RESEARCH
BUSINESSES 2
A history of Darrtown's Hitching Post tavern appeared in Issue No. 6 of the Buckeye Tavern magazine, which ran a series on "Ohio's Oldest Taverns."
The image at the right shows the original page in the magazine.
Cynthia Mee contributed this Buckeye Tavern item. The text of the article is replicated at the following links.
Any history of the Hitching Post in Darrtown, Ohio, would be incomplete without acknowledgment of Earl "Red" Huber, who owned and operated the village tavern, during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's.
Among his many fine qualities, Earl Huber was especially known for his generosity and friendliness. Earl Huber's generosity is best demonstrated by his hosting of annual Hitching Post Christmas parties for area children.
Earl Huber's friendliness came naturally to him and he displayed a knack for making friends.
One of Earl Huber's best friends was Walter "Smokey" Alston. As evidence of their friendship, "Smokey" frequently participated in the Christmas parties for children that "Red" hosted for several years.
The friendship between "Red" Huber and "Smokey" Alston probably was the reason that "Red" distributed copies of a song (show at the right) that celebrated the success of Walter Alston as manager of the 1955 World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers.
During the 2008 renovation of the Hitching Post, a menu was discovered that includes the phrase, "at this half-point of our century." Thus, we infer that the menu was used in the 1950's and is now over a half-century old.
The menu is reproduced below in four images (the links beneath the menus open enlarged views). The price of sandwiches ranged from a 25-cent grilled cheese to a 40-cent grilled steak. A choice steak, with french-fried potatoes, bread and butter, was priced at .50. Alcoholic drinks ran from about .45 to .60 cents each.
Webmaster note: The final paragraph on this 1950s menu displays this message: "The building housing the Hitching Post is 127 years old. It has been operated for over 100 years as an inn or tavern."
This passage reinforces the fact that, for an unverified number of years during the prohibition period, the Hitching Post building housed a delicatessen that was known as "Shuck's General Store." More info about the Shuck connection to Darrtown is available at the Shuck Family page.
In early April 2009, a man from Tennessee sent an email to the Darrtown webmaster that included the two images shown at the right. The Tennessee man had seen the these two images on the E-Bay website and, in his email, he inquired about the nature of the business that George Lentz may have operated in Darrtown.
On November 10, 2011, Ron Wiley, grandson of Hitching Post proprietors, William and Pearl Wiley, contributed an email to clarify that the Wiley's employed George Lentz at the Hitching Post (see Ron's comments below).
Andy Popst later contributed his memories of George Lentz, Red Huber, and the Hitching Post
Ron Wiley later contributed his memories of the Hitching Post ownership from 1932-1949
"I remember my dad talking about Geo Lentz running the Hitching Post prior to Red Huber. Dad was there when the present bar was ordered from a woodsmith from Cincinnati and there was quite the argument over the price and square or round corners.
Dad said George won out in the end and got the round corners for the same price. I don't know the exact years he operated, but I hope this helps out.
The Hitching post had gas lamps before electric was installed and in the 60's they still worked. Power was out and Red turned them on!
Red also removed a chimney that divided the two rooms and installed the large I-Beam, over the bar. It was installed to remove a support post that was behind one of the bar stools. If a patron had a few too many, he might turn on the stool and hit the post head-on.
Red also installed the inside bathrooms in their present location. Before that, it was a long walk out back."
"I can add some clarification on ownership of the H-P: Abram Darr ran the building as a provision store/inn for drovers walking sheep, cattle, and hogs to Cincinnati markets to put up for the night. Darr opened the first tavern in town in 1817, calling it the 'Hitching Post,'
because of a crude tying-rail in front. This was a stop in the Hamilton-Fairhaven Stage Coach line.
George Lentz is sometimes shown as owning the H-P. He never owned it; but, worked for my grandparents, William 'Bill' Wiley and Pauline 'Pearl' Wiley, who owned it from 1932 to 1949.
Andy Popst is correct, as stated on the website [left], that Lentz 'operated' the H-P, for my grandparents in the mid-40's. During the time that my grandparents owned and operated the H-P, John Dillinger frequently came in to buy bread, meats, cheeses, as it was sort of a deli during prohibition. Can't speak for what went out the back door, however."
The image at the right shows the "welcome" sign that was located in the northeast corner of the Main Street and Schollenbarger Road intersection, during the late 1970's.
The view is looking from south to north and the HItching Post is visible as the red structure on the left (west) side of Main Street.
