Heading west on New Germany-Trebein Road, you’re crossing land that was owned early on by the Harshman, Reece, Koogler and Hotopp families amongst others.  The intersection at North Fairfield Road was largely undeveloped until the late 1980’s when the Mall at Fairfield Commons was constructed.  The building of the mall was quite controversial.  Beavercreek was growing at a rapid pace following the installation of the I-675 bypass around Dayton.  Though the growth was likely inevitable, long-time residents initiated a campaign to ‘Stop Malling Beavercreek’ in the hopes of retaining the distant suburban feel they had enjoyed for decades.

The photo above, provided by Eric Nicholson, was taken at the intersection of North Fairfield and New Germany-Trebein Roads.  It is believed to be looking northeast, toward the current shopping center that includes Lowe's, Best Buy and Kohl's.

When crossing North Fairfield Road, New Germany-Trebein Road changes its name to Pentagon Boulevard, which formerly connected to Germany Lane in the town of New Germany across the highway. Looking at an aerial map, you can pretty clearly see where the roads previously met.

In town in the mid-1800’s you’d have found a General Store and blacksmith shop as well as the pictured New Germany School #11, which burned down in February 1920 while the teacher and pupils were eating lunch - no reported injuries.  Much of the land in 1874 was owned by members of the Harshman Family.

During the early twentieth century, the social lives of those in northern Beavercreek Township revolved around New Germany Hall, famous for their 50/50 dances - 50% round dancing and 50% square dancing.  The Hall clothing store was also a popular local shopping destination.

If you continued west northwest through Wright Patterson Air Force Base, you would have found yourself in a town known as Harshmanville, found opposite the National Museum of the United States Air Force (and their AWESOME virtual tours) on Springfield Street.  In the late 1800’s the Gerlaugh, Zink, Glaser, Barr, Kraft & Bates families were prevalent.

Our geographic neighbor, Fairborn, has a truly unique story of how it ‘came together’!  There’s a short documentary describing how the towns of Fairfield and Osborn became Fairborn.

• National Road and Col. Glenn Highway National Road and Col. Glenn Highway
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