A Lost Town: Smithtown Ohio
“Smithtown Ohio” was the first town laid out in Guernsey County, but its founder Joseph Smith’s fate remains a mystery. Smith named the town Frankford, but the records show the plat of a town named Frankby and Frankley, recorded on September 13, 1805. Smith reserved lot No. 5 for courthouse purposes, lot No. 13 for a jail, and north spring, on lot No. 29, for the free use of the public square. However, the first cabin erected there was for a tavern, and the whiskey was so cheap that the advantages of the free spring water were not duly appreciated. In 1846, the platting was vacated and its history ended.