Wayne County Courthouse at the corner of N Market St. and W Liberty St. Start the tour here! 

Hello and welcome to the Wooster Digital History Project’s Food History Walking Tour! This tour will lead you to eight sites in downtown Wooster connected to the city’s local food history. Due to Wayne County's rich agricultural history, food and food production are vital to understanding the area's past and present. A consistent trend throughout Wooster’s food history, and one that continues today, is an emphasis on community. The relationships between farmers and consumers in Wayne County are central to Wooster’s embrace of local food and drive a thriving community of restaurants and retailers that supply regional products. We hope you enjoy the tour and visiting downtown Wooster!

Be sure to click or tap the blue links between photos to watch oral histories of local chefs, restaurateurs, and community members!

Map of the land originally inhabited by the Lenapé Nation. Lenapé identifying individuals remain in these native lands as well as those on the path to present residencies in Oklahoma, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada. Today the Lenapé are more commonly known as the Delaware Nation and have headuqarters in Oklahoma.

Acknowledging the Lenapé Nation

By Abigail Blinka

This stop acknowledges the influence of the Lenapé Nation both in Wooster and in the larger history of hunting and agriculture in the Ohio River Valley. There are currently no federally recognized Native Nations in the state of Ohio. However, The Lenapé Nation, also known as the Lenape’wàk or Delaware Nation, are considered “the Grandfathers” of many Native Nations who formerly inhabited the upper Ohio River Valley (present-day Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and eastern Illinois). A combination of wars, coercive treaties, and legislative changes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries resulted in Lenapé movement west from their geographic origins in present-day New York City, the Hudson River area, and Pennsylvania, to current residencies primarily in Oklahoma and Ontario, Canada. While no longer recognized in Ohio, the Lenapé, their descendants, and their methods of hunting and agriculture remain important to the story of Wooster’s food history.

Our concept of land is that it is not a thing to be possessed, but rather something sacred and alive. We have a saying, ‘We do not own the land, we are of the land, we belong to it.’ We call the Earth, Kukna, our mother. All life comes from the Earth, she nourishes us, carries all life and gives us a place to put our feet. - Hìtakonanu’laxk (Lenapé Nation)

As Lenapé Nation chief Hìtakonanu’laxk’s (TreeBeard) quote recognizes, land is vitally important to the Lenapé Nation. They used it for harvesting corn, a major food staple, joined by squash, beans, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes as well as hunting to participate in the fur trade. The Lenapé produced over a dozen different types of corn which were each suited to a different use. Hard corns were dried and ground into flours to make cornbread and coarse grinds or whole kernels were used in stews, grits, and hominy. Beyond crops, the Lenapé also foraged for fruits, wild greens, nuts, and roots to supplement their harvests. Many primary accounts of the Lenapé written by white observers downplay their hunting skills and highly efficient agricultural practices. These accounts falsely emphasize men’s labor (hunting) as the main food source, when it was largely sustained through agriculture, and predominantly produced by women. Food production remained fairly consistent even after the forced relocation from the east coast to present-day Pennsylvania and Ohio. Similar landscapes and access to water allowed the Lenapé to continue their agricultural practices which were equivalent to those used by  previous generations.

Unlike their agricultural practices, the Lenapé’s hunting practices changed with the introduction of the fur trade. Prior to contact with Europeans, Lenapé Nation chief Hìtakonanu’laxk (TreeBeard) describes hunting as a carefully orchestrated process built on sustaining both the Lenapé people and the animal populations:

For food we hunted animals and birds and caught fish. Bear, moose, elk, deer, beaver, etc. were among those animals hunted, as were grouse, turkeys, geese, and duck… Each family had its own hunting territory, and several families might hunt a particular area one year and hunt in another area the next, giving the other areas a rest, so that they wouldn’t deplete the animals.- Hìtakonanu’laxk (Lenapé Nation) 

After contact with Europeans, the emphasis on hunting began to shift towards meeting the demands for fur production rather than prioritizing sustainability. Because of this shift in Lenapé hunting practices, the populations of beavers and other fur-bearing animals plummeted. Additionally, this change caused the loss of many traditional skills and technologies due to the increased use and eventual dependence on European goods.

The Ohio River Valley is no longer inhabited by the Lenapé Nation primarily due to deceitful legislative processes and a myriad of violent conflicts. While there are many other examples, with varying degrees of force and coercion, (see the Walking Purchase Treaty of 1737, Treaty of Easton of 1758, Paxton Massacre in 1763, the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, and 1818 Treaty of St. Mary Ohio) the following event is specific to ceded Lenapé land in northeast Ohio. In 1805, the United States government acquired one-half million acres of land, including present-day Wooster, in the Treaty of Fort Industry. The treaty included the promise of a thousand dollar annual payout to each Native Nation that lost land (the Wyandot, Ottawa, Ojibwe, Munsee, Lenapé, Potawatomi, and Shawnee) and a clause that allowed for the continuation of indigenous hunting on the ceded land. However, in practice, the treaty was intended for settlement and whites neglected the portion which allowed Native Nations to continue hunting and fishing.

