Best Hometowns 2024: Millersburg

Standing in the lobby of Hotel Millersburg — believed to be the third-longest-operating hotel in the state of Ohio — it is clear to see how the village it calls home sits at the intersection of old and new. Much of the present building was erected by merchandiser Sampson Bever in 1847 under the name Central Hotel. To the left of the entrance, Queen Victoria’s Parlor pays homage to the building’s beginnings with crystal lamps and candleholders and a camelback sofa next to an elegant fireplace. Down the hallway, the newly reopened The Tavern Food & Spirits gleams with modern cylindrical light fixtures and historic photos hanging above every booth.

On the sidewalk just outside the hotel, we meet up with Mayor Kelly Hoffee, a mail carrier by day who grew up in neighboring Wayne County. She moved away from Ohio during her husband’s service in the Marine Corps and relocated to Holmes County in 2000, settling in Millersburg four years later. Her enthusiasm for her town is infectious as she discusses the wealth of stores lining Jackson Street, which doubles as state Route 39 and serves as the main artery through town. 

“There are so many little nooks and crannies in Ohio, just like Millersburg, that … if you just go once, you’re going to be hooked,” Hoffee says. “We slow down, and that’s the biggest thing I hear from tourists: Everything is just slower there.’’

The Holmes County Courthouse (left) has a hitching post along the street so that residents of the area who travel by horse and buggy can park (right). (photos by Rachael Jirousek)

According to the most recent census data, Millersburg’s population stands around 3,200 residents and the village covers just 2.5 square miles. It not only has high visibility as the county seat of Holmes County, but also the fact that destinations in the surrounding countryside often bear a Millersburg address for travelers using a GPS. 

Walk Jackson Street and one finds historically significant buildings, thriving small businesses and a strong sense of community pride. American Hall exemplifies all three traits: Completed in 1874, it has been home to various ventures over the years, including a boot and leather shop, a restaurant and saloon, a harness and saddle shop, and most notably, a dance hall. In 2021, local couple Dylan and Jackie Kaufman bought the building and got to work, installing an elevator, converting the middle floor to host suites, adding a kitchen and a bathroom to the upper floor and bringing the structure up to code. Today, American Hall houses Troyer’s Sweet Shoppe and Three Feathers Pewter on its first floor, Airbnb-style rentals on its second level and an event venue on its third. The work was completed in March 2024.

“It wasn’t a project that was just going to be, ‘Let’s cover up some things and go from there.’ A lot needed to be done to be restored to what it is,’” Jackie says. “But the amazing thing is, it was built in the 1800s and it is such a phenomenal, strong structure.”

A room at the historic Hotel Millersburg (left); Mayor Kelly Hoffee was elected to Millersburg’s top office in November 2023 (right). (photos by Rachael Jirousek) 

Other downtown improvements in recent years have included changes to outfit the hotel with sound-reducing storm window inserts and the gallery with a new front entry and flooring. This was made possible by a $155,000 historic revitalization grant from the National Park Service. In 2024, the Ohio Arts Council funded the painting of a Historic Downtown Millersburg mural  on the side of a downtown building.

Walk Jackson Street for any length of time and its diverse mix of businesses becomes apparent. Cottonwood Shanty, which curates elegant home goods, sits next door to The Cider Press, a farm-to-table restaurant and cider bar that leans on what’s fresh from purveyors in the surrounding countryside and throughout the region to shape its menu.  

Miller’s Creamery is known throughout the area for its excellent ice cream, soups and sandwiches, while the mother-and-daughter-owned boutique Urban Farmgirl specializes in bohemian- and Western-style women’s clothing and jewelry, including turquoise pieces made by artisans in New Mexico. 

“[I love] being able to cater a little more to the agricultural community,” says McKena Van Keuren, co-owner of Urban Farmgirl. “They [don’t have] to drive super far to get a fun outfit for a country concert or something for church.”

Cottonwood Shanty curates goods for the home and is one of many unique businesses in downtown Millersburg. (photo by Rachael Jirousek)

School-age children in Millersburg attend West Holmes School District, which is comprised of Killbuck, Lakeville, Millersburg and Nashville Elementary Schools, West Holmes Middle School and West Holmes High School. The district has a total enrollment of 1,749 students for the 2024-25 school year. 

West Holmes Local Schools is one of the village of Millersburg’s largest employers, with 293 employees making up the district. Other big community businesses include Pomerene Hospital and Medical Group, which employs approximately 400 people, and Amish Wedding Foods, a manufacturer and distributor of traditional preserves, jams, jellies, butters and pickles, which employs approximately 100 people.

Though Holmes County has the highest concentration of Amish and Mennonite residents in the world, a significant portion of the practicing community lives in the countryside to have enough acreage for farming purposes. Holmes County, which was established in 1824, and Millersburg, which was founded the following year, have been and will continue to celebrate both bicentennials with a year-long slate of programming, which began in summer 2024 and will run through summer 2025.

Hotel Millersburg was one location featured in the made-for-television movie “Love Finds You in Valentine,” which used Holmes County destinations (left). Nail’d It Beauty & Boutique (right) along West Jackson Street (photos by Rachael Jirousek)

“We’re Amish Country, but we’re not what you think of when you think of Amish Country”, says Taylor Sigler, executive director at Historic Downtown Millersburg.  

The proximity to that slower way of life provides a certain charm. In 2015, the made-for-television movie “Love Finds You in Valentine” used  Holmes County destinations as filming locations, including Hotel Millersburg, the Victorian House Museum and Millersburg First Presbyterian Church. 

A variety of those who live throughout the area, as well as travelers, use the Holmes County Rails-to-Trails Coalition’s paved pathway, which accommodates bicycles and e-bikes alongside horses and buggies. The trail is currently the only companion buggy trail in the United States. It not only connects Millersburg residents with surrounding communities, including Fredericksburg, Holmesville and Killbuck, but it also provides access to other parts of Ohio by connecting with Knox County’s Mohican Valley Trail and the 326-mile Ohio to Erie Trail.  

“We have no interstates. We have no public transportation,” Sigler says. “But everybody still wants to come and visit.” 

More Best Hometowns 2024-25: Bryan | Hilliard | McConnelsville | Millersburg | Urbana

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