The northwest corner of North Fairfield Road and Kemp Road was the location of the Mt. Pisgah German Reformed Church. This building was later used as Sunnyside School, reportedly the second schoolhouse in Beavercreek.. Sunnyside Cemetery still exists north of the intersection and is the final resting place of members of the Cyphers, Goldshot, Harshman, Howett, Koogler, Reiglesperger, Sensenbaugh, Swigert and Trubee families, with the earliest burial being John Helmer in 1823.

The north-central area of the township was a collection of large tract farms, owned by G.B. LaFong, the Koogler, Lantz, Tobias and Harner families amongst others. There were no ‘towns’ in the immediate area, so travels to New Germany, Byron, Zimmerman and Trebein were common.

Not so many years ago, North Fairfield Road was merely a two-lane blacktop dividing farm lands on either side.

North Fairfield Road used to be known as the Bellbrook-Fairfield Pike and continued due north at approximately Cross Creek Court with two 90° bends, the western bend still exists at Old North Fairfield Road behind Heartland - Beavercreek Nursing and Rehabilitation.

'Unconfirmed reports' state that it was indeed possible to roll the tires off the rims of a '65 Mustang and to repeatedly spin-out a '66 Corvette on the S-curves!

A block north stood, at the corner of G. B. Lafong’s 208 acre parcel stood the Church of the Brethren.  Prominent in the Zimmerman area were the Shoup, Hanes, Coy, Stine, Tobias, Black and Bates families.

At the southeast corner of North Fairfield Road and Lantz Road stood the Bellfair Country Store, which survived as a nostalgic destination until the late 1990’s!  From the early days it was a great place for penny candy, ice cream and an ‘old time’ soda or phosphate!

Gary Deis was the former proprietor, and in an effort to increase business, started an event in the parking lot focused around his popcorn machine.  He even marketed fictitious ‘popcorn burgers’ that would flip themselves on the grill when the kernels would pop!  His idea blossomed into Beavercreek’s Popcorn Festival, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually the weekend after Labor Day.

In early 2018, the area underwent a great transformation with many of the old Zimmerman homes being demolished for a new commercial development on the west side of North Fairfield Road.

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In the vacant lot just south of the present St. Luke Church was a condemned wood-sided home, scheduled for demolition.  When the siding was removed, the original log home was revealed.  The home had been constructed between 1803 and 1807 by Phillip Harshman, a blacksmith who brought his bride, Frances “Fannie” Durnbaugh with him from Frederick County, Maryland.  They lived in their covered wagon while the home was under construction.  Phillip became a farmer and never returned to blacksmithing.

The saving and restoration of this home was conducted in 1985 by a group of citizens who later became the Beavercreek Historical Society.

Years later, and across the street, another log home was found...

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The beautiful clock at the southwest corner of Dayton-Xenia and North Fairfield Roads commemorates the 25th anniversary of the incorporation of the City Of Beavercreek.  For over 15 years prior to incorporation, neighboring communities attempted to annex portions of Beavercreek Township.  A Committee Of Eleven was established to defend against the annexation attempts as well as to initiate the incorporation procedures.

Turn right on North Fairfield Road.

Hanes Road didn’t exist in 1874, it eventually tracked north along the property line of the 217 acre farm of Jonathan Hanes on the east and a 137 acre tract owned by Moses M. Shoup, on the west.

Throughout the years many businesses have called these shopping centers home: G.D. Ritzy’s, Cap’n Bogey’s, Mr. Gatti's, Beavercreek Cinema, Bud Frantz’s Fairfield Inn, Char-Burger, Scottie’s, Imperial Grocer, and many, many, many more.

The southeast corner has changed quite dramatically.  The Kroger, which originally faced Dayton-Xenia Road, was demolished and now faces North Fairfield Road.

In the late 1970's a bar named The Mouse That Roared was located at the west end of the strip center.  It was allegedly quite the meat market!  As the story goes, a major entertainment complex in the Orlando, Florida area didn't appreciate The Mouse's representation of their major rodent character being inebriated in a cocktail glass on their sign!  A graphic of their two rodents doing the popular 70's dance 'The bump' on the side of their supply van was more than W.D. could take.  The Mouse was ultimately sued... so much for creative marketing!

Later, the location re-opened as Wolfie's - another bar / dance club.  In the interest of maintaining a G-rating on the site, we'll defer on sharing Wolfie's stories...

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On the night of September 7, 1872 forty-five year old Civil War veteran Jesse Curry and Jack Davidson were coming home from a dance near Zimmermansville near here on Dayton-Xenia Road.  For unknown reason, Jack shot and killed Jesse with a revolver.  Davidson was convicted and sentenced to life in a penitentiary, but was ultimately pardoned by Governor R.M. Bishop.

Jesse is buried in Old Silvercreek Cemetery in Jamestown.  Jack is believed to be buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield.

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After increasing population and increasing demands from the State Board of Education (Sound familiar?), the citizens united for the common good and in 1932, all of the one-room schoolhouses and the high school were closed and the entire school district was moved into the new centralized school now known as Main Elementary.

1932 was also the first year for buses to pick up students and also the first in-school cafeteria.  The class of 1933 graduated with twenty-five members.  In 1951 a fourteen-room building was built to the immediate west, with another seven rooms added in 1953.  This building housed grades one through four and was later known as West Main Primary School.  The two buildings were connected in the latter twentieth century.

The last class to graduate from the centralized 'Beavercreek School' was the class of 1954 with sixty-two graduates.

This photo, we've not seen anywhere else, was found rolled into a small tube.  Upon smoothing, scanning and editing you can clearly see into the auditorium.

• Roster Roster
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A few blocks west on the north side of the road is the John Ferguson House at 2806 Dayton-Xenia Road, built in 1866. The home is of Italianate design, featuring a custom Ionic porch with custom millwork prevalent inside and out.

At the bottom of the hill, you’ll cross a stream know as Bull Skin Run which is spring fed from as far north as the Mall at Fairfield Commons. It ties into the Little Beaver Creek at the Creekside Trail Bikeway. Every pond, creek, stream and spring was integral to life and business during the settling of our community. On their banks you’ll find the concentrations of homes, mills, dairies, and farms.

On January 3, 1964, the fuselage of a RB-57D Canberra twin jet reconnaissance plane crashed in a parking lot of the school that has since been developed into a portion of the building.  Over 2,000 students, teachers and workers were in the school at the time!  The plane spun through the air for over 15 miles after the wings had ripped off at 50,000 feet.

No one was injured and little damage was done, largely because there was no explosion due to the fuel having been contained in the wings.  The pilot parachuted to safety.  The engines landed miles away in a field on Shakertown Road and the wings were found near Fairground Road.

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