Middleport and Pomeroy

Wanted to see some more of Middleport and of Pomeroy so decided to stay another night. Middleport is so named because it is halfway between Pittsburgh and Cinncinnati. It's been around for a couple hundred years, having several homes and buildings built before the Civil War. It is, however, not a thriving town, losing more of its population every year. Lots of boarded-up buildings and abandoned homes, empty storefronts. Sad to see.

About ten o'clock Ron had to return to his home in Lancaster and he dropped me off in Pomeroy. I am not sure why, but Pomeroy, singularly out of all the river towns I have visited, is a growing community, with a busy main street and lots of daily community activity. It is a long town, literally, as I explained in yesterday's post, only two streets wide and about two miles long. It was a popular stop for the old riverboats and still offers conveniences for boaters that many other towns ignore. Perhaps that accounts for some of its success. Even the local McDonalds has its own river dock.

Pomeroy is the county seat of Meigs county and has a beautiful courthouse. As you come down the river, at one point you look up into the town past a wide boat ramp and the courthouse is there at the end of a street sloping up to it. Very impressive. I ate lunch, per a recommendation from Ron, at the Court Grill. Good sandwiches, good beer. The local First Baptist Church was offering a free lunch at the city docks and boat ramp, but it was a warm day and a cold beer appealed to me, so I declined their hospitality. One thing of note in Pomeroy is an imposing statue of a Civil War Union soldier. Every southern town with a courthouse has a statue of a Confederate soldier; I thought it very fair to honor the Civil War veterans from Ohio with such a tribute.

Eventually, I knew I had to walk the mile and a half back to Middleport, but I no sooner started than I got a call from a reporter from the local paper, the Meigs County Sentinel. Ron had called her, told her what I was doing, and she wanted to interview me for a regular Sunday feature about activities on the river. I agreed and met her at her office near the courthouse. After speaking with her, she offered to run me back to Middleport - what a good deal !

This evening, there was an auction in town which I attended. A good auctioneer, lively crowd, quite entertaining. I saw a chop saw that I really wanted to bid on but wasn't sure how I would lug it down the river in my boat.

It's late, I am alone in the B&B, no other guests, and Ron is at his home in Lancaster. I will leave early, headed for Point Pleasant in the morning, so I need to turn in.