Patrons of the Carnegie Library in Chillicothe come and go every day under the watchful eye of an eagle. They read their newspapers and move through the stacks carefully choosing what next to read, perhaps without ever questioning why there's an old metal weathervane hanging high on the wall beyond their reach.
That's not just any old weathervane, the librarian says it's the one that was installed over the first Ross County Courthouse in 1801. At some point, during the nation's centennial year, it was displayed in the library on the top floor of the city building where it stayed until it was moved to above the circulation desk in the newly opened Carnegie Library in 1907.
The library has since been remodeled, the circulation desk moved and the weather vane has been moved to another wall in the original part of the library.
This weathervane is deeply intertwined in the library's history as much as it is in the city's history and in the state's history as well. After all, this old eagle stood sentinel over Ohio's first and third capital city for many years. That's why it was exhibited at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus during the opening reception of a new Ohio Constitution display in 2018.
You have to wonder what it has seen over all these years.
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