If you go to Mt. Calvary Baptist Church today you will be standing on the site where the last Mt. Calvary also stood…more or less. Before they built this present landmark structure—when they removed the former church building that occupied this site—they also removed a considerable hill on which that building stood. So it is […]
Area History
Posted inArea History
The Clear Grits of Rome in 1873: sober but not overly serious
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like Rome. Rome is a little crossroads village in northern Richland County that has its own unique character. Sadly, through the years it’s character has been undervalued by those who sought to make account of it. When at its peak of vitality in the 1870s the county […]
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Richland Chronicles Chapter 14: Sisters and a Snake
Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles Volume 3, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in 1831 and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. This is the third in a three-book trilogy. Volume 1 was Amelia Changes Her Tune, while Volume II […]
Posted inArea History
Then & Now: The Lean Harrow Works 1903
Mansfield entered the Industrial Age as a manufacturer of farming implements, and one of the largest agricultural tool factories in town was the Roderick Lean Manufacturing Company. Located on Park Avenue East next to the railroad tracks, it was known for most of its lifetime locally as the Lean Harrow Works. They also made plows, […]
Posted inArea History
William Henry Harrison made history in Richland County: 1812
Richland County is just an arbitrary boundary on the edge of the Midwest, and in many ways it is just like any number of other signs along the highway; but it has long been one of the storied crossroads of the US, and has a most intriguing way of intersecting with American History. One of […]
Posted inArea History
Richland Chronicles Chapter 13: What Have I Done?
Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles Volume 3, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in 1831 and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. This is the third in a three-book trilogy. Volume 1 was Amelia Changes Her Tune, while Volume II […]
Posted inArea History
Then & Now: Farmers Bank on the Square 1890s
Farmer’s Bank moved to this site on North Main Street in the 1870s, and they moved out in 1929 to Park Avenue when their new skyscraper was completed (most recently known as Chase Tower.) The bank building on the Square seen in this 1890s photo was eventually taken down to make way for Kresge’s Dime […]
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A living heritage: Beaver in Richland County
When the first settlers came to the forested hills of Richland County in the early 1800s they encountered many wild animals we seldom or never find here today. Their letters and diaries and later reminiscences document the abundance of wolves and bears, otters and panthers. But there is one common native of the American wilderness […]
Posted inArea History
Richland Chronicles Chapter 12: Canada is Safer
Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles Volume 3, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in 1831 and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. This is the third in a three-book trilogy. Volume 1 was Amelia Changes Her Tune, while Volume II […]
Posted inArea History
Then & Now: Mansfield Art Center 1971
It is white and blank like a great empty stretched canvas: so when the sun paints shadows across its surface in transient abstracts people instinctively reach for their cameras. It has been that way since 1971 when the Mansfield Art Center was first mounted into the landscape of Marion Avenue like an exquisite piece of […]