Manipulation, combined with different understandings of land ownership and use, continued to contribute to the westward movement of the Lenapé Nation. Today, the Lenapé Nation is more commonly referred to as the Delaware Nation and has its headquarters in Oklahoma, although there are also populations in Kansas, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada. The Lenapé’s history illustrates that local sourcing has deeper roots than contemporary food movements, as food historian Michelle Moon explains that, “America’s first regional cuisines were indigenous.”

Walk south down Market St. for the next stop.

1. Mary Stockwell, The Other Trail of Tears: The Removal of the Ohio Indians (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2014).
2. Hìtakonanu’laxk, The Grandfathers Speak: Native American Folk Tales of the Lenapé People (New York: Interlink Books, 1994).
3. https://www.penn.museum/sites/fap/sections.shtml
   
4. Herbert C. Kraft, The Lenape: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography (Newark: New Jersey Historical Society, 1986).
5. Daniel G. Brinton, The Lenape And Their Legends; With The Complete Text And Symbols Of The Walam Olum, A New Translation, And Inquiry Into Its Authenticity (Lewisburg, PA: Wennawoods Publishing, 1999).
6. Dawn Marsh, “Creating Delaware Homelands in the Ohio Country,” Ohio History 116, no. 1 (2009).
7. http://lenapeprograms.info/lenape-delaware-indian-resources/lenape-history/ 
8. Anthony J. Hall and Gretchen Albers, “Easton Treaty,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed June 12, 2018.https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/easton-treaty/.
9. Dawn G. Marsh, A Lenape Among The Quakers: The Life of Hannah Freeman (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2014).
10. Grant Foreman, Last Trek of the Indians (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1946).
11. http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Treaty_of_Fort_Industry_(1805)_(Transcript) 
12. Michelle Moon, “Local Flavor: Interpreting Food and Place,” in Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).

Exterior of The Meatheads Union of Ohio

Adam Nussbaum Oral History

Adam Nussbaum Oral History: Meatheads

A small portion of Meatheads' best-selling sausage

Decoration within the butcher shop from a former occupant of the building

The Meatheads Union of Ohio

By Spencer O'Keefe

The Meatheads Union of Ohio is a classic butcher shop, selling locally sourced meat out of counters at the front of the store, reminiscent of a time before the pre-packaged meat of supermarkets. Founded, owned, and run by Adam Nussbaum, it started in 2011, operating as the butcher section within Spoon Market. With popular demand requiring expansion, Spoon Market moved to a new location, but Adam stayed. No longer needing to share the space, he renovated the store into a full butcher shop and the new, more spacious location opened in 2016. The building itself has held many businesses under its roof, including one of the first locations for Wooster Brush Works as well as a farming supplies store called The Gold Star Store. As a butcher shop it supplies high quality local meat to the community, but most of all, it is a friendly and welcoming atmosphere that is reviving the art of meat butchery in downtown Wooster.

Adam Nussbaum founded Meatheads Union of Ohio in May of 2016. Unlike most small business startups, Meatheads already had a customer base before it officially opened. This was because Nussbaum had been supplying the community with fresh meat since 2011 when he worked as a butcher for Spoon Market. As the community’s butcher he prides himself on sourcing all of his meat locally. He knows the owner of a local slaughterhouse and has been to the facility personally to see where his product comes from. Additionally, the relationship they share allows him to ensure that the animals he is supplied with are treated ethically and killed humanely. The close relationship Nussbaum shares with the local distributor allows him to supply meat that is far fresher than what is usually found in grocery stores; it reaches his display case only a few days after being slaughtered. This freshness and quality is present in all the meat but especially in the house’s specialty: sausage. Many of Nussbaum’s original sausages are traditional recipes, but he is always experimenting with new blends. One recent creation is flavored with bacon and blueberries. Fulfilling Wooster’s desire for high-quality, local meat brings the business and the consumers closer together, and in doing this, Meatheads is a staple in Wooster’s local food scene. 

Meatheads Union of Ohio is also an important part of the downtown's history as it resides in a historic building that dates back to 1881. It was built with Italianate style architecture, popular for commercial buildings at the time, and is similar in style and age to many of its neighbors. Its rich history of occupants includes the Wooster Brush Company, then called Wooster Brush Works, which occupied a number of buildings in downtown Wooster before moving out in 1909. Later in the century The Gold Star Store moved in and sold seed, feed, and farm supplies to local residents. The store closed in 1989, but its old sign still hangs on the wall in Meatheads as decoration. Meatheads similarly displays paraphernalia from the building’s more recent past, including the butcher shop sign used by Spoon Market when the two shops were combined back in 2011. Their partnership ended in 2016, which brings the building to its current status as the community's local butcher shop.

