Hammel and Millgrove, Ohio facts for kids
Hammel and Millgrove were two small towns in western Warren County, Ohio, United States, that no longer exist. They were located right next to the Little Miami River. You would have found them about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of Fort Ancient and 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) north of Roachester, near where Strout Road crosses the river.
Hammel was on the eastern side of the river, in southwestern Washington Township. Millgrove was on the western side, in northeastern Salem Township.
The Story of Hammel and Millgrove
Hammel began in the 1840s. This was when a railroad line was built and reached that area. The town was named after the person who founded it. Today, the GNIS (Geographic Names Information System) lists Hammel as a ghost town. A ghost town is a place where people used to live and work, but now it's mostly empty or abandoned.
Why Did These Towns Disappear?
Many small towns like Hammel and Millgrove became ghost towns for different reasons. Often, they were built around a specific industry, like a railroad stop or a mill. If that industry moved away or stopped being important, the people would leave to find work elsewhere. Sometimes, new roads or transportation methods made the old locations less useful.
For Hammel, the railroad was key to its start. When railroads changed or new routes were built, towns that depended on them could fade away. Millgrove, being right across the river, likely shared a similar fate as its neighbor. These towns are now just a part of Ohio's history, remembered mostly through old maps and records.
