When the city of Middletown annexed the pioneer town of Blue Ball in 1993, the pastor of the Blue Ball Presbyterian Church observed “We may be phased out and squeezed out, but the little village of Blue Ball will always live on.” For decades, the unincorporated town refused to die, even after it lost its focal point—the town school and its mailing address. Blue Ball boasts a population of 752 and still attracts visitors from across the country that come to see the big metal blue ball that hangs at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Dixie Highway. The town was originally settled sometime prior to 1820 and was known as Guliford honoring a Cincinnati politician named Nathaniel Guliford. In 1862, town leaders officially adopted the name Blue Ball to commemorate the blue ball that hung at the intersection to catch the attention of illiterate stagecoach drivers. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.