Today, local butcher shops are making a comeback. In the early 1900s, butcher shops were common in the U.S. because such establishments were the only place consumers could get their meat. Throughout the 20th century, however, pre-packaged meat became more readily available and inexpensive to purchase at supermarkets and, in response, butcher shops steadily declined. Currently, over ninety percent of consumers buy their meat from a supermarket or large retailer, but this trend has seen a bit of pushback in recent years. With the rise of the local food movement, consumers now desire to know where their meat comes from and demand healthier and higher quality products. Some even go as far as wanting to know who the farmer is and how the animal was raised. The pre-packaged meat found in supermarket refrigerators is rarely, if ever, grass-fed and locally-raised, which is to say it does not often meet the high standards of the local food consumer. Filling these gaps, butcher shops are an integral part of the local food movement. Even so, most butcher shops are run by people at or near retirement age and young new additions to the industry are rare. All of this makes Adam, a man who got into meat butchery as a teenager, his brand new business, and his dedication to local sourcing, all the more unique.

Walk across S Market St. to the next site, City Square Steakhouse. There is a crosswalk just south of Meadheads at the intersection of Market St. and South St. 

1. Tami Mosser, "‘The Butcher’ Opens Shop under New Name, with New Partner," The Daily
   Record, May 15, 2016, accessed June 4, 2018, http://www.the-daily-record.com/article/20160515/NEWS/305159608.
2. "Meatheads Union," Meatheads Union, accessed June 4, 2018, http://meatheadsunion.com/.
3. WDHP Meatheads Oral History Interview 6/20/18
4. "Landmarks & Landmark Districts Register," City of Wooster Design Guidelines, December
   2015, 88-101, accessed June 5, 2018,
   https://www.woosteroh.com/sites/default/files/Historic%20Properties%20and%20Districts.pdf.
5. http://www.woosterbrush.com/wooster/our-company/
6. http://www.cantonrep.com/article/20121108/News/311089787
7. http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2013/11/06/americas-best-butcher-shops.html
8. https://www.globalmeatnews.com/Article/2014/12/18/A-focus-on-the-retail-meat-market-in-the-USA
9. http://goldmeat.us/3-reasons-butcher-shops-making-comeback/
10. http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/news/3666313-changing-nature-and-decline-local-butcher-shops

Exterior sign for The City Square Steakhouse on S. Market St.

Mike Mariola Oral History

Mike Mariola Oral History: City Square

Building exterior of Germania Hall, the location of City Square Steakhouse

Historic photo of Germania Hall

The City Square Steakhouse

By Spencer O'Keefe

Mike Mariola, an entrepreneur and native of the Wooster area, founded The City Square Steakhouse in 2008. The upscale restaurant is housed in the 140-year-old Germania Hall, one of the most prominent buildings in downtown Wooster. The interior of the steakhouse contains the original brick walls, exposed during a recent renovation, that tell the longer history of Wooster's past. The brick exterior, meanwhile, has remained largely the same, with most changes occuring at the street level. As a steakhouse, City Square serves Certified Angus Beef® and local produce, occasionally featuring Certified Angus Beef® brand Prime and Certified Angus Beef® Ohio. It is one of the most popular upscale restaurants in Wooster, serving patrons high-quality food in an elegant and historic atmosphere.

The building that houses City Square Steakhouse, Germania Hall, has been a landmark in downtown Wooster for over a century. Built by Frank C. Gerlach, Harry Kinkler and Lewis Straub in 1878 with Italianate architectural style, it has housed many respected and well-known establishments for over fourteen decades. The first shops to occupy the space were a meat business and a saloon, and City Square continues the meat-selling tradition. The most significant establishment, the original Freedlander clothing store, moved into the vacancy left by the original meat business when it closed in 1884. Freedlander’s later moved into its own building and became one of the most influential businesses in Wooster, closing in 2009 as the oldest independently owned downtown department store in the country. In 2007 Liberty Market Properties bought the property and then, with the help of a group of investors, including restaurateur Mike Mariola, refurbished the building into a high-end steakhouse. After months of renovations, The City Square Steakhouse first opened its doors in the spring of 2008. Mike Mariola, who also owned South Market Bistro across the street, was the owner. Mariola later sold his other restaurant. For ten years The City Square Steakhouse has served the city of Wooster and in that time it has become one of the most respected businesses in the city.

For a wider perspective, steakhouses themselves have been around in America since the late 19th century. Before steakhouses proper there were two predecessors: beef banquets and chop houses. The former was a political fundraising event where men would eat their fill of beef off of slices of bread in celebration of a recent victory. The latter was a less luxurious (often downright dirty) but still high-end meat serving establishment that catered to merchants in search of a hot meal. The first steakhouses appeared in New York City in the years following the Civil War, around the same time Germania Hall was built. They have since become a staple of American meat restaurants, selling high-end steaks alongside potato and spinach side dishes in a menu that has remained largely the same across the board for the last 150 years. City Square is no exception to this phenomenon. Its patrons enjoy a variety of traditional steakhouse side dishes on top of its famous filet mignon, such as a shrimp cocktail or a slice of New York Style cheesecake. The City Square Steakhouse offers an authentic American steakhouse experience in downtown Wooster.

