New California, Ohio

This village was platted on August 27, 1853 by William B. Irwin for Samuel B. Woodburn. Mr. Woodburn also operated the first store in the village. Not long after this, a tavern was operated here by Samuel Ressler. The first house was built by Reuben Cook. The New California United Presbyterian Church was originally organized as the Sugar Run Presbyterian Church in 1835. At one point in its history New California supported a blacksmith shop, a store, a shoe shop, one church, a small ashery, and school building. New California is also the site of the first rural traffic light in Ohio. The traffic light was placed at the intersection of US 33 and US 42 on Novermber 3, 1930. This is the present day intersection of US 42 and Industrial Parkway in Union County. The crown jewel of this tiny village is its Civil War Monument. This monument was dedicated on May 30, 1913. As recent as the 1990s there was a restaurant, a pizza shop, a small motel, a used car dealership, a convenience store/gas station, a church, and a cemetery in the village. However, today the pizza shop is gone and the restaurant has burnt to the ground. The New California United Presbyterian Church is still a part of the community, and it still maintains a cemetery for its congregation members. A housing boom is also underway in the area in the New California Hills and California Woods developments.

A frame school house was built in the village in 1852. This school was known as the New California Select School or the Little Brown Schoolhouse. In 1909 a larger school was built in the village that housed 12 grades. This school received its charter in 1913. By 1913 plans were made to build a high school. This is the high school that the Jerome Special students would later attend as well. The school district was eventually absorbed by the Jonathan Alder School District.