Rossville originally occupied the land north of the Great Miami River on both sides of County Road 25A. Today, the last vestiges of Rossville are still north of the river, and centered around Zimmerlin Road which intersects with 25A. Helen Gilmore, Piqua historian, maintains the Rossville Museum and African-American Cultural Center, 8250 McFarland Street, situated on the site (pictured at top right). [It is open M-Fr., 1-7 p.m., weekends by appointment. Call 937-773-6789]. Displays portray African-American history in the Rossville/Piqua area, the nation and the continent of Africa. The museum building is the original York Rial (Randolph slave, ancestor of Helen Gilmore) home listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Added in December, 1986, it was one of the first black residences to be listed on the Register.

York Rial and Joseph Moton spearheaded the effort in 1907 that eventually included 27 cases where nearly 170 of the remaining black heirs brought suit to recover the cash or land that John Randolph originally willed them. After a 10 year battle, with an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas found in Joseph Moton et al. v. Gerhard Kessnes that Ohio’s 21 year statute of limitations barred the black’s recovery. Two higher courts let the opinion stand. York Rial perished in the flood of 1913.