Locally-owned and locally-sourced, The City Square Steakhouse is a small business that has helped drive the success and revival of Wooster’s downtown area. Housed in a historical building and running successfully for ten years, it is one of Wooster’s most well known and respected establishments. As a restaurant, it sources all of its ground beef from Ohio and its steaks are all high choice quality cuts of the Certified Angus Beef® brand. As well as meat, many beverages come from nearby breweries, including Red Ale from the Wooster Brewery and IPA from Columbus Brewing Company. Produce is purchased in season, when possible, and, in light of the local food movement, sourcing has become an important part of the restaurant’s philosophy. This is all done under the auspices of City Square’s owner, Mike Mariola.

To access the next site, walk north on S. Market St. towards W. Liberty St. Turn right onto E Liberty St. Broken Rocks will be on your right. 

1. Jarred Opatz, "Bits and Pieces: 'Skyscraper' of Its Day," The Daily Record, December 1, 2017, accessed June 4, 2018.
2. Bryan Schaaf, "‘Wooster Meant Freedlander’s, Freedlander’s Meant Wooster’ Doors Close
   Saturday," The Daily Record, February 26, 2009, accessed June 7, 2018.
3. Bryan Schaaf, "Downtown Wooster Getting City Square Steakhouse Soon," The Daily Record, August 17, 2007, accessed June 7, 2018.
4. Jonathan Scholles, "Wooster Chamber Small Business Nominee: City Square Steakhouse," The Daily Record, June 17, 2015, accessed June 7, 2018.
5. Stephanie Butler, "A Rare History of the Steakhouse," History.com, October 24, 2014, accessed June 16, 2018.
6. "Steaks and Classics," City Square Steakhouse, accessed June 16, 2018. http://www.citysquaresteakhouse.com/beer/.
7. Steven F. Huszai, "Food Sourcing Is More Important than Certification," The Daily Record, July 2, 2013, accessed June 8, 2018.
8. "Beer," City Square Steakhouse, accessed June 16, 2018, http://www.citysquaresteakhouse.com/beer/.
9. Jessica Contrera, "Get to Know: Mike Mariola," Fairlawn Patch, February 27, 2012, accessed
   June 7, 2018, https://patch.com/ohio/fairlawn-bath/get-to-know-mike-mariola.

Exterior of Broken Rocks from the north side of E. Liberty Street

Glen Grumbling Oral History

Glen Grumbling Oral History: Broken Rocks

Exterior of Broken Rocks, view from sidewalk on the east side of the building

Broken Rocks Café and Bakery

By Katarina Padavick

Broken Rocks is a beloved restaurant located in Wooster’s historical downtown on East Liberty Street. The revitalized downtown is a vibrant indicator of the passion Wooster residents have for their history. The building housing Broken Rocks is an integral part of the city’s history as the tunnels that run under the building have been linked to possible involvement of aiding escaped slaves through the Underground Railroad. Since then, the building has housed multiple local businesses. Now known as the Clark Building, it is the home of Broken Rocks which opened in 2007. It is renowned for its fresh artisan-style bread and fine spirits, but the menu also includes a variety of pasta, pizza, burger, and sandwich options prepared daily with local ingredients. Located in a city with deep agrarian roots, Broken Rocks is a part of the community’s endeavor to provide local and sustainable fresh food to its community.

 The warm and sweet aroma that welcomes you into Broken Rocks Café and Bakery tells a longer story of the restaurant’s creation as well as Ohio’s agricultural history. The owners of Broken Rocks, Glen and Lisa Grumbling, originally established Broken Rocks in Loudonville,Ohio, but moved it to Wooster, Ohio in 2000. They named the restaurant after their favorite spot on the shore of Lake Huron, on the thumb of Michigan. In addition to the inspiration for the café’s name, Michigan is also significant as it is home to the wild grapes whose skin is necessary for Broken Rocks’ wild yeast, which is used in their signature sourdough artisan style bread. They bake it in a special French bread oven which injects the dough with steam, resulting in a more evenly baked bread and crispier crust. To accompany their fine bread, Broken Rocks offers a range of artisanal cheeses.

Today artisan bread serves as a stark contrast to the mass production of bread that occupies the millions of grocery stores shelves across America. However, artisan bread was not always so popular. Artisan sourdough bread requires a long fermentation process, which made big business bakers opt to bake cheaper, less time consuming breads during the 1960s. But the last few decades with the help of the local foods movements have put artisan style bread on the rise. With the simple combination of ingredients, the quality of wheat and yeast are an essential to any artisan baker. Thus, bakers, such as the Grumblings, are keenly interested in where their wheat comes from.

Broken Rocks, like many of Wooster’s eateries, is committed to buying local for the freshest ingredients and the best dishes. Owner and head chef Glen Grumbling once jokingly stated in an interview “We were into buying local since before it was cool.” After working in the restaurant business for over twenty years, Grumbling has realized that fresh local ingredients are the key to creating tasty dishes and supporting small farms. As such, Grumbling has worked hard over the years to form relationships with his producers. One such relationship is the one he has cultivated with the owner of Homestead Springs, who supplies his locally raised trout and pork. Grumblings commented “the farmer raises the pork and brings it to me, that’s farm to table”. Wooster’s growing local food community allows businesses like Broken Rocks to thrive. In turn, establishments dedicated to local sourcing help support nearby farms. While freshness and quality are significant factors in the choice to source locally, local food does more than enhance specialty dishes; it creates relationships between the producer, the consumer, and the land from which they both reside.

