Fredericktown Historical Museum

East Sandusky Street

Webb C. Ball was born in Fredericktown in 1847 and later settled in Cleveland to work for a jeweler before opening up his own shop. He was the first jeweler to use time signals from the U.S. Naval Observatory, bringing accurate time to Cleveland. In 1891 he was hired to be the chief time inspector for the railroad, overseeing 125,000 miles of rail tracks in the United States, Canada and Mexico. He was in charge of synchronizing the watches for the railroad engineers, enabling them to avoid any major collisions.

The clock, which was created by Fredericktown native Webb C. Ball in 1886, had been in disrepair on a Cleveland street until April 2007, when it was brought to Fredericktown by several men with the help of Jim Wagner, Gordon “Flash” Huff and members of the bicentennial committee and Fredericktown Historical Society. Now fully restored and operational, the clock, which is 17 feet tall, stands in front of our Village Municipal Building.

Historic Webb C. Ball Clock returned to Fredericktown for Bicentennial

Fredericktown, Ohio was founded in 1807 by John Kerr as a site for a mill and was named after Frederick, Maryland as was the custom of many early pioneers.

Many fascinating books and articles of the past are available at the museum. Please feel free to stop in and view some of the material we have preserved to help generations understand how far we have come.

If you have questions or need assistance with historical items of interest, please contact one of the members listed at the bottom of this page.

Many smaller area villages like Ankneytown, Waterford and Batemantown have displays in the museum for your enjoyment.