By 1812Blockhouse
This is the second in a quiz series on all things local. Our first quiz last August looked at Richland County geography.
That quiz can be accessed here.
Today we are looking at an icon of early local history, John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, through a set of ten questions. We will be sharing the answers tomorrow here on 1812Blockhouse.
More…Johnny Appleseed, Johnny Appleseed Historic Byway, Richland County History
By 1812Blockhouse
We’re doing a bit of a “spin” today on one of our standard series.
Throughout the lasts five years, we have highlighted stories of visits to Mansfield by important figures of literary, academic, artistic, and political history in a series we call “When Mansfield Welcomed.” Through those posts, we have looked back in time to consider all of the well-known individuals who have stopped in the city.
There are, of course, other communities in Richland County, and in fact one was well-positioned on the main railroad line between Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati — basically the “I71” of its day, a line which would come to be called the Big Four Railroad. More…
Featured, Richland County History, Shelby History, When Richland Welcomed
By 1812Blockhouse
Richland County has produced or been the home to a wide variety of individuals that have made important contributions to the world. 1812Blockhouse has been sharing their stories in a series we started last year called “Richland Roots.” For other Richland Roots stories, click here.
As the country moves toward the centennial of women first voting in a presidential election, we profile a native Richland Countian who contribute in her own unique way to achieving that end. Unfortunately, she never saw the fruits of her work, dying at the young age of 40. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
It was the latest fad in the last decades of the 19th century throughout the Midwest, and particularly in Ohio.
Tired of rigid and formulaic approaches, houses and commercial buildings in the Italianate style sprouted up along the streets of Richland County communities.
This Victorian-era style that began in Britain and spread around the world favored the use of architectural elements from a romanticized past to create buildings that offered an alternative to the prevailing formality of classical architecture. You can easily recognize them by their wide eaves supported by brackets.
Such was the case in Bellville, where one was built to house the family of an enterprising hardware store merchant who wore other “hats” as well. More…
Bellville, Featured, Landmarks of Richland, Richland County History
By 1812Blockhouse
It’s not unusual for the most successful merchant in one of Ohio’s numerous small cities and villages to have built the most architecturally sophisticated house in town.
Such was the case in Shiloh, where the owner of the general store, who also owned an agricultural equipment factory and grain elevator, built a wonderful house on East Main Street about 1880.
It is also not unusual for these types of properties to be used in subsequent decades as funeral homes. In the case of the Silas Ferrell House, it became the location for the McQuate Funeral Home.
The house sits at 25 East Main Street. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
It’s time this Saturday and Sunday for RichHistory Weekend, the area’s annual celebration of the past and how it connects to Richland County’s present and future. It is brought to you by the RichHistoryAlliance.
Many of your favorite events and attractions are back, such as Downtown Mansfield Inc.’s Secret City Tour and events in South Park and at Oak Hill Cottage. New ones are being added as well, such as walks at Dayspring’s 1889 boiler building.
Founded in 2016, the RichHistory Alliance was created through the partnering of museums and history-related attractions in Richland County to collaborate on the preservation, discovery, and sharing of local history. More…
Featured, RichHistory Alliance, RichHistory Weekend, Richland County History
By 1812Blockhouse
This church building is testament to faith and resilience.
The present First Presbyterian Church of Shelby, located on North Gamble Street, has occupied this spot for the last 115 years. It stands on the lot to the south of the Post Office Building, the subject of another recent post in this series.
The fact that it exists, however, is rather miraculous.
Presbyterians first met in the Shelby area in the early 1820s. After a couple of initial locations, the congregation built a church on South Broadway in 1851. More…
Featured, Landmarks, Landmarks of Richland, Richland County History
From our friends at Destination Mansfield, with links from 1812Blockhouse:
The Village of Plymouth is one of the oldest communities in Richland County.
