Our place on the Earth, designated as Richland County for the last two centuries, has been in more or less continual habitation for the last hundred centuries. It is amazing how little we know about our predecessor neighbors, and how much of what we know about them is speculation based on evidence that has long […]
Area History
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Postcards from The Brink
MOUNT VERNON — The woman can barely be made out, standing in front of a house with decorative trim, its two front doors suggesting that it’s a rental property. The backyard continues past a fence or trellis, and in the medium distance stands the sturdy beams of a tall railroad bridge. The two children with […]
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Richland Chronicles Chapter 18: Zimmerkinder
Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in the 1860s and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. The books are available from Lintern for $25 a set, tax and shipping included. Each book is about […]
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Then & Now: Malabar Farm roadside produce stand
By the early 1950s, there were so many thousands of farmers and sightseers drawn to Malabar Farm to witness the revival of worn out soil, that it seemed a shame not to send them home with some nutritious sample of the farm’s fabled fertility. Louis Bromfield, the author and farmer who developed and wrote about […]
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Milena Miller from Mansfield: Glamour & stardom in 1940s America
The golden age of radio—from the 1920s through the 40s—had its own pantheon of gods and heroes, stars and luminaries who ruled the airwaves to move the hearts and shape the lives of everyone in America. They are all long gone now and washed away in the streaming current of ever-new media, but if you […]
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Richland Chronicles Chapter 17: Grace Notes
Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in the 1860s and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. The books are available from Lintern for $25 a set, tax and shipping included. Each book is about […]
Posted inArea History
Then & Now: Sacred heart Seminary 1949
Midway between Shelby and Mansfield on Route 39 is an impressive landmark that graces the landscape behind old trees and a wide lawn. It has been known as Abraxas for the last 25 years, but the history of the place goes back much farther on the timeline. The foundation for the institute was an ornate […]
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A Yankee from north central Ohio unwittingly wrote the Confederate anthem
MOUNT VERNON — They hounded him. Spat at him in the streets. Sent letters threatening his life. All for writing a little walk-‘round. And today some even try to take that away from him. Things haven’t been easy for Mount Vernon native Daniel Decatur Emmett, the author of “Dixie,” the song which to this day […]
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The day Dillinger’s Gang came to north central Ohio
GAMBIER — It had been a fairly quiet day, a little warm, growing cloudy. Alex Ransom was walking down Middle Path through Gambier, on his usual afternoon walk to the post office. A briskly walking man suddenly strode past him, clearly in a hurry. The man stuck out in his suit and long coat, and […]