To access the next site, walk back to the intersection of Liberty St. and Market St. (west of Broken Rocks). The parking lots south of the intersection are the location of the next site during the summer months on Saturday mornings. 

1. Bell, Brandon, Colleen Gilfether, Hope Nelson, and Jacob Hailperin-Lausch. "Liberty Street Tour." Wooster Digital History Project. Accessed June 20, 2018. http://woosterhistory.org/exhibits/show/walking-tour/liberty-street-tour.
2. Shipper, Rebekah. "Places We Love: Broken Rocks." Hisgirlfriday. June 13, 2016. Accessed June 20, 2018. https://his-girl-friday.com/2016/06/13/places-we-love-broken-rocks/.

The Downtown Wooster Farmers’ Market

By Sofia Biegeleisen

The Farmers' Market was founded in 1998, run by Main Street Wooster Inc., and sponsored by the Everything Rubbermaid Store. The market is open from 8:00 a.m. to noon on Saturdays from June through October. The market itself takes place on Market Street, in the block south of Liberty Street and in the connected parking areas. This farmers’ market provides a space for local farmers and artisans to advertise and sell their products to local community members. Although some vendors, such as Autumn Harvest Farm, do sell meat, the market primarily sells a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The Downtown Wooster Farmers’ Market provides an example of a vegetarian-friendly establishment. Growing in popularity alongside the local and organic food movements, vegetarianism is an important counterexample to the beef industry, which plays prominent role in Wooster’s food history.

Although the concept of vegetarianism has existed for millennia, the modern incarnation of the idea originated in the 1960s and 1970s when some Americans, particularly those associated with the “counterculture” movement, began to worry about the effects of chemicals and antibiotics on animals and, ultimately, on meat-eaters. They also felt that taking animals out of nature and keeping them in the appalling environment of a large farm was unethical. These ideas are also related to the local and organic food movements. Vegetarians and meateaters alike began to worry about chemicals in their food. Farming accidents spilled chemicals into the water supply, an excess of manure killed trees, and the ammonia produced through cattle farming caused acid rain. Eventually, people also began to realize that modern farming practices, particularly meat and dairy production, would have detrimental long lasting effects on the earth. This helped to inspire the local and natural food movements.

These movements align with the rise in popularity of farmers’ markets. Markets comparable to the modern day farmers’ market first emerged long before refrigeration, when buying and selling fresh food was a necessary component of daily life. As an example, in 1730, a precursor to the modern farmers’ market, opened in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This market consisted of 120 square feet and was located near the center of Lancaster’s urban area. During the early 1800s, smaller markets began to open at roadsides both in Lancaster and across North America allowing farmers and other vendors to sell their goods. These markets sometimes evolved into larger outdoor commercial centers. Eventually, these markets became more permanent and were housed indoors or under roofs. Local Roots is an example of this transition from outdoor to indoor markets, as the co-op provides a fixed space for farmers to sell products year-round. Today, farmers’ markets make it easier for people to access a large selection of local food.

After losing popularity during the 1950s, when advancements in food preservation technology allowed supermarkets to flourish, farmers’ markets began to reemerge across North America and Europe during the 1980s and 1990s as people began to pay more attention to where their food was coming from. On the heels of the environmental movement, many shoppers became interested in buying natural and/or organic foods, both of which were readily available at farmers’ markets. Additionally, some consumers who did not trust natural and organic labels found a sense of security in buying local. This is significant in the context of Wooster because its community focuses more on the local aspect of food than on natural or organic labels. Founded in 1998, the Downtown Wooster Farmers’ Market emerged at a time when the number of farmers’ markets increased internationally. Today, the market presents a wide variety of local food items, including fruit, vegetables, coffee, and baked goods. One example of a more specialized vendor is Ol’ Dirty Sheets’, a Wooster-based company that sells locally made hot sauces and dry rubs. Additionally, on special occasions, the market holds wine tastings with wine from Troutman Vineyards and Winery and Blue Barn Winery. The market is also notable for the combination of Amish and non-Amish vendors. Although the vendors sell a variety of diverse foods, the Farmer’s Market creates an environment where community shoppers can come specifically for local food. This is especially important because many community members consider knowing where their food came from to be more important than labels such as natural and organic.

Cross both Liberty and Market streets using the crosswalks. You should be on the northwest most corner of the intersection, directly in front of the Wayne County courthouse. Walk north on N. Market St. one block. Turn left on W. North St. Walk west one block to the intersection of W. North St. and N. Walnut St. The next site is on your right, Olde Jaol. 