A bit of an anomaly, the community of settlers sprang up along a military road and former Wyandot trail, now Ohio 603, in the early 1800s and grew into a village before Ohio’s official county lines were determined. When Richland County’s northern border was drawn along the Forty-First Parallel, the village which was then called Paris, was split between Richland and Huron counties. It was at this time in 1838, that Paris and rechartered as Plymouth. More…
Destination Mansfield - Richland County, Featured, Richland County History
By: 1812Blockhouse
A bit over 120 years ago, a man with strong local roots occupied the position of Mayor of New York City. He was a reformer and set out to improve a corrupt system, a task which did not result in success.
His name was William Lafayette Strong.
1812Blockhouse shares posts in our “Richland Roots” series to reveal stories of the less-commonly known people born here, or who lived here, and then went on to make significant contributions to state, regional, or national history. Other posts in the series are available here. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
Preservation Ohio has issued its annual Call for Nominations for its list of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites.
Each year, the statewide organization searches for houses, commercial buildings, governmental structures, bridges, historic roadways, landscapes, downtowns, neighborhoods and other important pieces of Ohio history that face a potentially risky future. The list serves to highlight those properties which are both historically significant and endangered — whether it be by threats of demolition, long-term disinvestment or neglect, insensitive governmental action, uncertainty or indifference. Nominations for this important list have come from individuals, preservation organizations, downtown and neighborhood revitalization organizations, historical societies, historic road associations, local governments and other entities. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
On August 29, 1932, two houses standing on the west side of North Gamble Street in downtown Shelby had a date with a bulldozer.
It took only a few days for the two structures, one large Queen Anne residence and another older, small structure, to make way for an exciting new chapter in Shelby civic history.
Prior to this, the US Congress had set aside $105,000 for the purpose of buying and clearing land, erecting a new building to house the local post office and some additional federal offices, and to furnish the same. The monies had been championed by former US Congressman William M. Morgan. More…
Featured, Landmarks of Richland, Richland County History, Shelby History
By 1812Blockhouse
One could say that the village center of Plymouth might be termed a “One-Half Landmark of Richland,” as Main Street, the downtown’s main thoroughfare, straddles the Richland County – Huron County line.
It would be hard to argue, however, that its downtown boasts one of the most intact sets of nineteenth century commercial buildings in north central Ohio. And, as of December of last year, it is also an area recognized as significant by its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
In our Richland Roots series, we briefly present the lives of men and women from Richland County — either by birth, or residence — that have made important contributions to American history but who may not be household names.
Other posts in our series can be viewed and read here.
Today’s subject may be one of the the wealthiest people that Richland County has ever produced. While that is a difficult concept to measure, in terms of accmuluated wealth for the time in which he or she lived, it would be difficult to beat the financial success of Verner Zevola Reed. More…
Special to 1812Blockhouse
Since 2013, the Ohio History Fund has made 94 grants in nearly 40 counties totaling approximately $870,000. Proving there is a strong need for the program, it has received over 430 grant proposals totaling $5.3 million in requests.
This year, the City of Shelby was a recipient.
Money for the grants comes from citizens, who can help in three ways: 1) contributing a portion of a state income tax refund to the Ohio History Fund, line 26 on Ohio’s tax return, 2) purchasing Ohio History “mastodon” license plates, and 3) making a direct gift to the Ohio History Connection for the Ohio History Fund. The more everyone contributes, the more grants are made. More…
City of Shelby, Grants, Richland County History, Shelby History
By 1812Blockhouse
We don’t know about you, but we here at 1812Blockhouse are fond of occasional window-shopping… of houses. One of the favorite ways to do so back in the day was the Haring Realty Home Show, on each Sunday on WMFD-TV.
Richland County is, of course, home to a rich variety of houses of all types, prices, and sizes. From time to time, almost all of them become available on the market for interested buyers.
We’re started a series here on 1812Blockhouse called “Richland Houses.” With each post, we share a sampling of what is now on the market that fit a particular description. More…
