SPRINGBORO -- In the war against slavery, Quaker families at 250 S. Main St. in Springboro hung quilts.

Modern-day golfers at the Heatherwoode Golf Club pass the historic Null Cabin in Springboro. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

A quilt in the front yard told slaves to bypass the house. A quilt in the back signaled that this depot of the Underground Railroad was safe for visitors.

The house, built in the 1820s, is testament to the montage of old and new in Springboro. As one of 18 confirmed depots on the Underground Railroad, the house was a link from slavery to freedom for 4,000 people. A century and a half later, it is witness to the community's explosive growth, from 6,590 in 1990 to an estimated 9,776 in 1997. For years, the buildings along Main Street were virtually ignored. Now, the area is considered integral to Springboro's future. City leaders expect to introduce a land-use master plan in June that would tie the community's sense of identity to its heritage. The proposal includes expanding the historic district, increasing zoning requirements and creating a town center.

"What we're trying to do is the opposite of urban sprawl. We want to tie the community together . . . with the themes of history," City Manager Ed Doczy said. "We'd like to be known as historic Springboro and as progressive Springboro."

City leaders are afraid that if they don't have a plan to slow growth and preserve Springboro's small-town image, it will be too late. Too many subdivisions and residents, too many fast-food restaurants and strip malls could turn the historic city into a carbon-copy bedroom community.

Already many residents resent the development.

"Growth is progress, and we're not going to stop that," said Sigrid Bryant, a 35-year resident. "But I think the growth should be slowed. Open farmland is going to be nothing but (housing) plats. We're losing our small-town feel."

In addition, the population increases are stressing the city's infrastructure. Construction already has started on a $7 million project to widen Ohio 741 north of Ohio 73 to four lanes to handle a traffic load that, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation, has more than doubled in 20 years.

Demands on the water supply have spurred a $7 million water-treatment plant project that will have a 7 million gallon capacity, with the ability to expand to 12 million gallons should the population continue to increase. Another $2.4 million is earmarked to run a new waterline down Pennyroyal Road, and the city is testing well-field sites to increase and diversify the water supply.

Resident Bill Frauenknecht said the city should put all new development on hold for 10 years.

"We're growing so fast that we can't keep up with all the growth," he said. "We need to play catch-up, and take care of what we've got." But while some residents are angry at the changes, they still brag like proud parents about the city's rich heritage.

They point to the six-block historic district, Olde Springboro, as the heart of the city. It holds the Christmas festival, is home to an array of specialty shops and invites both tourists and residents to wander its narrow sidewalks in search of a bit of history.

They don't have to go far. The Quaker influence of Springboro's founding families is everywhere.

Many of the 19th-century homes still are standing -- in part, because the Quakers applied the principles of quality and simplicity in their construction.

The buildings were built snug to the road because the Quakers wanted to maximize their back yards for recreation and family activities, said Don Ross, director of the Springboro Historical Society Museum. Decades later, the Quaker construction style poses a problem for transportation planners. Because the houses are so close to the road, at least in the six-block area, the streets cannot be expanded to four lanes.

Johnna Bray, 32, played tag and rode her bike up and down Main Street as a child. That was before traffic increased from 7,640 cars a day in 1978 to 13,510 in 1997. Now, it's a challenge to cross that same street.

Miss Bray operates her business, Johnna's Styling Studio, on one side of the old Morton Hotel, built in 1837, at 40 S. Main St. She lives in the other half. "You can still tell where the ballroom was," she said. "But walls have been put up, and it's been sectioned off."

She doesn't think the city needs the historic district: "Part of me thinks it's important. Part of me says, "Why preserve?' " A few blocks away -- at the Quilt House, 250 S. Main St. -- the past continues to be an important part of the present. In the 1800s, the slaves would wait in the damp, dark cellar for night to fall. Then they would travel to the next safe house, often through underground tunnels.

Today, old creek stones and bricks block the tunnel's entrance. But quilts still hang in the house, converted to a business BY Sally Gardner 10 years ago. Mrs. Gardner, owner of Sally's Quilts and Gifts, is designing a quilt to commemorate the Underground Railroad. The North Star, which guided slaves in the dark, is in the center of the "Path to Freedom" quilt. Railroad tracks line the sides, and a body of water will run down the left side because the slaves were told to stay east of the river, where abolitionists were more common. While Mrs. Gardner hopes the city preserves the historic district and maintains the small-town quaintness that drew her to Springboro, she also intends to capitalize on the growing tourist trade and open a bed-and-breakfast on the second floor.

On the first floor of the home, where irregular handmade nails from the 1800s hold the hardwood floor together, Mrs. Gardner plans to follow a 1990s trend and open a coffee shop.

"People will come in and talk about their wonderful memories of this house," Mrs. Gardner said. "This is a nice old house. It's comfortable. It has a good feeling, an old, warm, peaceful feeling." Just like the city. Or, at least, like some residents say it used to be.