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Alpha Mill
Alpha Mill, located at 745 Alpha Road, is a historic landmark in the original village of Alpha. Originally a functioning grain mill, it holds the distinction of being the first mill established north of Cincinnati. Its name—Alpha, after the first letter of the Greek alphabet—was chosen to symbolize its pioneering role in the region.
The mill stands on the historic site of Greene County’s first courthouse. In the late 1790s, General Benjamin Whiteman constructed one of the earliest log cabins in Alpha, the first settlement in what would become Beavercreek Township. This same cabin, later converted into a tavern and owned by Whiteman’s father-in-law, was designated as the county’s first courthouse in 1803.
The original courthouse was a modest, 25-foot-square log structure built from burr oak. It featured a single main room, a loft accessible by ladder, and a large fireplace with an exterior chimney. The first court session convened there on May 10, 1803, with Whiteman serving as one of Greene County’s inaugural judges. During its brief tenure, the court established township boundaries, officially formed Beavercreek Township, and laid the groundwork for local elections.
When the county seat relocated to Xenia in 1804, court sessions at the Alpha site ceased. The cabin was eventually moved twice, repurposed as a boarding house, and ultimately dismantled in the mid-1850s.
Today, Alpha Mill sits along the Creekside Trail, a 15-mile paved pathway that stretches from Montgomery County to downtown Xenia, serving as a scenic and historical corridor through the region.