Page 3 - Dresden Buzz 08-09-24

AUGUST 9 - 22, 2024 LOCAL NEWS | PAGE 3
Continued from page 2. Prospect Place hosts Civil War Living
Gant
History event by Lynette Dotson

Historical Underground Railroad Trail. Civil War Living History Days took
The home still stands today at 1845 place on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday,
West Main Street, Zanesville and was re- July 28 at the Historic Prospect Place
stored by the Nelson T. Gant Foundation Mansion located at 12150 Main Street
after they formed in 2001. in Trinway.
“We are sort of the clearing house Prospect Place was the home of
for anything, any information for people George Willison Adams and his family.
of color. People come in and they give His father George B. Adams relocated
us things, we go through them and we to Ohio with his family after selling his
display things if they are able to be, and father’s (John Adams) estate in Virginia
we have a lot of artifacts in here from the and freeing his slaves, all of which he in-
1800s and various times, and stories and herited after his father’s passing. George
back stories from Coal Run to the Ink Well and his family set out for Ohio in 1807
and the various churches and how they and arrived a year later settling close
pulled together and it’s just a community to the village of Dresden on the eastern
thing.----- We are the only African-Ameri- side of the Muskingum River. In 1826
can museum on Rt 40 in the whole United George B. Adams passed away leaving
States,” explained Ware. the estate which consisted of 150 acres
The home is open for tours Tuesday to his sons George W. and Edward.
through Friday 11 am - 2 pm and by In 1856 the first G.W. mansion was
appointment. built but a fire destroyed the home and a
new structure, the Prospect Place Man-
FREEDOM WALKWAY sion as we know it today, had to be con-
A seven-foot bronze statue of Nelson structed.
T. Gant will be sculpted by local artist Alan Like his father, George W. Adams
Cottrill and will be erected near the front was an abolitionist and he used his “President Abraham Lincoln” addresses a small crowd outside of the Historic Prospect
of the Gant House property as the main fo- home as a station for the Underground Place Estate. Lynette Dotson
cal point of a soon-to-be-constructed Free- Railroad. It is assumed that many abo-
dom Walkway. A brick walkway made of litionist meetings took place in the man- event. Other events included a Ladies’ keep and restoration of Historic Pros-
engraved bricks with personal, family, sion’s Gentlemen’s Parlor and that for- Tea on Saturday, a Ladies’ Fashion Show pect Place.
and business entity names will lead the mer slave Nelson T. Gant was a frequent on Sunday, and an encampment set up For information about upcoming
way to the statue of Gant. The project is guest. It is also speculated that Abra- on the front lawn of Prospect Place by events at Historic Prospect Place please
estimated to cost $107,225. ham Lincoln also visited Prospect Place. members of the 41st Ohio Volunteer In- visit www.gwacenter.org.
To help raise funds for the project, It is only fitting that “Honest Abe” fantry Regiment. The costumed reenac-
bricks may be purchased for $250 each. visit the Mansion in 2024 to address visi- tors played music, games, and demon-
For more information please email tors on Saturday afternoon. In addition, strated what camp life was like during
NelsonTGant@gmail.com or call Todd a flag-raising and lowering ceremony the Civil War. LOOK FOR A GALLERY OF
Ware at 740-617-6177. took place at the start and end of both Admission to the event was free al- PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT AT
days and Prospect Place Mansion was though donations are always welcome. WWW.DRESDENBUZZ.COM
NELSON T. GANT FOUNDATION open for self-guided tours throughout the Donations go toward the continued up-
The Nelson T. Gant Foundation was
formed in 2001 with the purpose of re-
storing the Gant House and to revive his Another successful
legacy. Ware is the current president of
the board who are on a mission to con- Melon Festival in
tinue to develop the Nelson T. Gant house
into a historical, educational, cultural, and the books
charitable facility. There are 17 board
members, and all of them are volunteers.
Ware became a board member six
years ago. “I saw a need in the community
that where black information was stored
for the whole community and it was some-
thing that brought the African American
Community and people of color together
and I liked what they were doing and the
positivity and the Gant story,” said Ware.
“The biggest challenges for us have
been really keeping enough money to
operate, we basically operate off of dona-
tions, whether it’s gifts or grants, we have
to write grants to get work done. Just to
restore the house we had to get money
to pay for the house. It was bought back Kids wait to race their melon vehicles in the
from the bank in 2002 when they found annual Melon Derby. Lynette Dotson
out it was restored, so all the money we
had together to restore it we had to do that In the late 1800s melons were
through fundraisers, and then we had to grown in Dresden on the banks of the
pay off the mortgage and that got paid Muskingum River. An old newspaper
off in less than two years in 2004. When article from 1967 credits J.W. Rose and
we bought it from the bank it had been a his son Leroy from Trinway for establish-
food establishment called J.R. Wings and ing the melon growing industry, but it
Things, then we had to restore it. Fortu- turns out, after reading Nelson T. Gant:
nately enough, a lot of the structure was From Slave to Prosperous Business Own-
here and we were able to uncover the er and Respected Citizen (pg. 67) that
beauty of the structure and put it back to Nelson T. Gant of Zanesville who was at
its original.” the time known for his strawberries and
sold other types of produce may have
UPCOMING EVENTS TO BE HELD AT THE played an important role in the develop-
NELSON T. GANT HOUSE & MUSEUM ment of the tasty cantaloupe known as
the Dresden Melon.
October 25th & 26th: The Annual Chili Fest Annually, on the first Saturday in Au-
November 11th: Veterans Appreciation - gust, the history of melon farming is cel-
Gathering at The Gant ebrated in Dresden with games, music,
vendors, and more at the Dresden River
December 2nd: Christmas Shop & Santa Park.

December 16th: Special Dinner and show call For more information about the fes-
for reservations) tival visit dresdenmelonfestival.com.