Waynesville, Ohio

Episode 69 / 16 May 2018 / 158 min / full

Loneliness Is Better Than Murder

"We're going to Waynesville, Ohio... It's in Warren County." about 0:05:43

The case: Attempted murder of Brenda Johnson (January 4, 1991); Murder of Kimberly Barton (January 16, 2003). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2018

Population

2,999

Median age

40

Median household income

almost $58,000

Median home value

$209,700

Two-bedroom rent

about $787

Cost of living

100

Religious

30%

Property crime

▲ about 10% higher

Violent crime

▲ about 20% higher

History, in brief

• Samuel Heighway immigrated to America from England in 1791. about 0:08:34
• He founded Waynesville in 1797. about 0:08:52
• He thought the town would become the capital of the Northwest Territory. about 0:08:56
• He was an engineer in England and had partners: Reverend John Smith, a Methodist minister, Dr. Evan Beans, a physician, and Sir Francis Bailey, a scientist. about 0:10:33
• The partners invested in 30,000 acres of land between two rivers. about 0:10:53
• They planned a plantation and laid the town out like an English village with parks, squares, a central public square, serpentine walkways, groves of trees and fish ponds. about 0:11:09
• The town was named after Anthony Wayne, who died in 1796, the year before Waynesville officially became a town. about 0:14:30
• Anthony Wayne was a U.S. Army officer and brigadier general in the Revolutionary War, known as Mad Anthony. about 0:14:37
• Local legend says Wayne's troops camped on Camp Creek and that a paymaster hid the troop's money during an Indian attack; it has never been found. about 0:15:59
• The town was built mostly by Quakers. about 0:17:11
• Waynesville's post office has been in operation since 1804. about 0:17:28
• Waynesville was a major stop on the Underground Railroad, with tunnels connecting safe houses that led to the Little Miami River, and some safe houses still stand. about 0:17:33
• On August 26, 1879, 18-year-old William Everett Anderson killed his mother, his aunt and his 11-year-old cousin with a knife at their home on South Main Street. about 0:18:55
• A fire at the E.L. Prince Grocery Store on Main Street spread through the government offices and the Miami Gazette newspaper; only two buildings on the block survived. about 0:20:43
• Waynesville is now known as the Antiques Capital of the Midwest. about 0:21:01
• Many of the town's roads still carry their original names. about 0:21:36

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