Follow me to one of the first MetroParks in the southwest corner of Butler County. This trek will take you back in time to the beginnings of our state, a campground with a history, and on the newest trail in the park system. For Part One, we’ll concentrate on the uplands section of the park.

A Brief History of the Bebb Family

The park’s namesake, Governor William Bebb, was born in Butler County, Ohio on December 8, 1802 in the small town of Paddy’s Run (later Shandon). His father, Edward Bebb, was a Welsh immigrant as was his mother Margaret Roberts Owens. Edward left his birthplace in Wales and his childhood sweetheart Margaret in 1795 to come to the Ohio Territory with friend George Roberts, Margaret’s brother. Edward bought a half section of Dry Fork in 1801 when the newly surveyed land on the Symmes Purchase of the Northwest Territory became available. He found that a squatter named Aaron Cherry had built the cabin on the property in 1799. Cherry’s cabin would later become the Bebb Cabin. Edward offered to pay for the improvements Cherry made to the land, for which he was eternally grateful since no one previously had offered Cherry compensation on his 13 previous squatting sites. Back in Wales, Margaret hadn’t heard anything from Edward for almost six years. Margaret’s family urged her to marry someone else, and she took their advice to heart and married a Reverend Mr. Owens. The couple embarked for the United States, and tragically Rev. Owens died on the long voyage. The young widow arrived in Pennsylvania to visit her brother after the death of her first husband, and Edward himself also appeared in Pennsylvania just two days after Margaret. Edward and Margaret reunited and were married February 2, 1802. They then traveled overland to Pittsburgh and down the Ohio River to their new home in Paddy’s Run. William Bebb was the first of the couple’s three children and became a teacher, then a lawyer before being elected as Ohio’s 19th governor in 1846.

Governor Bebb MetroPark’s Pioneer Village

When the Butler County Park District was first organized by concerned citizens in 1955, it started with a director and three employees, three commissioners and a seventeen-member advisory board. In 1959, Emory W. McCarty sold 10 acres to Butler County which would become Pioneer Village. The Bebb Cabin, the birthplace of Governor William Bebb, was moved to the park in 1959 from Paddy’s Run about four miles southeast of its current location. The Bebb Cabin’s restoration was completed in 1961. Five other cabins would eventually be moved to Pioneer Village over the following years, as well as one of the county’s last covered bridges. The Dry Fork Forge joined the village as “new” construction and was built following traditional methods in the late 1980’s. A commemorative plaque outside the Bebb Cabin was presented when the park was dedicated on June 17, 1961 as the fourth park of the Butler County Park District.

Three other cabins were added to the site in 1965 in time for the park system’s 10th anniversary. The Gray Cabin was built in 1795 and was actually two separate structures which were joined together on its original site. When the Gray Cabin moved to Governor Bebb MetroPark, its two structures were separated and became the village’s Gray Cat Tavern and Summer Kitchen. The Cummins Cabin was built in the 1820’s and served as the Pioneer Village schoolhouse between 1965-1985. The Burnett Schoolhouse and the Berridge Cabin (both circa early 1800’s) joined the village in 1985 and 1992 respectively. The Dry Fork Forge was rebuilt after a lightning strike from timbers salvaged from the Wolf Cabin, which originally stood between the Forge and the Bebb Cabin. An unfortunate chimney fire rendered the Wolf Cabin unsuitable for public display.

The White Covered Bridge

Pioneer Village gained the White Covered Bridge when it was donated to the park system in 1965 by the Butler County Commissioners. The bridge was originally located east of Oxford and was built from Michigan white pine around 1850. In 1890 the bridge was relocated west of Oxford on Fairfield Road, spanning Indian Creek. The White Covered Bridge was replaced with a modern bridge in 1965 but it wasn’t reconstructed at Governor Bebb MetroPark until Mr. and Mrs. Peter E. Rentschler donated the necessary private funds for the project. Park employees constructed new river rock supports before the bridge was erected over a small tributary of the Dry Fork Creek between 1969-1970. The bridge is currently closed to the public pending necessary structural repairs.

The Howe Shelter

Just beyond the village located in the upland area of the park is a reservable picnic shelter which was dedicated in the fall of 1973. The shelter also has ties to Governor William Bebb, as the shelter was funded by the estate of a Bebb relative, Marion Bebb Howe. The building is known as the Howe Shelter.

Visiting Governor Bebb MetroPark

Pioneer Village is open for private tours for schools, youth groups and birthday parties. To book your tour, click here. The village will also be open several times a year for the public to enjoy. Keep your eyes peeled for information about Pioneer Life, Governor Bebb MetroPark’s annual history festival in the fall! To reserve the Howe shelter, visit YourMetroParks.net.

Part Two of the History of Governor Bebb MetroPark will be coming in just a few weeks, where we’ll explore the lower section of the park along Dry Fork Creek. Until then- see you in YOUR MetroParks of Butler County parks!

About the Author:

Nancy is a Visitor and Event Services Technician with MetroParks of Butler County. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Aquatic Environments from Allegheny College and a Masters in Environmental Science from IES at Miami University. Nancy was Naturalist for Bull’s Run Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum in Middletown for 5 years, then 5 years as a full-time mom to 2 toddlers before working at Sunshine Preschool in Middletown for 26 years, first as a teacher and finishing as the director. Nancy began working for MetroParks in 2019 and has been a volunteer as well for Living Like a Pioneer field trips, Pioneer Life and Fun on the Farm special events, and Show and Tell on the Farm programs at the Chrisholm MetroPark Historic Farmstead. She continues to share her love of nature and crafts in so many ways.

Contact Nancy at: nclark@yourmetroparks.net.