2008 Woodie Awards
Village lives on after power company's buyout in 2002
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: State
CHESHIRE, Ohio - This village crouched beneath the belching smokestacks of a coal-fired power plant didn't vanish when American Electric Power bought out most of its residents and bulldozed their homes.
Instead, the community along the Ohio River moved north and west, expanding its boundaries by annexing land and people from neighboring Cheshire Township.
Now, six years after the Columbus-based energy company announced the novel town buyout, on April 16, 2002, Cheshire lives on, and so does its big neighbor.
"We are trying to keep the village going, and it is going," said Mayor Jim Rife, among the few who refused the buyout in the village 85 miles southeast of Columbus.
AEP's Gen. James M. Gavin plant continues to generate electricity by burning coal, billowing smoke high into the air. Complaints about pollution and a blue plume of sulfuric-acid mist - unleashed, ironically, by the plant's anti-pollution equipment - prompted the company to pay villagers to move.
They received up to 3 1/2 times the value of their properties in the Gallia County community. In exchange, they signed away their right to sue the company for health problems.
The old village, settled in the late 18th century and incorporated in 1953, had 221 residents. Most were bought out, and many have died.
Instead, the community along the Ohio River moved north and west, expanding its boundaries by annexing land and people from neighboring Cheshire Township.
Now, six years after the Columbus-based energy company announced the novel town buyout, on April 16, 2002, Cheshire lives on, and so does its big neighbor.
"We are trying to keep the village going, and it is going," said Mayor Jim Rife, among the few who refused the buyout in the village 85 miles southeast of Columbus.
AEP's Gen. James M. Gavin plant continues to generate electricity by burning coal, billowing smoke high into the air. Complaints about pollution and a blue plume of sulfuric-acid mist - unleashed, ironically, by the plant's anti-pollution equipment - prompted the company to pay villagers to move.
They received up to 3 1/2 times the value of their properties in the Gallia County community. In exchange, they signed away their right to sue the company for health problems.
The old village, settled in the late 18th century and incorporated in 1953, had 221 residents. Most were bought out, and many have died.
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