Xenia, Ohio

If it wasn’t for Xenia’s extensive bike path network, we wouldn’t recommend this small town.  The downtown section is a hodgepodge of old and new buildings, as a result of severe damage from the 1974 category-F5 tornado.  Other than a few antique stores, the downtown lacks interesting shops for visitors.  A few restaurants are available in the town center.  The showcase of downtown is the 1901 all-limestone Romanesque-style Greene County Courthouse located on the northeast corner of Main and Detroit Streets.  It is adorned with a 145-feet-high clock tower, 8 gargoyles, a marble staircase, mosaic floors, mural ceilings, and leaded stained glass. If you are a bicyclist or a rollerblade enthusiast, Xenia has much to offer.  Xenia proclaims itself the Bicycle Capital of the Midwest. This claim is a valid one. While many large cities in the U.S. have extensive recreational path systems, Xenia is the only significant rural network that we know of.  It all starts at the Xenia Station – located at the site of the old rail yard and completed in May of 1998.  This three-story, all brick structure is an authentic replica of the nineteenth-century telegraph building that used to be one of the buildings in the seven-acre railroad depot.  To accommodate bicyclists, it contains two large restrooms, a small railroad museum, an outside seating courtyard, and several maps displaying the bike paths.  This train station is the hub of 5 spokes in the network.  The total length of these asphalt bike lanes is approximately 170 miles.  Xenia hosts the annual Greene Trails Cycling Classic, a four-day event that brings bicycling families from throughout the Midwest to enjoy cycling and rollerblading in Greene and surrounding counties.  The Annual Ohio River Road Runners Club Marathon is also held in Xenia. When visiting Xenia, you don’t want to miss Shawnee Park, accessible on the bike path that parallels north Detroit Street.  This park contains one of the finest bandstand/gazebo structures we have seen in America.  The Waterstreet Historic District in the northwest quadrant of town contains the most number of historic residences in Xenia.  This district was awarded National Register of Historic Place status in 1980. The Rev. Robert Armstrong first proposed the name "Xenia," meaning "hospitality" in Greek, because of the fine hospitality extended to him in this friendly community.