Dolan

Dolan is the name most maps give to the intersection of Old State Road 37, Robinson Road, and Boltinghouse Road in northeastern Monroe County. A few commercial buildings still stand there, and the Beanblossom Creek runs nearby. New Prospect Baptist Church is in the same area, and the church started the Dolan Historical Society in 1993. Drive up the hill from the Beanblossom bottoms and you will be on Dolan Ridge passing by the Dolan Ridge Community Church, and probably several bikers using the steep roads as training grounds for the Little 500.

No public businesses currently operate at the intersection, but over the years several have existed there, including Dolan's Country Market and Bid's Coffee Shop. Wilbert Williams ran Wilbert's Market from 1970 to 1982, while more recently Rooni's Fast Food and Ice Cream opened in 1996 and closed a few years later.

History

Some sources claim that Dolan was established in 1851, but there does not seem to be any documented evidence of the town's existence prior to 1875. Dolan was most likely named after a miller named John Dolan, but there is no evidence that he had any connection with Monroe County prior to that year.

In pioneer days, the town boasted a blacksmith shop, the brick and tile factory and the old Dolan store, as well as the Dolan pump, where townspeople and others in the area came to get their water. A post office was established in Dolan on August 2, 1888, and closed on December 31, 1904.

On August 10th, 1949, 16 people died when a Greyhound bus struck a bridge abutment and caught fire near Dolan.

In March of 1989, structural problems were discovered on the bridge over the Beanblossom, and many garbage trucks were forced to detour miles out of their way to get to the Monroe County Landfill. The bridge was replaced at a cost of $700,000 in 1994.

In 1992, the family of Jay Naylor was named Monroe County Farm Family Of The Year. The Naylors farm 840 acres near Dolan.

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