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This grainy black and white image of OSR in winter tends to disguise something that might be more obvious if you could use another of your senses when experiencing the scene in this photo: the sense of smell. The Reformatory was heated with coal; the winter winds were heavy with the acrid coal scent; and […]

It has been called the Masonic Temple in Bellville for many generations, but it has actually served many more purposes than the Masons might have imagined 100 years ago.  It has also been home to the Bellville Knights of Pythias hall since its beginning, and until 1960 it was the village Post Office as well.  […]

Richland County has always had a strong heritage in the fine arts, and one of its greatest depths of wealth is found in its literature. There are many shelves of books written by authors who were born here, or found their inspiration here; in fiction, non-fiction, drama and screenplays, magazine articles, essays, novels and children’s […]

If you had traveled west on Fourth Street a hundred years ago in the vicinity of North Main Street, one prominent element of the scenery that would have been most apparent was the News Building. The Mansfield Daily News had its offices only a block from Main, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets, […]

If there is anything that could confirm evidence of the stature of our town, with almost mythic American legitimacy, it would be seeing our name printed prominently on the face of Federal crisp green bills. There it is, on one supremely sanctioned official unit of legal tender, like a sacred seal: Mansfield, Ohio next to […]

If you were thinking about going to the Square in Mansfield for a cigar and a quick game of billiards, the time to do it would definitely have been in 1927. Looking at the photos of 25 North Park Street then and now it takes some imagination to recognize that the building is the same […]

When Grand Boulevard was first staked out in 1895 all of the residential dreams of shady urban grandeur were somewhere in the future because the place was a big flat empty hayfield. Shortly after this photo was taken in 1900 however, there were 300 trees planted to transform the stark allotment into a majestic neighborhood. […]

Brilliant writer She has been called America’s best comic novelist (Gore Vidal) and America’s most brilliant satirist (Wall Street Journal) in recent years, but during her lifetime she had a hard time finding readers. Especially when she wrote about Shelby, Ohio. When opening the covers of Dawn Powell’s Shelby books it is well to keep […]

If you had taken a little summer excursion to the top of Fleming Falls 100 years ago this is the resort inn and lodge you would have found. Located off Fleming Falls Road, the one time resort area is a church camp today called Camp Mowana, operated by the Lutheran Outdoor Ministries in Ohio. The […]

Frank Nail stepped into his costume and makeup 6,400 times on stages all across the northern U.S. during the decades from 1872 to 1911. His play was one of the most widely produced and highly familiar pieces of theater in the 19th century. Literally millions of people saw it, and many thousands took part in […]