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64  GUIDE TO YELLOW SPR INGS  |  2020 – 2021 By REILLY DIXON Like many things in the vil- lage, the architecture within the central business district of downtown Yellow Springs is, well, unusual. The edifices that line the central throughways in the heart of the village form a patchwork of design and structure. The structures are quirky, asymmetrical and kaleidoscopic in color — the squat skyline, seldom rising above two stories, is jagged and sundry. But downtown’s buildings do more than display the sty- listic sensibilities of yester - year — they tell the story of Yellow Springs. Indeed, much of the village’s long history can be found in its architec- ture, hidden in plain sight. Stories in stone (and wood)— The architecture of a village Downtown Yellow Springs’ architectural significance was set in stone — so to speak — in 1982, when the downtown and surround- ing area earned a listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The official historical designation was granted “both because of its place in the area’s history and because of its historic architecture,” according to the entry in the register. Yellow Springs was a “valu- able addition” to the register, said David Simmons of the Ohio Historic Preservation Office back in 1982, because of “the sense of time and place” that is “so pervasive” in the village. Owing to the older structures that have been preserved, Yellow Springs is “in a sense a 19th- century community,” said visitors and, as a result, more settlers. This was around the time when Judge William Mills, largely considered to be the founding father of the village, convinced railroad developers to build the line through Yellow Springs, rather than Clifton, by agree - ing to raise money for it. By 1846, the Little Miami Rail - road opened up and ran right through what would become downtown. Once the railway was fully operational, three trains would complete a daily circuit from Cincinnati to Springfield. With this railway came a surge of business; frontier entrepreneurs scrambled to get a slice of the pie that Mills had set out for them. By the end of the decade, merchants, grocers and shopkeepers set up shop in what is now the Dayton Street portion of the busi - ness district. An entry in villager Cosmelia Hirst’s 1895 scrapbook says the follow- ing of that era: “When the word went out that the Little Miami Railroad would pass this point it was the signal that here would be a place for business, hence the rapid building of the town. In all directions from early morning until late evening was heard the sound of saw and hammer. Every man was busy fitting up a place for his own special industry and in making a home for his family or assisting others to do it.” Before the end of the cen- tury, many of the buildings that comprise the downtown commercial district would be built, and aside from a few exceptions and minor aes - thetic changes, many of them remain much the same today. By and large, these buildings reflect the design preoccupa - tions of the 19th century. As historian and expert Simmons. Nearly 40 years later, this remains true. The construction of many of the downtown buildings dates back to over a century-and- a-half ago, with some newer additions to the streetscape. Built beginnings The middle decades of the 19th century were a pivotal time in the history of Yellow Springs. Until the 1840s, Yellow Springs was a rustic settlement squarely on the edge of the Western frontier. It was composed of a church and a couple of homes — one of which is now known as Ye Olde Trail Tavern, the back part of which, according to some sources, was built in 1827; other sources suggest 1840s. Eventually, though, the mineral spring in Glen Helen began to attract more PHOTO: YS HISTORICAL SOCIETY Pictured here is Xenia Avenue in the early 1940s. Taken from the top of the building that is now Tom’s Market, looking North, this photo foregrounds two important buildings in Yellow Springs’ history: the building that currently houses Emporium Wines & Underdog Cafe, and the original building that’s now the back half of the Senior Center.