Westerville

Featuring more than 40 parks, a community recreation center, 23 miles of leisure paths, museums, parks, galleries, Historic Uptown District, and Otterbein College, Westerville was founded through the efforts of the Westervelts, early settlers from Dutchess County, New York. The citizens rewarded the philanthropy of the family by naming the first post office Westerville and thus naming the village. Westerville gained notoriety in the 1870s with a series of saloon bombings that became known as the "Whiskey Wars." The strong "dry" reputation of the community was one of the factors that persuaded the Anti-Saloon League to locate their national printing center and headquarters in the town. The Anti-Saloon League was a non-partisan, temperance organization whose sole mission was to eradicate the saloon and liquor traffic. With their arrival and the printing of tons of anti-alcohol information, the small town of 2,000 became known as the "Dry Capital of the World."