Harley Davidson Travel Blog . . . and thoughts along the journey

Middletown, OH

I arrived in Middletown, OH late in the afternoon, around 4 P.M. and we were looking as usual for a nice restaurant for Mary and me to discover; . . . and then of course to share our experience with you.

But I must tell you, I drove around in Middletown for over an hour . . . not finding a restaurant, but to listen to stories of Middletown residents you will NOT believe.

The Sorg Mansion
First of all I drove by a beautiful mansion (see picture). The mansion is the former residence of the Sorg family. The mansion was built in 1887 by Paul J. Sorg, a multimillionaire who had made his fortune in the tobacco industry and other business ventures. Built in the Romanesque style, the thirty-five room house cost $1 million to erect.

As I drove slower I noticed that many of the windows had window air conditioning units and that there were numerous people in the (which must have been once a beautiful back yard) parking lot . . . just hanging out. We later found out that supposedly the owner, who bought the mansion for the amount of the back taxes (supposedly $25,000) converted this historic building into an apartment building for lower income families.

Middletown what were you thinking? Why in the world would you allow for this to happen? Do you not carry any responsibility?

As I drove further down/up the road on Main Street, we noticed numerous once beautiful mansions . . most of them dilapidated and darkened in their glory.

This city does NOT care about her history or to preserve her glorious memories . . . it has abandoned her glory and acts irresponsible to visitors and the future.

Lake Mistake

It gets better: In our conversation with residents I found out that Middletown wanted to build a lake by damming and dredging the river, etc. , only to find out that there were EPA problems connected with the project and that such a project would require permits that would not be granted (as we may not just dam up a river and build a lake . . . Duh)

My Mall has a roof

As the Mall age in 1975 came to Middletown the answer of the local downtown business community was to place downtown (at least four blocks) under a giant roof (for 13 Million Dollars) and allow no traffic into downtown . . . and then the economic fathers of the city assessed a hefty fee for such project for all commercial businesses. . .

Guess what? This project was abandoned (the roof was taken down . . . yes, it rains upon the pavement again) and interestingly enough there is hardly any business in downtown left.

As you can see, Middletown has lost all sense of reality in her vision for future and her memories of the past. The city's website calls this town :"The Best in the Midwest!" (I will say no more . . . but I think they developed the slogan during their ambition to host the Olympics here)

We will be back to visit an Italian restaurant that was recommended to us by friends later that evening and /or to visit the Manchester Inn . . . when we recuperate from our visit.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 10, 2005 at Saturday, September 10, 2005. You can skip to the end and leave a response.