Editing Ansonia, Ohio (section)

==History==
Ansonia was founded in 1845 under the name of "Dallas."  The village initially grew slowly; significant expansion only came after the coming of a railroad in 1852.<ref name="wilson">{{cite book|last= Wilson|first=Frazer Ells|title=History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Vol. 1|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofdarkeco01hoba#page/568/mode/2up|year=1914|publisher=Hobart Publishing Company|location=Milford, Ohio}}</ref>{{rp|568}}  Because dense [[swamp]]s hindered settlement in the vicinity,<ref name=wilson />{{rp|566}} woodland was plentiful, and Ansonia became a center of manufacturing for [[hardwood]] products.<ref name=wilson />{{rp|568}}  In 1873, the residents replaced their old school with a substantial two-[[storey|story]] building at the cost of ten thousand dollars; this building was the first home of [[Ansonia High School (Ansonia, Ohio)|Ansonia High School]], which was founded in that year.  In turn, this building was demolished and a replacement erected in 1903.  Another prominent structure in the village was a [[mausoleum]]; built of [[marble]] in 1911, it was the first mausoleum in Darke County.<ref name=wilson />{{rp|569}}

In its early decades, Ansonia was heavily influenced by [[Freemasonry]].  The community's first lodge was chartered on October 21, 1874, with a membership of sixteen; in its first forty years, this lodge expanded nearly eightfold.  An [[Independent Order of Odd Fellows|IOOF]] lodge was instituted on June 18, 1875, with sixteen members; it grew nearly sevenfold in its first forty years.  Sixteen women in the community founded a chapter of the Daughters of Rebekah in 1894, and a lodge of the [[Knights of Pythias]] was also established in the village in 1889.<ref name=wilson />{{rp|569}}<ref>Ansonia Mirror newspaper transcriptions in the Garst Museum, Greenville</ref>