Miami Chapel Cemetery

Side A: Around 1843, local Methodists organized a new Methodist Episcopal church at Fair Play and later erected a brick chapel. The congregation was short-lived, however, and fell into decline after one of its leading members, Joseph Lashorn, moved to Hamilton. In 1876, Reverend F. G. Grigsby of the United Brethren church organized a congregation here, repairing and occupying the old Methodist chapel for the next several years. The cemetery is the burial place for veterans from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War; some of whom are interred in unmarked graves. The last known burial was Etta Thomas in 1941. Side B: The dark, rich soil of the area gained for it the name Black Bottom and there sprang up the village of Fair Play, also called Fair Play Mills. It was the site of many water-powered mills, as mill races were located between bends of the Great Miami River. In 1835, the Graham brothers purchased 300 acres in Fair Play. Their paper mill made writing and wrapping paper and bonnet boards. By 1846, the area included a sawmill, a grist mill, and three paper mills. Carding and fulling mills, for cloth-making, and a distillery also operated in the village. Flooding in 1866 and 1868 changed the river’s course, making milling untenable. By 1882, Fair Play was gone. The approximate location of Fair Play stretches from Thomas O. Marsh Park to the Great Miami River and was included within Fairfield when it was incorporated in 1954.