Iberia (Ohio)

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Location of Iberia

Iberia is an unincorporated village ( unincorporated village ) in western Washington Township , Morrow County , Ohio , United States . The zip code assigned to Iberia by the State Postal Service is 43325. Iberia's population was less than 200 at the 2000 census .

geography

Iberia is northwest of the county seat of Mount Gilead and close to Galion and Martel . The village is located at the intersection of Ohio State Route 309 and Morrow County Road 30. Iberia is co-administered by the local Northmor School District.

history

Iberia was founded in 1827 and planned by Frederick Meyers and Samuel Foster in 1832. The name of the village was suggested by Robert Rowland while visiting family members who lived in the area.

Iberia experienced the greatest population growth at the beginning of the 20th century when there were many farms in this area. For a short time in the 1920s, Iberia was connected to the Lincoln Highway from New York City to San Francisco , but the track through the village was later relocated.

Central Ohio College

Iberia was once home to Iberia College, a Presbyterian educational institution that was renamed Ohio Central College after the Civil War . The college then went to an independent society and was closed in the late 19th century. The tradition and records of Central Ohio College are now carried on by Muskingum College .

The buildings were used by a school for the blind after the college closed, but they were destroyed by fire. All that remains is the college chapel, which is now used as the Iberian Presbyterian Church.

The college's first president, Reverend George A. Gordon, became known for hiding escaped slaves. Though slavery was banned in Ohio, refugees from other states should have been returned to their owners under the Fugitive Slave Law . Gordon was convicted, but later pardoned by Abraham Lincoln . At that time Iberia was a base of the so-called Underground Railroad , an escape route for escaped slaves along which they could hide in the houses of abolitionists , the opponents of slavery .

One of the most famous Central Ohio College graduates was Warren G. Harding , the 29th President of the United States.

literature

Coordinates: 40 ° 40 ′  N , 82 ° 51 ′  W