The Village of Mt. Orab
Mt. Orab is located in Brown County Ohio about 12 miles from the county seat of Georgetown. Brown County’s majority of population was people from the State of Virginia, because it was part of the Virginia Military Survey. The land was granted to Officers who served in the Revolutionary War in the State of Virginia and the Officers of the Army in the State of Virginia.
The County was named after General Jacob Brown who was an officer in the War of 1812. The County was then organized in the year 1817
Mt. Orab is the largest village in Green Township. The name Mt. Orab was named after the biblical name of Mt. Horeb in the Bible. Green Township was created on December 2, 1834. It was originally a part of Clermont County. It was created from portions of Sterling Township.
Before any lots were laid out, a store was kept on the southwest corner of Broadway and High Street, Henry Dennis was the first merchant of the town and James McClure was also first of the beginning merchants. The first village smith’s were Charles Zeller and Henry Varley. The village was laid out by Daniel Keethler on September 3. 1850 on the east bank of Sterling Fork of White Oak Creek and the lots were surveyed by a William McLain. There were only 19 lots in the beginning. Growth was slow until the Cincinnati & Eastern Railroad reached town on April 19, 1877. In that same year, 31 lots were added, and by 1880 Mt. Orab had become an incorporated village
The first postmaster of the town was Levi G. Marshall on January 7, 1854. some of the others to follow were William Weeks, and Dr. Michael Stroup. The early physicians were Dr. Michael Stroup, Al Earhart and R. Lancaster. Later Dr. Michael Stroup’s son, Joseph Michael Stroup became a Dr. in his father’s footsteps.
MC. Newcomb was the publisher of the Mt. Orab Monitor for two years until he moved his paper and business in August 1886 to Williamsburg, Ohio because the establishment was a non paying business in the town of Mt. Orab.
The Mt. Orab depot, built in 1884, is the oldest building in town and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The depot is owned by the’ Mt. Orab Women’s Club and has been moved across the tracks where it is on disp1ay along with a vintage wood caboose. While the railroad brought a measure of prosperity to Mt. Orab and the surrounding area, the C&E itself was a financial basket case and was finally acquired by the Norfolk & Western (now Norfolk Southern) in 1901
The telephone service had began in the 1900’s. There were very few subscribers to the telephone exchange.
In June of 1929, Radio Station WHBD “went on the air” from the rear of Doc Moler’s Garage and General Store on East Main Street. At that time, Mt. Orab was the smallest town in the U.S. with a radio station. Sunday was the big day! People gathered from all over the area to hear and see, the “live talent” on WHBD. One of the performers was Cowboy Copas who later became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry. Because of increasing operating expenses, the popular station was sold and moved to Portsmouth in 1934.
The Mt. Orab fire department was established in 1896 and continues to serve Mt. Orab and the surrounding townships.
