Editing Crestline, Ohio (section)

==History==

===Early history===
The [[Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad]], or the "Bee Line" as it was known then, predated Crestline. Since there was no town between [[Shelby, Ohio|Shelby]] and [[Galion]], it was decided that a station should be placed halfway for passenger convenience. The station was constructed where the line crossed the [[Leesville, Ohio|Leesville]] road.{{citation needed|date= June 2023}}

Crestline was [[plat]]ted in 1852.<ref>{{cite book|last=Overman|first=William Daniel|title=Ohio Town Names|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015015361465;view=1up;seq=51|year=1958|publisher=Atlantic Press|location=Akron, OH|page=35}}</ref>  It was once thought to be the highest point in Ohio and was named from its high elevation.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-MyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA493 | title=History of Crawford County and Ohio | publisher=Baskin & Battey | year=1881 | pages=493}}</ref>

This station soon developed into a town, with a general store, post office, and a few homes. Early settlers in the village believed that the town was the [[continental divide|watershed]] of the state, where streams to the north emptied into Lake Erie and those to the south emptied into the Ohio River, thus the name Crest Line. The town was not directly on the watershed line (but rather just north of the divide), but the name stuck and eventually became one word.

===Abraham Lincoln's funeral train===
Following his [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|death by assassination]], the body of [[Abraham Lincoln]] was brought from [[Washington, D.C.]] to its final resting place in Lincoln's hometown of [[Springfield, Illinois]], by [[funeral train]].  The train left Washington, D.C., on April 21, 1865, at 12:30 pm and traveled {{convert|1654|mi|km}} to Springfield, arriving on May 3, 1865. Several stops were made along the way, including Crestline on April 29, 1865, at 4:07 am.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Newman|first=Ralph G|date=1965|title='In This Sad World of Ours, Sorrow Comes to All' a Timetable for the Lincoln Funeral Train|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40190423.|journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society|volume=58|issue=1|pages=5–20|jstor=40190423}}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:USA 049 Crestline 1.jpg|thumb|left|New York Central line crossing the Pennsylvania Railroad mainline, along with [[Ohio State Route 61]] in Crestline]]
During its heyday, Crestline was a division point for the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s [[Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway]]. The city housed major engine facilities and would often be the point where motive power was changed for the relatively flat runs to and from [[Chicago, Illinois]].  In addition to the town's station being a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's east–west trains, the station served as a transfer point to the [[New York Central Railroad]]'s northeast–southwest trains.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Index of Railroad Stations|journal=Official Guide of the Railways |publisher=National Railway Publication Company |volume=88 |issue=4 |date=September 1955}}</ref>

On November 1, 1903, two Pennsylvania line train cars carrying [[dynamite]] exploded, causing damage to the rail lines and several train cars.<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 2, 1903|title=Dynamite Shakes a Town|work=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/11/02/102028598.html?pageNumber=3|access-date=October 8, 2021}}</ref> This disaster is noted as one of the catalysts which began the regulation of the shipping of hazardous substances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Aldritch|first=Mark|title=Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828–1965|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0801894022|location=Baltimore, Maryland|page=216}}</ref>  

The Pennsylvania Railroad's engine facilities included a roundhouse on Crestline Road, decommissioned in 1968 in the aftermath of the merger between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad to form [[Penn Central]]. Demolition of the historic roundhouse commenced in 2007 after years of neglect.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://crestlineprr.com/|title=Crestline PRR Engine Facility|website=crestlineprr.com}}</ref> But, some buildings still stand. Today, [[Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad]], [[CSX]] and [[Norfolk Southern]] trains operate in and around Crestline.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.odotnet.net/map1/OhioRailMap/images/Ohio-Rail-Map-07-09-Fr-Lg.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326140332/http://www.odotnet.net/map1/OhioRailMap/images/Ohio-Rail-Map-07-09-Fr-Lg.jpg |archive-date=March 26, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===21st century===
On September 4, 2017, at approximately 10:45&nbsp;p.m. a tornado passed from the west to just north of the village causing extensive damage to rural properties near the village.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.weather.gov/cle/event_20170904_tornado|title=EF2 Tornado Confirmed from Crawford into Richland County on Labor Day 2017|date=September 5, 2017|website=National Weather Service|access-date=November 26, 2019}}</ref> The National Weather Service classified the twister as an EF-2 with winds above 115 miles per hour.<ref name="auto"/> This incident was a rare event.