AFFORDABLE HEATING, COOLING & INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN YELLOW SPRINGS, OHIO

Discovering Yellow Springs, Ohio

It didn’t work, however, because of internal conflicts, and soon after the communitarian vision dissolved. Nonetheless, the village was still formed and was named after several nearby natural springs in which waters were seen as rich in iron content. Yellow Springs had long been the home of Shawnee Native Americans, most of whom were forced out when European-American settlement arrived and pushed westward.

In 1846, the completion of the Little Miami Railroad resulted in much more commerce here as well as more inhabitants to this area of Greene County. A great deal of visitors during the nineteenth century came for the springs, as they were believed to have health benefits. Yellow Springs was incorporated as a village in 1856. Founded by the Christian Connection in 1850, Antioch College started offering classes in 1853 with the distinguished scholar Horace Mann serving as its first president. 

In 1920, Arthur E. Morgan became president of Antioch College. Morgan was known for his innovations and he implemented a popular work-study program for students. An engineer by training, Morgan left Antioch to become head of the Tennessee Valley Authority during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. Upon his return, he was a key leader of Quaker intentional community developments in Ohio and in North Carolina.

Antioch College expanded beginning in 1964, to include 38 “centers” around the country by the end of 1979. Its by-laws were changed to define Antioch as a “network”, not a college, owned by Antioch University Corporation. In 1986, 32 of its units around the country were closed, leaving six campuses, which included both its original College campus in Yellow Springs and the college’s School of Adult and Experiential Learning there. It operated separately as Antioch University McGregor. That adult and graduate education school was renamed as Antioch University Midwest in 1988.