Georgesville, Ohio

Georgesville is an unincorporated community in western Pleasant Township, Franklin County, Ohio, United States. It is located southwest of Columbus, the county seat of Franklin County and the capital and largest city of Ohio. [DeLorme. "Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer". 5th ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 1999, p. 67. ISBN 0-89933-270-6.] Georgesville lies at the confluence of Little Darby Creek and Big Darby Creek, which are State and National Scenic Rivers [ [http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/dnap/sr/bdarby/tabid/981/Default.aspx Big Darby Creek State and National Scenic River ] ] and tributaries of the Scioto River, and thus, the Ohio River and the Mississippi River. Much of the swamp forest and prairie surrounding Georgesville is part of Battelle Darby Creek Park, the largest of the Metro Parks.

History

Georgesville was founded in 1797, and may predate Franklinton as Central Ohio's first permanent white settlement. The town was originally situated on the left (eastern) bank of Big Darby Creek above the confluence, now the site of Oak Grove Cemetery. A railway station was built on the right (western) bank of Big Darby Creek below the confluence, and Georgesville occupies this site today, although the railway station is long gone. Alkire Road, which runs from the suburbs of Columbus through Georgesville to the town of Lilly Chapel in Madison County, originally featured two wooden covered bridges which spanned the Big and Little Darby Creeks above their confluence. The covered bridges were replaced by steel truss bridges (a Pratt truss over Little Darby Creek and a Camelback truss over Big Darby Creek), which were in turn replaced by modern reinforced concrete bridges, in a new configuration, in the 1990s.

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