FREDERICKTOWN — It’s fun to catch glimpses of familiar spots in historical images. Sometimes there are significant differences, yet other times the veil between now and then is pretty thin. This image of the curve outside of Fredericktown on East Mill Street is recognizable in either version. The vintage image is a postcard from 1912 […]
Mark Sebastian Jordan, Knox Pages Correspondent
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Do you remember Cosmos Blubaugh’s farm north of Danville?
DANVILLE — Part of the challenge of writing this column is knowing where to go for answers. Often, it is through newspaper archives, historical books, or local historians. When I have something that involves farming, I start with David Greer, whom I’ve known for years through his involvement at the Knox County Agricultural Museum and […]
Posted inArea History
Doc Mahaffey arrested in Mount Vernon for booze prescription
MOUNT VERNON — It’s important to find a doctor to diagnose what ails you and who will provide a prescription to help. But if that’s what happened in 1912, it got Dr. C. M. Mahaffey into a lot of trouble. In fact, it got him arrested by the Mount Vernon police. Charles Mahaffey had certainly […]
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Is there a Knox County link to the wild man mystery?
MOUNT VERNON — Delaware County Sheriff T. B. Williams crept through the woods in the falling light, his deputies moving near him quietly in a line. Following the reports of local residents, the lawmen were gathered in Scioto Township, just past the transfer station that powered the interurban train line. They moved slowly through the […]
Posted inArea History
Reader provides vintage images of the Fredericktown RR cutting
FREDERICKTOWN — My recent columns about the Fredericktown train derailment in 1912 prompted long time reader Aaron James to delve into his collection of local images, where he turned up some interesting shots of the area in question. Two shots are postcards from around the same period as the real photo postcard of the trainwreck, […]
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On a tear through the Fredericktown railroad cutting in 1912, 1990 & today
FREDERICKTOWN — There’s a time and place for everything: College! It was a frosty winter night around 1990. I was walking along the railroad tracks in Fredericktown to get some fresh air after an interesting evening of experiencing … um … let’s just say a certain illicit substance that made Howard Stern’s face on TV […]
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Rare photo postcard proves 1912 Fredericktown trainwreck
FREDERICKTOWN — The latest rare image I’ve dug up is of a train wreck that took place in Fredericktown in 1912. In fact, the incident is so little known, I’ve not been able to find a thing about it except this photo postcard. Unlike mass-printed postcards, which even after over a century can be fairly […]
Posted inArea History
Fredericktown man sought divorce from swearing wife in 1922
FREDERICKTOWN — The newspapers were full of contention 100 years ago this month, including an attempt by Mayor Keigley of Mount Vernon to remove Police Chief Peter J. Parker from office for incompetency, neglect of duty, and insubordination. Or, to put it another way: Their politics didn’t match. The civil service commission dismissed the charges, […]
Posted inArea History
Take this 1913 test to see if you could become a Knox County school teacher
MOUNT VERNON — Browsing through an old local newspaper, I came across an interesting item to share. The Feb. 4, 1913, issue of the Democratic Banner contains an article sharing the examination that had just been given to applicants wishing to get a county certification for teaching in Knox County. This was the test that […]
Posted inArea History
North central Ohio Native Americans admired the ‘Axe Man’
MOUNT VERNON — It’s common enough to hear about the first White settler in Knox County, Andrew Craig, who settled on the banks of the Kokosing just east of where downtown Mount Vernon is today in the early 1800s. But Craig was almost instantly followed by other adventurers committed to the idea of carving out […]