The photo was contributed by Terri (Baumann) Klippenstein in March of 2012
Many Hitching Post patrons, who lived in and around Darrtown during the middle of the 20th century, recall that "Red" Huber's establishment was frequented by "regulars" from Oxford, Ohio, the home of Miami University. Faculty, staff, and students routinely mingled among the locals to imbibe and interact within Red Huber's friendly tavern. Some of those who traveled the five miles, from the university town of Oxford to the unincorporated village of Darrtown, did so in pursuit of stronger alcohol. At that time, there was a voter-imposed regulation in Oxford that limited beer to 3.2% alcoholic content.
1817 - Mr. Abram F. Darr opened the Hitching Post.
1851 (February 25th) - Mr. Darr sold to Kiger and Kiger.
circa 1861-1865 - Kigers sold to John McMechan during the Civil War.
1869 (April 17) - Charles Otto became the owner on April 17, 1869.
1872 (January 15) - Jacob Hinkle purchased the property.
1877 (September 22) - Hannah Zimmerman assumed ownership.
1899 - The Schuck family bought the establishment.
1925 - The Shucks sold to Oscar L. Irwin.
1932 (January 20) - Mr. Irwin sold to Pauline Wiley.
1949 (August 6) Pauline Wiley sold to Earl F. Huber.
Circa early 1980's - George Brockman purchased the property, following the passing of Earl "Red" Huber
1997 (January 10) George Brockman sold to Martha Bowling.
2000 (May 30) Martha Bowling sold to Lawrence W. Plants.
2000 (June 20) Lawrence Plants sold to Martha Bowling.
2001 (March 8) Martha Bowling sold to Nancy Pitman and Glenda Hall.
2012 (March 16) Nancy Pitman and Glenda Hall sold to Sean Hurley.
2014 (In the fall) Sean Hurley sold to Pat and Tasha Cain.
2023 Pat and Tasha Cain sold to Brittany Colson and Evan Cusmano.
Click the following link to see a larger view of the "Big Ball Bowling Machine" that is described in the fraternity article.
After major renovations, owner, Sean Hurley re-opened the Hitching Post on Wednesday, April 23, 2008. One of the oldest taverns in Ohio, the Hitching Post saloon is the oldest business in Darrtown.
Hitching Post owner, Sean Hurley appears in the image at the right during the 2008 Grand Re-Opening Week.
[This photo, taken April 25, 2008 was contributed by Ron Wiley. The view is north to south, down Main Street.]
Webmaster Note:
The white, two-story, house that appears in the background of the above photo was the Kirkpatrick home and tavern that is referenced on several occasions throughout Darrtown history.
• See the reference to the Kirkpatrick tavern in the year 1845
• Also see the Milford House.
RIGHT:
Among the patrons at the April 25, 2008 re-opening of the Hitching Post:
Clockwise from the left:
Ron Wiley, Betty Daniels, Jack Daniels, Fred Lindley, Deborah Lindley, Patti Quinn, Kevin Quinn, and Kathy Wiley
Five Darrtown "Gatherings" were conducted at the HItching Post between its April 2008 reopening and the Darrtown Bicentennial in 2014.
Images of those five gatherings are available at Events / Gatherings.
In the fall of 2014, Pat and Tasha Cain assumed ownership and operation of the Hitching Post.
The image at the right shows Tasha and Pat standing in the doorway of the storied tavern on the day of the grand re-opening - Saturday, October 25, 2014.
RIGHT:
This photo of "Red" Huber was taken at one of his Christmas events.
Circa mid-1950's
Several old-timers, who patronized the Hitching Post, during the time that Earl Huber owned and operated the tavern, recall the story that "Red" had a unique approach to keeping an eye on operations. Mr. Huber lived above the bar and legend had it that he had several peep holes installed in the ceiling of the tavern - which was the floor of Red's living quarters.
Theresa Faith Mahlerwein, in an October 28, 2019 Facebook post (replicated below), confirmed the existence of peep holes, in the ceiling of the Hitching Post and two bullet holes in the barroom floor.
"Yes, it is true there are many secret peep holes in the Hitching Post, where you can view the bar from the living quarters. There are in fact two gun shot holes in the barroom floor. Mr. Sean Hurley took all of the original fixtures and parlor table and chairs out of the Post and also had the walk-in safe removed.
