LOUDONVILLE—The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum in Loudonville has announced a tour to the Central American isthmus of Panama, slated for January. The tour is designed to give guests an introduction to one of the most popular regions of Central America and includes numerous historic and cultural landmarks ranging from indigenous villages, Spanish forts, the world […]
Kenny Libben, Cleo Redd Fisher Museum
Posted inArea History
Loudonville neighborhood’s nickname derived from train soot
LOUDONVILLE — One Loudonville neighborhood was once — and occasionally still is — referred to as Black Town. Despite what many may think, this designation was not derived from the skin color of its inhabitants, nor the color of the soil … but rather from the passing trains. Early locomotives expelled large black clouds of […]
Posted inArea History
Browns’ stars Graham, Motley dueled Loudonville hoops team in 1948
LOUDONVILLE — Less than two months after winning their second-straight championship in the All-American Football Conference (a major competitor to the NFL), the dominant Cleveland Browns arrived in Loudonville to take on the hometown Flxible Clippers. On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 1948, the gymnasium at the Loudonville High School (now C.E. Budd School) was at maximum […]
Posted inArea History
Loudonville woman met tragedy in journey to New Mexico
Henrietta “Jennie” Bull Culver was born in 1846 to Thomas and Sarah Bull (who lived in the beautiful brick home next to the fountain in Central Park). As a member of a prominent family she was well educated, having attended Haskell’s Academy. At the age of 19, she married 28-year-old Enos Culver, a cousin of […]
Posted inArea History
The Orra Beard Livery dominated Loudonville’s stable trade in the 1890s
LOUDONVILLE — Before the dawn of the automobile era, everyone relied heavily on horses for transportation. Wealthier residents often had their own carriage houses on their property where they would board their horses and store carriages, wagons, and other tack. The rest of the residents, however, relied on Livery Stables. These stables, such as Orra […]
Posted inArea History
Whiskey was currency, and cause for violence, in pre-Civil War Perrysville
PERRYSVILLE — In 1854, Perrysville and surrounding Green Township were home to no less than nine commercial distilleries. Whiskey was so prevalent it was often used as a form of currency. Many of the church-going women of the town were opposed to the consumption of alcohol, and so approached the proprietors of the two stores […]
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Kinsey Players used Ashland County as a base of operations
LOUDONVILLE — Loudonville was once the home to one of America’s most beloved comedy acts, the Madge Kinsey Players. In 1888 M.L. Kinsey, a veteran actor, opened his own comedy troupe in Iowa and headed east, towards New York. Along the way the troupe stopped and did shows in every town, making money and gaining […]
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Students operated Loudonville’s early cable channel
LOUDONVILLE — Loudonville High School once had an Audio/Visual Club that operated a local cable channel for the Loudonville community. The club is believed to have started in the 1950s and operated through at least the early 1970s. What began as an interest in emerging electronics developed into a regular programming schedule, involving sports broadcasts […]
Posted inArea History
Loudonville’s 1940 popcorn fire proved commically cruel
Loudonville’s history is built upon the ashes of many tragic fires, such as that of 1901, when nearly half of downtown Loudonville was reduced to rubble. But perhaps no fire was as comically cruel as that of 1940. On Aug. 31, 1940 around 2:20 p.m., H.G. Heffelfinger’s popcorn wagon in Central Park erupted in a […]
Posted inArea History
Construction of the Mohican Historical Society was completed in 1973
In 1972 the Mohican Historical Society revealed plans for the construction of a historical museum in Loudonville. The proposal consisted of a two-story brick building, 48×60 foot, in the Greek Revival style of the 1830s. The plans included two major exhibit areas, a large meeting room, a kitchen, rest rooms, a large workroom (all of […]