Column: Remembering Laceyville, the vanished village beneath Tappan Lake

A postcard stamped Sept. 12, 1903, preserved in the Harrison County Historical Society files, offers a glimpse into the once-bustling community of Laceyville.

The village was home to an inn, post office, general store, school, blacksmith shop, shoemaker, tailor, baseball team and orchestra. The Laceyville Inn, which also served as a stagecoach stop, was built in 1842 by Major John S. Lacey and his wife, Anna Jeanett. Lacey later served as Harrison County’s sheriff and treasurer.

In addition to operating the inn, John Lacey carried mail on a route stretching from Wheeling to Wooster. Stagecoach travelers stopped at the inn to rest, eat or stay overnight, making it a social hub for area residents. The guest register shows that in 1899, a traveler named William Gable stopped there for dinner.

Today, a historical marker stands along U.S. Route 250 at the intersection of Upper Clearfork Road, commemorating the community that disappeared in the late 1930s with the creation of Tappan Lake.

Footnote: The first postcards were sold in Harrison County in 1872.