Best Hometowns 2024: McConnelsville

The Stone House and the G.P. Morris House have stood side by side for almost as long as the village of McConnelsville has existed. The former began as a stagecoach and tavern house in 1835 before private owners turned it into a family home over a century later. The Morris House was built in 1844 for its namesake family, whose hardware store is still open in the center of town, just a short walk down Main Street.

Today, the two historic homes are collectively known as The Inns at 8th and Main, a five-room bed-and-breakfast that owners Amy and Dan Smith opened in 2020. Each morning in The Stone House kitchen, the couple prepares a morning menu such as pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar, bacon, scrambled eggs and fresh fruit. 

“We use old China and real napkins, and we have flowers on the table,” Amy says. “You don’t do it for yourself every day. We want to make sure that we do it here.”

Some patrons who stay at the inn are passing through McConnelsville on a trip to enjoy southeast Ohio’s natural landscape, but many are in town to do business with companies based in the area and need a place to touch down for an overnight or extended stay. 

Book at stay at The Stone House at The Inns at Eighth and Main in McConnelsville. The bed-and-breakfast is housed in two historic buildings in the center of the village. (photo by Rachael Jirousek)

A village of around 1,800 residents, McConnelsville has long been a draw for the industrious. Founded in 1810, the community sits along the Muskingum River in the Appalachian foothills, with Zanesville to the north, Athens to the southwest and Marietta to the east. Just across the river, the small village of Malta (population 556) shares McConnelsville’s resources and the region’s history as a stronghold of surface mining for coal during the 20th century. 

Mining became a regionwide industry under Central Ohio Coal Co., a subsidiary of AEP. After getting its start in the 1960s, it was one of the largest mining operations east of the Mississippi until 1999 when Central Ohio Coal Co. ceased operations in the area. After it closed, AEP contributed heavily to grounds restoration in Morgan County, including the planting of some grasses and trees for The Wilds, which occupies over 10,000 acres across Morgan County and the neighboring Guernsey, Noble and Muskingum counties . 

These restoration efforts also included planting trees and meadow grasses on the 3,000 acres that would become Jesse Owens State Park, located a 10-minute drive outside the village limits. The state park is home to Miner’s Memorial Park, which honors the region’s bygone industry and the workers who were part of it. It houses the Miner’s Hall of Fame, as well as Big Muskie’s Bucket, the last remaining piece of the world’s largest-ever dragline excavator, which worked in the area. 

Many in town recall those mining days, including John W. Finley, who has lived in McConnelsville his entire life. He not only serves as the fire chief of the local volunteer fire department but also McConnelsville’s mayor, a position he says he never expected to take. His father served in city government, including two stints as mayor, for over 30 years, and his uncle, Galen Finley, was also a mayor and councilman, and is currently an 85-year-old pastor in town at Church of the Gospel Ministry. Since October 2011, Finley has served as mayor with the same goal of those before him: maintaining the town’s safety and riverside charm. 

“The mayors before me all cared for the village, they all have their heart in the village,” Finley says. “And I want to continue that tradition.”  

McConnelsville sits along the Muskingum River, just across from the Morgan County village of Malta. (photo by Rachael Jirousek)

Spanning 1.8 square miles, McConnelsville has an active town center comprised of mainly local businesses with larger manufacturing businesses located a few miles away. 

This community shaped by river transportation, farming and mining is now home to manufacturers such as Germany’s Mahle Engine Components USA, as well as the Austrian-based Miba Sinter U.S. (a maker of highly precise components for the North American automotive industry) and Miba Bearings. Together, the Miba companies employ 449 people, while Mahle has over 50 workers. All three companies are located along state Route 60, about 3 miles north of the downtown, and are some of the larger manufacturing employers in Morgan County, along with EZG Manufacturing which is across the river, about 2 miles south of Malta. 

McConnelsville is also home to three of the five schools in Morgan County, including its only high school. With approximately 1,700 students in the district’s kindergarten through 12 grade, the Morgan Local School District is also a leading employer, with 295 staff members. 

Finley says he has also noticed a trend of people who grew up in McConnelsville returning to the area after retirement. 

“They’re always drawn back home,” he says, “and I think it’s for the slower life or the less hustle and bustle of the cities.”
 

Town Square Collectibles sells a variety of goods from home decor to accessories and clothing (left). Home + Brew by Misdiy serves up coffee and baked goods (right). (photos by Rachael Jirousek)

That slower life includes local favorites like Home + Brew by Misdiy, a coffee and home goods concept run by Misty Bragg that sells items such as wall decor, throw pillows and dish towels. Jamie McNabb’s Town Square Collectibles offers a spot for local makers to showcase and sell goods such as clothes, jewelry, fresh-cut flowers, baby accessories, candles and more. Visitors can also meet the shop dogs, Daisy and Holly, who love to lounge in the store’s front window. A large blue and white sign along the sidewalk guides hungry guests to the Blue Bell Diner. Housed in the J.C. Bolen building constructed in 1884, this classic diner had been around for decades, but was most recently remodeled and reopened in 2022, becoming a local favorite for breakfast and lunch. 

Standing in the center of town, Twin City Opera House is one of the most attention-getting buildings in McConnelsville. Shortly after its opening in 1892, the opera house began hosting traveling stage plays and musicals, and in 1913, it became a spot for silent films as well, with the best seats in the house costing just 20 cents.

Today, the opera house is still part movie theater. Each week, Friday through Monday, the opera house shows new-release movies as well as older films, but it is also a home for live music. Traveling cover bands and solo musicians are among the lineup that comes through, and for 24 years, it was home to the Ohio Valley Opry. The beloved musical variety show got its start here in 2000, and will move to Belpre, Ohio, after one final show in McConnelsville on Dec. 7. 

Two blocks east on Main Street at the Morgan County Historical Society, a panoramic photo of McConnelsville dated 1909 offers further evidence that the village center has remained largely and remarkably unchanged over the years. The view of Main Street and the town square shows that while buildings have been repurposed over the generations, the downtown architecture looks largely as it did in the 19th century. 

The downtown of the village is filled with historic architecture that looks largely as it did in the 19th century. (photo by Rachael Jirousek)

One such example is Morris Hardware, which bills itself as the oldest continually operating, family-owned hardware store in the state. Opening in 1845, the Morris family’s original storefront has expanded, changing with the times to now accommodate a range of needs, while retaining its historic charm.

“It is that old-fashioned hardware store. Unfortunately, we’re losing them all over the country, so we work really hard to preserve that,” says Morris Hardware co-owner Shayna Roberts. “You walk in the door, you’re greeted by somebody that [is] friendly and knowledgeable about the products we offer and also the kind of projects you’re going to get involved in.”

Roberts has always lived in Morgan County, growing up in Malta and falling in love with Morris Hardware when she started working there in 2017. She helped the business with event coordination during a previous experience working with the Morgan County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Now as co-owner, alongside Tom Schanken, six times great grandson of the store’s founder, Robets has the opportunity to help ready the business for the future. 

“The Main Street community has grown so much lately,” she says. “There was a big turnover in new management and new businesses. … We just made an effort to get to know each other and support each other’s services. That has just grown beautifully.”

More Best Hometowns 2024-25: Bryan | Hilliard | McConnelsville | Millersburg | Urbana

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