Kirkpatrick, Ohio

Kirkpatrick is an unincorporated village in northern Scott Township, Marion County, Ohio, United States. The ZIP code assigned to Kirkpatrick by the United States Postal Service is 43302 — the same as Marion. Kirkpatrick is the location of the Scott Township Hall. The current population of Kirkpatrick is less than 200.

Geography

Kirkpatrick is located at 40°68'868" North, 83°00'852" West (40.68868, -83.00852), at the junction of State Route 98 and Morral-Kirkpatrick Road in Marion County Ohio. Kirkpatrick is assigned to Range 15 of Scott Township according to the Congress Lands Survey of Ohio.

History

Kirkpatrick was founded in 1832 by Marturen Latimbra, who named the settlement Letimberville after himself. Initially, it was thought that Letimberville would prosper, given that it was located along the well traveled Columbus-Sandusky Pike (now State Route 98). Despite establishing a town plat, and selling lots for the community, the promise of Letimberville failed to live up to its founder’s aspirations after it was by passed by the railroads, and Letimbra left in search of better opportunities.

Letimberville did attract farmers who relied on the community as a home for basic commerce and a center of religion. The greatest percent of population in the community were followers of the Methodist Episcopal faith, the community having one of three churches attended to by Rev. Jeremiah Crabb Monnett. Methodism was so much a part of the community that for many years the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WTCU) enjoyed great participation in the community until the early 1960s.

In the late 19th century, the community changed its name to Kirkpatrick. In the early 1920s, when the Scott Township School System consolidated its system into a modern facility, it was built in Kirkpatrick. For many years in the 1930s and 1940s, students could attend Kirkpatrick School from the first grade until eleventh grade, after which students attended neighboring systems in order to meet State of Ohio standards for graduation. The Scott Township Consolidated School System was merged into the Ridgedale Local School System (one of three county consolidated systems in Marion County to emerge in the 1950s). The Kirkpatrick building was closed, and eventually demolished.

In 1942, the United States government took a sizable portion of Scott, Grand Prairie, and Marion townships for the construction of the Scioto Ordnance Plant. This effectively cut the population nearby and dependent on Kirkpatrick by one half, and led to its eventual decline as a social and commercial center.

In the late 1990s, the community contracted with Del-Co Water Company of Delaware, Ohio for pressurized water service.

In the winter of 2006, swamps in the area surrounding the community received media attention from the Columbus Dispatch and WCMH television because of flooding concerns and similar issues south and east of the community.

ources

* Miller, Larry L. "Ohio Place Names". Indiana University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-253-32932-9
* Leggett Conway & Company, "The History of Marion County Ohio". Leggett, Conway & Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1883