The Historical Society of Germantown     |    History Society   |   Germantown Germantown Brief History of Germantown      In the year 1803, Philip Gunckel, Christopher Emrick, David Miller and John George Kern, all natives of Berks County, Pennsylvania, came to Ohio on a prospecting tour. Their object in taking this trip was to see the country, and if they liked it, to buy land an move on it. They liked what they saw.     As a result of that trip, twenty-four families set out for Ohio in the spring of 1804. They were conveyed by wagon to Pittsburg where they engaged river boats to travel down the Ohio to Cincinnati.     Because he was a miller by trade, Philip Gunckel, the group's leader, led the pioneers to the banks of Twin Creek where he established a grist mill. The pioneers' arrival occurred on or about the first day of August, 1804, and the event is commemorated each year with a Founder's Day observance.     Philip Gunckel's unique plat design for the village was recorded on October 4, 1814, and included an eight block area divided by a diagonal alley system which converges on a 66 ft. square open space in the center of the block. Known as the "Gunckel Town Plan Historic District," it was designated a National Historic Site in 1976. See diagram below.     The community of German settlers soon became known, not only for its flourishing mills, but also for its tobacco-related industries, and later in the century, for the nationally known Mudlick Whiskey Distillery.     The churches and schools played prominent roles in the development of the village, and in 1870, Germantown High School was the first county school to graduate a class. In 1833, a history of the village was compiled by a Lutheran minister, the Reverend J.P. Hentz. It was in Germantown, in 1829, that Bishop Andrew Zeller founded the first United Brethren Church west of the Alleghenies.      In 1870, an inverted bowstring suspension bridge was constructed to span Little Twin Creek. Said to be the only one of its kind in the world, the bridge was designated a designated a National Historic Site in 1969. Also included in the National Register are the Mudlick Homestead and Mill west of town, the Shuey Mill, the Rohrer Mansion, the Poast Home, and Emmanuel Lutheran Church.      For more history of Germantown, including historic buildings and landmarks with pictures, visit the Village of Germantown's web page at www.ci.germantown.oh.us