ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — What began as Brian Koscho’s Ohio University graduate thesis is now eight interactive, immersive historical markers that bring local history to life.
With more markers on the way, these spots showcase local history — often transcending Appalachian Ohio with ties to historical moments nationwide — and time itself.
Through the Invisible Ground project, Koscho creates immersive, augmented reality historical markers that include ground plates with QR codes where one stands for optimal usage. Users can scan the QR code using the Invisible Ground app, then use their phone’s camera to see historical images overlaid on the present view.
For example, users can see the Athens County Courthouse steps packed for a 1912 visit by Theodore Roosevelt, or the Albany Enterprise Academy superimposed over the empty field where it once stood.
Each spot also includes — or will soon include — a sign with the QR code and historical information. The app also provides audio recordings with more information on the sites.
In the first episode of his local history podcast — also called Invisible Ground — Koscho asked, “What do you lose in a story when a building is gone?”
“I think you lose a lot, and I think there’s a lot of different ways to look at that question,” Koscho said. “As you start diving into these things … you start to realize those points of connection [are] tied to bigger national things. … And so you lose, in that case, a whole voice and a whole part of the community’s history.”
The loss of structures often is tied to the loss of the people who built and used it, Koscho noted, such as the forced removal of Ohio’s indigenous people and for Black Americans. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter if the thing is still there, because the community is not there anymore,” Koscho said.
That makes looking at specific places all the more important, whether a structure remains or not, he said. Even if a building remains standing, its stories may not have survived.
“The building is the obvious big thing – it’s the physical thing on the landscape. It’s not a story. It’s not made up. It’s actually there,” Koscho said. When a structure is gone, “it’s not ever going to be back. And the only thing you can do is try to keep those stories.”
Although he has a passion for history, Koscho recognizes that his enthusiasm isn’t universal. Part of his work, he said, is making other folks interested in their local history, the dirt beneath their feet — hence the novel augmented reality app.
“How can I make people in — especially in a crowded world of things vying for their attention — how can I make someone just as excited about these things … [as] I do when I just read about it,” Koscho said.
Koscho believes that each of the eight sites are all “places that offered important threads and stories that not only were important here, locally, and regionally, but that also had huge connections outward.”
The Independent visited each of these sites. Here’s what to know:
Markers in Athens
- Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Ohio University College Green, near Union and Court streets
Ground marker location: East Union Street sidewalk, just east of the Alumni Gateway
Erected in 1893, the monument commemorates the 2,610 Athens County residents who served in the Civil War. Among them was Milton Holland, the freed son of a Texas slave who earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm in 1865.
“I think he’s the most important Civil War veteran from here,” Koscho said. “You could actually make the argument that we wouldn’t have won the Civil War, if it wasn’t for what he did.”
Koscho also noted how “evident” the monument is on the landscape, often a background in Ohio University student photos.
- Athens County Courthouse
1 S. Court St.
Ground marker location: Court Street sidewalk near Chase Bank opposite the courthouse; historical marker near courthouse entrance doorway
“Most people think that it’s the original courthouse, but it’s really the third one,” Koscho said. “The first one is the cabin that’s across from the football field.”
The existing courthouse indirectly tells the stories of the other two, Koscho explained.
“It’s the second building … that would have been the one that Andrew Jackson Davison practiced law in for the first time,” Koscho said. “The second courthouse — before the one we have — is the one where Christopher Davis was held, and then taken from and taken down the street and lynched.”
- The Berry Hotel
Formerly 18 N. Court St.
Ground marker location: Court Street sidewalk outside Lucky’s Sports Tavern
A diner now stands on the site of the Berry Hotel on Court Street, just up the hill from the State Street intersection. African American entrepreneur Edward C. Berry and his wife Mattie established the hotel in 1882, making them the only Black business owners in the city. The hotel hosted many renowned guests, including U.S. presidents. It was demolished in 1974.
Scanning the QR code will display several images of the Berry Hotel, which Koscho calls “one of the most beautiful buildings in all of southeast Ohio.”
- Mount Zion Baptist Church
32 W. Carpenter St.
Historical and ground markers location: In front of the church on East Carpenter Street
Although the Berry Hotel is long gone, the Mount Zion Baptist Church still stands. For Koscho, the church stands strong, despite the risk of “very much not being there.” Through community support and dedication, the church has survived the tests of time and is currently under renovation.
- Athens Asylum, “The Ridges”
OHIO Museum Complex and Kennedy Museum of Art, 100 Ridges Circle
Ground marker location: Flagpole near the stairs that connect parking lots in front of the Kennedy Museum; historical marker coming soon
Scanning the marker on the flagpole produces two images of the Ridges’ past. A sign with the asylum’s history is coming soon.
Markers in Athens County
- Albany Enterprise Academy
5533 Fire Department Lane, Albany
Historical and ground markers location: Empty lot on Washington Road near the Albany Volunteer Fire Department
The Albany Enterprise Academy was one of the more important facilities for early Black education in American history. Founded in 1864, the academy was the first educational institution created and run by Black Americans. Among its students were the son of Edward C. Berry, Milton Holland, and Olivia Davidson, an education activist who married Booker T. Washington. In addition to educating formerly enslaved people, the academy served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
“You have all these important people pass through locally and regionally and nationally, and it’s a huge, important thing,” Koscho said. “And there’s a giant Black community and all, but at the time. That’s not something that exists at all anymore — both the academy and the people in the community, right?”
- Coal Mining in Chauncey
Chauncey Community Park, 8433 W. Bailey Road, Millfield
Historical and ground markers location: Near the shelterhouse close to the playground
The Chauncey Invisible Ground marker may be one of the project’s more striking historical markers. What was once an area for coal mining is now the Chauncey Community Park, featuring a playground, shelter houses and a skatepark; it’s also the trailhead for the Baileys Trail System. Scan the QR code and look across State Route 13 and toward the skate park for photos.
- Tablertown
Marker location: Kilvert Church, 21120 McGraw Road, Stewart
Ground marker coming soon
The Tablertown marker is still in progress, with internet connection being set up. However, the marker tells the story of the historic Black community, now called Kilvert. It describes Tablertown’s founding and how its history has been preserved through oral tradition, specifically through the work of Tablertown descendant David Butcher, who curates the nearby Tablertown People of Color Museum.
For more information — on the sites and stories — visit findinvisibleground.com, listen to the podcast episodes and visit the historical markers (map available on website).
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