaved people seeking freedom on the "Underground Railroad". This was a secret network of safe houses and routes that helped people escape to free states.
History of Fitchville
Fitchville and its surrounding area, Fitchville Township, got their names from an important historical figure: Thomas Fitch. He was a former governor of the Connecticut Colony, which was one of the original thirteen colonies that formed the United States. The Fitch family used to own land in this part of Ohio, which was known as the Firelands section of the historic Connecticut Western Reserve.
A Tragic Event and Important Changes
On November 23, 1963, a very sad event happened near Fitchville. A fire broke out at the Golden Age Nursing Home, about a mile north of the community. This fire was caused by too many electrical wires being used at once. It was a terrible tragedy where many lives were lost.
This event happened just 15 hours after the assassination of President Kennedy, so much of the country's attention was on that sad news. However, the Fitchville fire led to something very important: it helped create better fire safety rules for buildings. Because of this tragedy, new and improved building codes were put in place to help keep people safer from fires.
