bedpanmoneyman
Hero Member
While returning from Columbus Sunday, my wife and I took an exploratory trip to the ghost town of San Toy. San Toy is one of the many towns in Ohio that centered on a coal mining company, only to eventually fade into history. Located in Perry County about 30 miles east of Lancaster, the town was home primarily to workers from the Sunday Creek Coal Company which ran two mines near the town. Sunday Creek Coal Company also owned the Millfield Mine near Athens that was later to be the site of Ohio's worse mining disaster. In 1931, an explosion in that mine killed 82 miners.
San Toy eventually achieved a population of 2,500 but had a reputation as a tough place, and is as close to the Old West as Ohio ever got. It was the kind of town where moonshine ran rampant during prohibition, and shoot outs in saloons were expected. The possible root of the problem was that the town was completely self-sufficient. With a hospital, post office, stores, and saloons in town, there was never any need for workers to venture beyond its borders.
The fall of San Toy began in 1924 when a group of miners upset over their working conditions, pushed a cart of burning railroad ties into one of the mines. The fire quickly spread, destroying several buildings in town including the hospital. The coal company decided to close the mine rather than repair it, leaving some miners out of work. In 1927 the company decided to shut down the second mine.
By 1930 over half the town had left. Census reports listed San Toy as having the greatest percentage of population loss in the country. In 1931, residents voted 17 to 2 in favor of abandoning the town.
Now there's little left to even recognize the former town. While close to 50 people live around San Toy, the town itself is gone. All that remains is San Toy Road, named after the town and a few foundations. Oddly enough, there is a sign pointing in the direction of the a church in San Toy that will lead you past the church and beyond is the remnants of the town. I took these following pictures. The third picture is an old pump house the miners used and the next to last picture is what remains of the jail.
San Toy eventually achieved a population of 2,500 but had a reputation as a tough place, and is as close to the Old West as Ohio ever got. It was the kind of town where moonshine ran rampant during prohibition, and shoot outs in saloons were expected. The possible root of the problem was that the town was completely self-sufficient. With a hospital, post office, stores, and saloons in town, there was never any need for workers to venture beyond its borders.
The fall of San Toy began in 1924 when a group of miners upset over their working conditions, pushed a cart of burning railroad ties into one of the mines. The fire quickly spread, destroying several buildings in town including the hospital. The coal company decided to close the mine rather than repair it, leaving some miners out of work. In 1927 the company decided to shut down the second mine.
By 1930 over half the town had left. Census reports listed San Toy as having the greatest percentage of population loss in the country. In 1931, residents voted 17 to 2 in favor of abandoning the town.
Now there's little left to even recognize the former town. While close to 50 people live around San Toy, the town itself is gone. All that remains is San Toy Road, named after the town and a few foundations. Oddly enough, there is a sign pointing in the direction of the a church in San Toy that will lead you past the church and beyond is the remnants of the town. I took these following pictures. The third picture is an old pump house the miners used and the next to last picture is what remains of the jail.
