The dedication of the historical marker at the site of the Reservoir War of 1887 in Paulding County has been postponed.
Scheduled for April 25, 2020, which is the anniversary of the dynamiting of the Six Mile Reservoir and the locks on the Wabash & Erie Canal in Paulding County, the dedication ceremony will be rescheduled after the stay-at-home order relating to the COVID-19 pandemic has been lifted.
The historical events surrounding the destruction of the reservoir by an anonymous band of locals who were fed up with its stagnant and disease-causing waters have long interested Judge Michael Wehrkamp and author Jane Nice, who joined forces to apply for the marker through the Ohio History Connection.
Wehrkamp and Nice were informed last September that the Reservoir War marker was one of 27 out of 70 applications to be accepted into the marker program, and it was one of ten to receive a $1,000 grant.
Other attempts to place a marker at the site in the past were not successful, but Nice and Wehrkamp felt that 2020 was the year to try again because it is Paulding County’s bicentennial. The county’s motto, “No Compromise,” came from a banner carried by the dynamiters in the Reservoir War.
Wehrkamp spoke at the kick-off event for the bicentennial held on February 12 at the Branch Christian Church. He described the significance of the motto and its design, which is painted on a wall on the second floor of the Paulding County Courthouse outside of his office.
“The story of the Reservoir War has always fascinated me. Many Paulding County residents have felt for years that it is deserving of an historical marker,” says Wehrkamp. “It’s been a pleasure working with Jane as a co-caretaker of the project. I’m excited this historic event, which at one time was the talk of the entire state, will get the recognition it deserves.”
Among other information, the application called for a statement of significance, which is basically a documented research paper, as well as proposed marker language. Wehrkamp and Nice collaborated over several months to finalize the application. All materials were due to the Ohio History Connection by July 1.
“I took the time to look into Defiance’s side of the story, reading newspapers from there as well as here,” says Nice. “I discovered that the bulk of the ‘war’ was fought in the press in the year leading up to the dynamiting.” Legal attempts to officially abandon the reservoir had failed because Defiance manufacturers needed water to remain in the canal in order to float logs from Paulding County to their downtown manufacturers.
Besides the Ohio History Connection, sponsors for the Reservoir War marker are Cooper Farms, Inc., John Paulding Historical Society, and the Antwerp Community Development Committee. The marker will be placed at the intersection of Canal Road (County Road 180) and High Road (Township Road 77) in Crane Township. High Road forms the eastern bank of what was the Six Mile Reservoir, and is the only visible reminder of it today.
Nice wrote the script for the dinner theater, “No Compromise,” an historical melodrama with a mystery twist based on the events of the Reservoir War. The play has been performed twice to sell out crowds in Paulding and was to be performed in Antwerp, sponsored by the Antwerp Chamber of Commerce, this spring. That performance has been postponed, as well.
The historical marker will be the fifth of its kind to be placed within the county. Others are at the Paulding County Courthouse, the main branch of the Paulding County Carnegie Library, downtown Antwerp, and in Junction at the intersection of the Miami & Erie and Wabash & Erie canals.
