Vanatta
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Established in 1857, Vanatta, or Vanattasburgh as it was originally called, was a small manufacturing center north of Newark at the junction of the Clear and North Forks of the Licking. The impetus for the establishment of the village was the arrival of the railroad in the 1850s, which led to a rail depot and corresponding cluster of homes and businesses. Though there are many people who bear the surname "Vanatta" in Licking County, which one gave their name to the village remains a bit of a mystery. The nineteenth-century chroniclers of local history were surprisingly silent on that Vanatta's first name. The most likely prospect was Jesse Vanatta, who purchased a large plot of land in the area in the 1830s. He granted the railroad right-of-way through his property for the rail line, but he died in 1852 before the railroad was finished and the village was founded. It is possible that the village was named after Jesse after his death or in honor of his children who inherited many lots. Vannatta may have existed as a settlement decades before it was officially recognized; the obituary of a daughter of Jesse Vanatta recorded that her father ran a blacksmith shop and a tavern on what was a stage coach route years before the railroad arrived. The village had about 18 residences, a few businesses, and a school. [1]
J.G.
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References
- ↑ Massa, P., "Advocate Salutes Vanatta," Newark Advocate, Jun. 9, 1965, 1; "Obituary: Amanda Vanatta Stewart," Newark Advocate, Dec. 31, 1915, 6. "Obituary: Ellen VanAtta," Newark Daily Advocate, Jun. 5, 1893, 8. The first article credits the family arriving in 1839, the second provided 1831 for the arrival of the family of Jesse Vanatta to Licking County, and the third, and most likely, declared their arrival date 1837.
