Oreton, Ohio - Ghost Towns on Waymarking.com

Oreton was a New York Coal Company mining town. Like most towns, Oreton had a post office (1880-1950) as well as a church (Azariah McManis was the caretaker), and possibly as many as 70 houses for the miners & families, most of them built by a Mr. Bert Harder. I've found some recorded births as early as 1853, though the town's heyday seems to be between the 1890's and 1940's.

The depot is reported to have been retired on Mar 8, 1930. There was a 17-carlength passing siding as well.

The only remaining structure in Oreton is the brick safe of the company store (run by Dave Eberts, also built by Mr. Harder). One can also find a few concrete foundations in the area.

The town was mostly a mining town. A number of coal and iron ore mines were in the area. There was also an Iron Furnace that operated here in the last half of the 1800's. Superintendent of the Eagle's Furnace was Samuel T. Benner, a Civil War Veteran of Co. L 12th Ohio Cavalry.

I've also found that a Dr. Bertie Virgil Swisher M.D. practiced medicine for a time at Oreton.

Although Oreton was a town for over 100 years, apparently there was never a cemetery. People were buried in the nearby towns, several miles away.

Reason for Abandonment: Economic Date Abandoned: 01/01/1955 Related Web Page: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/24/2008 boydfamily visited it 09/04/2007 buffalohiker visited it 01/26/2007 Appalachian Lizards visited it 09/05/2006 sastocky visited it

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