Red also owned a house on Shollenbarger Rd that had built and fully furnished for his sister, that she refused to move into. Red refused to sell the house and had it cleaned weekly and the grass cut. Nobody lived in the house, from the time it was built, until one year after Red's death - when the house and the contents were auctioned. The interior of the house was amazingly beautiful. One room was dedicated to total Japenese art, as his sister collected it.
Red was unable to climb the stairs in the Post, at the time and my Mom became his housekeeper and he had a bed in the lower back room of the Post, next to the small bathroom. There were no bathtubs in the Post - just a shower.
When Tasha Cain purchased the Post she allowed me to come see all of the renovations and asked me where some of the original items - that were in the upper quarters - had originally been in the bar. I also showed her the peep holes.
Some people say that my Mom and Red haunt the Post; they may be right..."
Click the links below to see a news report about the robbery of the Hitching Post in 1971.
BELOW: Thanks to the research of Marvin Russell, we now have the following record of Hitching Post ownership, The link between Earl Huber and George Brockman is not yet documented; however, it appears that George bought the property sometime after Mr. Huber's death.
The following chronology of Hitching Post ownership was compiled from the article that appeared in the November 1957 issue of the the “Buckeye Tavern” (see the magazine article below). The Buckeye Tavern was a newsletter disseminated by persons associated with the tavern business in Ohio.
These images were found on Facebook in a post by Gary Brockman.
The story of the re-opening of the Hitching Post is also told at two other websites:
See: Hamilton Journal story, written by Bob Ratterman, and titled "Locals reopen landmark tavern."
See: The Beer Info website and its story titled "The Hitching Post - Oldest Tavern in Ohio"
Oops...1949 date is questioned by 1944 news item
20th Century Tavern History in MILFORD TOWNSHIP
√
It is true! The Collinsville Inn once housed the Collinsville post office.
Webmaster note: For several years, the second part of this news story was missing. Then, in late February, 2023, Dan Schneider of Hamilton, Ohio contributed the missing part. We are indebted to Dan, who provides high quality 2D graphics and 3D modeling for proposed design projects - at his business, known as Hollow Earth Creative.
In late May, 2012, Carolyn Russell contributed a copy of the song that Red promoted in Smokey's honor.
More information about Earl Huber is available on the his biography page and on the Huber family page.
Click the following link to access the
The song writer is not known. The refrain of the song suggests that it was to be sung to the tune of "Davey Crockett."
More research is needed to verify when the Hitching Post tavern and it's liquor license re-emerged from the Prohibition years.
The Hitching Post is one-half of Lot 52; Don's Carry-Out is the other half. See Lot 52 ownership records - up to the early 1980s.
A few of the older individuals, who attended the April 18, 2009 Darrtown "Gathering" and possessed personal memories of the Hitching Post in the 1940's, recalled that George Lentz worked in the Hitching Post.
Another confirmation of the Lentz - Hitching Post connections was offered by Andy Popst in his June 16, 2009 email (see Andy's comments below).
The email inquiry from Tennessee led to the discovery that George Lentz was associated with the Hitching Post, before the Earl Huber era. However, as noted in the "History of the Hitching Post" (above), George Lentz is NOT listed as an owner of the Hitching Post.
THREE DEVELOPMENTS have since clarified how George Lentz was connected to the Hitching Post:
Click these links for a larger view of the tokens.
Old timers shared personal memories at a 2009 Gathering
1.
2.
3.
RIGHT: Earl "Red" Huber, standing at the right, serves a shot to Brother Walsh, at the Turkey Bowl, 1978. Notice the EN fraternity paddle hanging on the wall, behind Mr. Huber.
In October 2022, the image at the right appeared on Facebook, along with the announcement that business partners, Brittany Colson and Evan Cusmano, are the new owners/operators of the Hitching Post.
Click the following link to see an enlargement of this image.
Here is a link to the Hitching Post Facebook page.
BUSINESSES 1. Reeb's store; Bufler's grocery, another Bufler store; Stevens' grocery, Francis' gas station, Wyckoff's grocery; Dees grocery and gas station; Glardon's grocery; and Don's Carry-Out.
BUSINESSES 2. The Hitching Post (plus, links to Darrtown/Milford township tavern history).
However, it was more than stronger alcohol that kept pulling Oxford people back to "Red's place," as noted in the Sigma Nu narrative (see links at right). These links reveal a quotations from the Epsilon NU Chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity website.
...about how George Lentz was connected to Hitching Post history
In February 2024, Jennifer (Goneau) Thompson shared her memory of visiting the Hitching Post and contributed three photos. Click the following link to see the full story.
Visit the HP-MU page