1. "Downtown Wooster Farmers' Market – 20th Anniversary Celebration ...." 1 Jul. 2017, http://mainstreetwooster.org/event/downtown-wooster-farmers-market-20th-anniversary-celebration/. Accessed 7 Jun. 2018.
2. "Farmers' Market – Main Street Wooster, Ohio." http://mainstreetwooster.org/sponsored-programs/farmers-market/. Accessed 7 Jun. 2018.
3. Colin Spencer, The Heretic’s Feast: A History of Vegetarianism (London: Fourth Estate Limited, 1993).
4. ""Meet Me at the Market" - The Evolution of a Farmers Market | USDA." Accessed June 20, 2018. https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2013/08/7/meet-me-market-evolution-farmers-market.
5. Rachel Dodds et al. “Consumer Choice and Farmers’ Markets,” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 27, no. 3 (2014): 399, doi: 10.1007/s10806-013-9469-4, 402.

Exterior of Olde Jaol as seen at the intersection of W. North St. and N. Walnut St.

Olde Jaol awning over the west entrance

Barred windows on the west side of Olde Jaol

Olde Jaol

By Sofia Biegeleisen

The Wayne County Jail opened in 1865 in downtown Wooster. 130 years later, a Wayne County resident bought the building  and converted it into a restaurant called The Olde Jaol Restaurant and Tavern, a quintessential American steakhouse. Today, it is owned by Dave and Dalila Schauble and guests can dine in a variety of settings, including historic jail cells. The jail has a rich history and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

One of the more notorious aspects of the restaurant’s history is its time as the Wayne County Jail, when it was the site of the only public hanging in Wayne County’s history. On October 2, 1879, John Callahan killed John Tormie at the old Wayne County Fairground following a brawl between Callahan and his friends and Tormie and his brother-in-law. Tormie’s murder provoked public outrage, as he was an esteemed member of the community. Contrastingly, John Callahan, a second-generation American whose father was an Irish immigrant, was the victim of the anti-Irish sentiment of the time period. According to a previous exhibit by the Wooster Digital History Project, “Many Woosterites interpreted Callahan’s actions as typical of the ‘belligerence of being an immigrant’ or, as some put it in the local newspaper ‘the drunken Irishman’ acting out”. This sentiment may have been connected to his eventual public execution, as Callahan, who was twenty-two years old at the time of his death, is the only person to have been hanged as a means of execution in Wayne County. Although 2,000 members of the community appealed to Governor Charles Foster to spare Callahan’s life, their attempt was unsuccessful. 5,000 people attended the hanging and 3,000 came to see Callahan’s body the next day.

A fascination with death links the history of public executions to today’s dark tourism. Although dark tourism, in which people travel to locations remembered for their macabre history, is not a new phenomenon, the way many business owners now brand their location— emphasizing the site’s grim history— is a recent development. Olde Jaol is particularly interesting because it combines the histories of food and death. Olde Jaol exemplifies this, as the restaurant’s aesthetics are based on the building’s dark history. For example, the tavern menu advertises “bail burgers” such as the “bandit burger” and the “bounty hunter’s burger.” Is it morally correct to eat an Executioner’s Chicken Sandwich, which Olde Jaol claims is a “perfect last request” at the site where a real person was hanged publicly? What is the appeal and what are the drawbacks of this kind of marketing? Dark tourism marketing raises complex ethical questions. Is it appropriate to visit sites where extreme violence has happened in the past? What type of attitude should one have when visiting one of these sites? Should ethics matter to business owners? While these questions have no definitive answers, they show that location and the nature of its history matter when considering the use of local spaces as commercial food-based attractions.

Conversely, location can also enhance the dining experience. Recently, Olde Jaol added the “Prohibition Room” as a third option for guests. This room, which is designed to be reminiscent of a Prohibition era speakeasy, does not serve food but is intended to be a place for guests to enjoy a drink before or after their meal. This room features a wide variety of bourbons, whereas the tavern and main dining rooms primarily serve wine and beer. Olde Jaol uses Certified Angus Beef®, providing customers with the highest quality meat. Although the Certified Angus cattle are not raised locally, the headquarters are located in Wooster. Many restaurants choose to work with Certified Angus, in order to receive guaranteed high quality products. Olde Jaol’s fine dining menu is comprised of traditional steakhouse cuisine, including a variety of Certified Angus steaks and ribs, as well as classic appetizers such as the shrimp cocktails. The tavern offers a much more casual fare, and is a charming and less formal setting than the steakhouse itself. The tavern’s menu consists of a collection of soups, salads, sandwiches, and as well as other meat, seafood, and pasta dishes. The beer cheese soup is a local favorite, which many guests choose to enjoy on the covered patio. The patio brings a tropic feel to Ohio, although indoor seating is also available. Both menus also include alcoholic beverages.

To access the next site, walk south one block on N. Walnut St. Cross E. Liberty St. using the crosswalk. Continue walking south on N. Walnut St. one block. The next site, Local Roots, will be on your left.

1. "The Individuals at Hand · 1879 Murder at the Wayne County Fairgrounds." Accessed June 27, 2018. http://woosterhistory.org/exhibits/show/1879-murder-at-the-wayne-count/the-individuals-at-hand.
2. "One went to gallows - Lifestyle - The Daily Record - Wooster, OH." Accessed June 26, 2018. http://www.the-daily-record.com/lifestyle/20170623/one-went-to-gallows.
3. "Menus | Olde Jaol Steakhouse and Tavern." Accessed June 26, 2018. http://oldejaolrestaurant.com/menus/.

