Jolly ol’ Jearoldstown

The beautiful Lick Creek valley creates a scene in the northwestern part of Greene County that looks like the Great Plains of the Midwest. Lick Creek bursts forth from the ground in this area of our county and is fed along the way by many important little streams and branches. One of the most plentiful headwaters of Lick Creek is Clear Creek which starts in the little town we will visit tonight named Jearoldstown.

Jearoldstown, before 1890, was called Clear Creek. The year 1850, marks the date when a young doctor named M. Jearolds moved into the area from Kentucky and opened his medical practice. M. Jearolds’ family had moved to Kentucky in the mid eighteen hundreds and they were the descendants of Irish nobility. His family had fled Ireland in the wake of disease and the infamous Irish Potato Famine.

Dr. Jearolds was loved in the community and after he passed from this world, the locals began to refer to their community as Jearoldstown. When the first post office was commissioned in 1890, it was incorrectly spelled Jaroldstown, but was corrected upon the next census.

The brightest and darkest spot in the history of Jearoldstown was the Presbyterian USA Academy that existed there from 1880 to 1901. This academy was staffed by a Presbyterian minister that had a doctoral degree from Princeton College in education and ministry. Jearoldstown was slated to become the next success story just like Tusculum was for Dr. Sam Doak. People from miles around sent their children to Jearoldstown to receive an education, and for many, it ended up as a permanent residence. In 1901 the school was burned to the ground and all hope of restoring the academy seemed to burn in the embers of this tragic fire.

Every time I see the sign pictured here, standing guard over Interstate 81, I grin from ear to ear. The people in this community are treasures to have as friends and the scenery of Clear Creek, which was once covered in grist mills, is truly a blessing to behold. Please visit this community next time you’re out this way, and I promise you will leave old Jearoldstown magnificently jolly! Source: Thank you to the late Harry Roberts and Mr. John Morrell.