09/16/2026
The Old Butler County Hotels Along the Roads to Cincinnati
Route 27. Route 126. Layhigh Road. Ross-Millville Road. Hamilton-Cleves Road.
Today, these are roads we use to get from one place to another.
But 150 years ago, these weren't just roads.
They were people's livelihoods.
For generations, Butler County farmers depended on these roads to get their crops and livestock to market. And for many of those farmers, that meant heading south toward Cincinnati.
Cincinnati had become one of the country's great pork-packing centers. By the 1820s, the city had earned the nickname "Porkopolis" as huge numbers of hogs were brought into Cincinnati for slaughter and processing. Historical accounts describe livestock being driven into Cincinnati from the surrounding countryside.
So imagine setting out from a Butler County farm.
You might be walking behind a herd of hogs, riding horseback, or traveling by wagon, following the old roads toward Cincinnati.
It wasn't a quick trip.
The livestock had to be driven along the roads, while the farmers, drovers and other travelers needed food and a place to sleep. The animals needed water and a place to rest.
That's where the old hotels came in.
These hotels were positioned along the roads where travelers needed them. They provided meals, lodging and a place to stop during the journey. In some places, water troughs gave livestock a chance to drink before the journey continued.
And remarkably, some of these old hotel buildings are still standing today, prominent landmarks that are still being used.
Reily
One of those historic buildings stands in the heart of Reily.
Today, it is known as Indian Creek Tavern on Main Street.
The building dates to the 1800s and was historically known as the Spring Hill Tavern. A modern account of the building's history describes it as a stopping place for farmers traveling toward Cincinnati, where it served as a bar and boarding house.
The old building remains today, still serving the community.
From Reily, travelers could take Layhigh Road, one of the old routes leading south toward the Cincinnati area.
Millville
At the corner of Millville Avenue and Walnut Street stands the building now known as Old Mill Country Gift Store.
Long before its current use, the building was a hotel.
Another hotel once stood at Cherry Street and Walnut Street, on the south side of the Indian Creek Bridge. That building was destroyed by an arson fire in 1907.
There was also another hotel at Mill Street and Water Street. That building is still standing today and is now an apartment complex.
From Millville, the old route followed what became Route 27, with the road running through what is now Ross-Millville Road and connecting with Hamilton-Cleves Road as travelers continued south toward Cincinnati.
These weren't random locations.
Millville sat along the old transportation routes, and hotels provided travelers with places to stop as they moved through the community.
Venice and Ross Township
The Meeker Hotel, later known as Venice Castle, once stood at the location where the United Dairy Farmers is today.
Across the road stood the Ochs Hotel, another of the old hotels that served travelers through the area. It was destroyed by an arson fire.
Just a few years later, the Venice Pavilion was built on the site, and that building still stands today as the Venice Pavilion Antiques Mall.
And Venice was more than just another stopping point.
For travelers coming south through these communities, Venice was part of the route toward the Venice Bridge, where they crossed the Great Miami River and continued onto the Colerain Pike toward Cincinnati.
This is where the old roads all begin to make sense.
A traveler coming south from Reily on Layhigh Road, or from Millville along the old Ross-Millville Road and Hamilton-Cleves route, would eventually make his way toward Venice and the crossing of the Great Miami River.
And along these old routes were watering places for the livestock.
Two historic troughs still associated with these old routes were the John Evans Trough, located along Route 126, and the Giles Richards Watering Trough, located along Old Colerain Avenue near East Miami River Road.
After crossing the Great Miami River at the Venice Bridge, travelers continued onto the Colerain Pike, following the road toward Cincinnati and the markets of Porkopolis.
The old hotels, roads and watering troughs were all pieces of the same journey, helping farmers, drovers and their livestock make their way from Butler County to Cincinnati.
The photo accompanying this article is the Indian Creek Tavern in Reily, pictured when the building was serving as the Spring Hill Tavern, one of the old hotel and stopping places along the route toward Cincinnati.