Exterior of Local Roots from the west side of S. Walnut St.

Betsy Anderson Oral History

Betsy ANderson Oral History: Local Roots

Interior of Local Roots' market area

Interior of Local Roots' café dining area

Local Roots Café and Market

By Katarina Padavick

A group of volunteers established Local Roots Café and Market in 2009 with the goals of making locally produced foods more accessible and supporting small local farmers. Originally called “Wooster Local Food Cooperative,” in January of the following year they officially opened for business in the abandoned Corningware cookware building under their new name. As a member owned cooperative, their store continues to be staffed entirely by volunteer community members. Local Roots, staying true to their original mission, provides a space for farmers to sell locally grown products to Wooster’s community year round. With the addition of a community kitchen, Local Roots is now also a place for people to sit down and get lunch made from the freshest local ingredients and international flavors.

One of the earliest origins of the modern local foods movement is the back-to-the-land movement beginning in the 1960s through the 1970s, in which Americans left their homes in the city to go live on communal farms. These farms were examples of early sustainable and organic agriculture. This movement inspired the increasing local food movement to continue into the mid 1990s. Another indicator of the increased focus and support for local food in the United States is the proliferation of local farmers’ markets during the 1990s. This eventually inspired the term “Locavore” in 2010 to describe a person’s diet consisting only of food coming from a 100 mile radius. The alternative local food movements that grew out of these efforts were interested in food’s community value rather than its commodity value. Enthusiasm for local foods increased, with White House support, in the twenty first century. Of note is Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden, which supplies fresh ingredients for White House meals.

Additionally, food co-ops have become vital for increasing access to local foods. According to Maria Trimrachi,“food co-ops are more like traditional grocery stores than farmers' markets, however, unlike most traditional grocery stores, co-ops help support local farmers and producers and the local economy.” Wooster’s Local Roots Café and Market is an example of a thriving multi-stakeholder food co-op located in the heart of downtown Wooster. The goal of new wave co-ops in the 1960s through 1970s was to supply people living in cities with “anti-corporate alternative to chain grocery stores.” From 1969 to 1979 over 10,000 new food co-ops were established across the United States to serve working class neighborhoods as well as hippy communities. These food co-ops were ground in counterculture philosophies and often experimental in practice. Some, like Local Roots, attempted to utilize volunteers as staff while others employed full time workers. Food co-ops are credited with creating the backbone of the modern natural foods industry.

Local Roots success as a co-op can largely be attributed to the community support and ability to build strong relationships with small farms. Martha Gaffney, one of Local Roots’ founders, actually began as an organic farmer. After finding it difficult to reach sufficient markets for her produce, she became passionate about creating better spaces for farmers to sell their products. Another founder, Betsy Anderson, expressed her interest in revitalizing farm-to-table methods after working in the research branch of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). The remaining founders came from diverse backgrounds but were united by the common goal of supporting local food and small farms. After weekly meetings in the Wayne County Public Library to discuss plans, and obtaining a $60,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), Local Roots was able to acquire freezers, refrigerators, displays, and a computer scanning and barcoding system. They began by initially collaborating with farmers’ market suppliers, but since then their business has expanded for their original 110 members to almost 300 agricultural producer members.One of their member Simple Products from Holmes County Ohio supplies Local Roots with a wide assortment of flavored syrups like hickory and lavender.

At Local Roots, the founders adhere to “the spirit of ‘local’ which is more than just mileage; it is about being able to connect to the person, and the story, behind the end product.” In 2010, Local Roots received the Local Hero award from Governor Ted Strickland for their outstanding work. To further support their local producers, Local Roots co-op retains only 10 percent of revenue, which is needed for maintenance and upkeep. The other 90 percent is given directly to farmers. Founder Betsy Anderson fondly remembers Local Roots’ beginning years and how creating a space for farmers to sell year round allowed them extra money to buy Christmas presents for their family. Additionally, by utilizing volunteers, rather than asking the farmers to work their displays, Local Roots allows farmers to invest more time in food production. Local Roots has additional locations in Powell, and Ashland, and is currently working to expand their presence online to further enhance the relationship between farmers and consumers.

For the last site, walk north on S. Walnut St. one block to the intersection with Liberty St. Turn right and walk east down W. Liberty St. Spoon will be on your right.

1. Robinson, Jennifer Meta, and James Robert Farmer. "What’s Next in Local Food?" In Selling Local: Why Local Food Movements Matter, 81-110. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2017.
2. Trimarchi, Maria. "What Are Locovores?" HowStuffWorks. January 23, 2008. Accessed June 14, 2018.
3. Gottlieb, Robert, and Anupama Joshi. "An Emerging Movement." In Food Justice, 221-38. MIT Press, 2010.
4. "History of Co-ops." Co Op, Stronger Together. October 24, 2016. Accessed June 26, 2018.
5. Masi, Brad, Leslie Schaller, and Michael H. Shuman. The 25% Shift, The Benefits of Food Localization for Northeast Ohio and How to Realize Them. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Foundation, ParkWorks, Kent State University Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Neighborhood Progress, Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition, 2010.
6. "What Is Local?" Local Roots Market & Cafe. Accessed June 14, 2018. https://www.localrootswooster.com/local.

