Worthington Story

This narrated documentary covers Worthington, Ohio’s history beginning in 1803. It offers information on Worthington’s founders, including James Kilbourne, as well as on pioneer life in the village. The film describes aspects of early Worthington life such as cooking; log cabins; occasions such as Muster Day; the Squirrel Tax of 1808, which required each property owner to destroy a certain number of squirrels; Worthington’s petition to the Ohio legislature to become the state capital, a bid that it lost by one vote; and the scarcity of money after the War of 1812, when Worthington businesses issued scrip money.

The film also covers historical information on Worthington schools, businesses, celebrations, churches and historic sites. Buildings described include the Bird Song house, the Kilbourne commercial building, the Episcopal rectory and the Park Federal building. The houses mentioned are identified by their builders or early residents, including the Ansel Mattoon house (which was a station on the Underground Railroad), the Sidney Brown house, the Sanderson house, the McElvane house, the J.R. Topping house, the Travis Scott house, the Horace Wright house, the Charles Cooper house, the John Snow house, the Roswell Ripley house, the Wiley house, the Elias Lewis house, the Captain Skeels house, the Greer house, the Ashbury house, and the Smokerise house.

The film was a personal project of filmmaker William Boyd Owens, who had a chiropractic office in Worthington. Actors in the film include Owens' granddaughters Kathy and Karmel Owens, who played the girls spinning by the fireplace at 3 minutes 24 seconds. Also featured are Mike and Carol Haddad, who played the boy and girl appearing in vignettes throughout the first half of the film.