Exterior of Spoon Market & Deli, view from the sidewalk on the east side of the building

Bar at Spoon Market and Deli

Exterior of Spoon Market & Deli, taken from the north side of W. Liberty St.

Spoon Market & Deli

By Abigail Blinka

Jordan, Patrice, and Jeff Smith opened Spoon Market & Deli (Spoon) in June of 2011. Best known for their sandwiches, Spoon is also a small-town hub for local and international specialty items, as the market includes “authentic, local and hard to find ingredients from around the Wooster area, the region and the world.” This focus on food authenticity is apparent throughout Spoon’s menu, including their beef and dairy offerings. Prioritizing regional beef suppliers for their sandwiches, Spoon sources from either Troyer or Whitefeather Meats, which are both local companies. Troyer is based in Holmes County and started in 1959 when its founder, Jonas Troyer, began delivering cheese from local manufacturers out of his station wagon. Whitefeather Meats, located in Creston, Ohio, emphasises the company’s dedication to local and quality meats, sourcing from one of six highly-vetted nearby farms. Spoon’s dairy skews away from regional products serving and selling cheeses from Italy, England, and Spain. The combination of emphasizing both local and international foods centers on a larger prioritization of food authenticity. The Hot Italian Grinder showcases this combination of local and international, using local ham and an Italian style baguette to create owner Jeff Smith’s favorite Spoon sandwich.

The philosophy of food authenticity, as apparent in Spoon’s unique mix of local and international goods, is partially derived from the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s. This movement brought ideas of self-sufficiency and simplicity to the forefront of food production and manifested in rising numbers of home gardens and the development of organic farming methods. There is one fundamental theme that spans throughout these consumer concerns for authentic food: sourcing. Consumer interest in food origin predominantly focuses on either local or organic sourcing. Nationally, organic purchasers are motivated by dietary health concerns and consider themselves environmentally conscious. Alternatively, local purchasers are more interested in supporting the wellbeing of local farmers and rural communities. However, there is overlap between local and organic consumers, as well as their purchasing motivations.

This national trend highlighting authentic, local, and organic foods changes depending on the region, its history, and its current residents. Regions with consumers who cite strong rural foundations as necessary for the wellbeing of American society tend to prioritize the consumption of locally sourced food products, such as Wooster, Ohio. This support is due to a contemporary form of American agrarianism, which sees rural life as a positive influence on a larger society. These consumers are concerned with, but not focused on, food quality. Rather, they highlight the importance of small farming operations and connect the success of rural life to the health and wellbeing of whole communities. Many Wooster consumers tend to prioritize local products, as is apparent in the sheer volume of restaurants and retailers that make a concerted effort to source from Ohio, if not Wayne County. Additionally, many Wooster residents are intimately connected to agriculture, either working directly in it or valuing the personal relationships with local farmers that are common throughout the city. These relationships, and Wooster’s history as an agricultural center, support a form of agrarianism that values supporting small farms over all else when considering food production.

The market for locally sourced and authentic foods in Wayne County is derived from two primary factors. The first is Wooster’s history as an agricultural center. Culturally and economically rooted in farming and animal husbandry, local sourcing is a fundamental interest of the Wooster community. That is, Wooster is a prime example of a city that supports local food for the wellbeing of local farmers and for the health of a robust rural agricultural society. The second factor that contributes to Wooster’s market for locally sourced and authentic foods is the collective integration of philosophies developed in national food movements. This heightened regard for food authenticity and local sourcing is not unique to Wooster, but has roots in national campaigns such as the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and the slow food movement of the 1970s.Both Wooster’s agricultural history and influence from national trends support a substantial market for food grown and produced by small local farmers and contributes to the thriving community of restaurants and retailers, such as Spoon, that offer local products.

1. http://spoon-market.com/about-spoon/team/
2. Jeffrey C. Jacob, "The North American Back-to-the-Land Movement," Community Development Journal 31, no. 3 (1996): 241-49.
3.  Molly Bean and Jeff S. Sharp, “Profiling Alternative Food System Supporters: The Personal and Social Basis of Local and Organic Food Support,” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 26, no. 3 (2011): 243–54.
4. Melissa Walker, "Contemporary Agrarianism: A Reality Check," Agricultural History 86, no. 1 (2012): 1-25“Alice Waters: 40 Years Of Sustainable Food.” NPR.org. Accessed May 21, 2018. https://www.npr.org/2011/08/22/139707078/alice-waters-40-years-of-sustainable-food.
5. Isenhour, Cindy. "Can Consumer Demand Deliver Sustainable Food?: Recent Research in Sustainable Consumption Policy and Practice." Environment & Society Environment & Society 2 (2011): 5-28.