Area History

Some people live their lives on Earth with only one foot in this world and the other in a more perfect existence where the ideals of love and kindness are more perfectly manifest. It is the records of their lives, the stories of their struggles and victories, that provide a continuum for hope and inspiration […]

MANSFIELD — The Douglass House, on Park Avenue West across from Rowland Avenue, has been on the National Register of Historic Places for about 30 years. Though the old home retains its name from the original homeowner, Judge SM Douglass, it is the Queen Anne style architecture from 1885 that gives the place its historic […]

MANSFIELD — Sites Lake is only a small body of water, but it has an interesting story behind it … or underneath it — a story that 120 years ago seemed to get only larger and larger, as did the lake itself. The original tale was told simply, in a humble column of the Mansfield […]

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 […]

It is almost as if this 20th century photographer had anticipated the 21st century popularity of Ohio State Reformatory as a midnight ghost hunting destination. It is likely however, that by 1907, after only a decade of operation, there were not very many ghosts yet in residence at the majestic facility.

The mighty walls of the Ohio State Reformatory were originally designed with the expressed intention of inspiring the minds of young men to higher ideals, so it is not surprising to find the place enshrined in powerful works of art. There is a lot of attention given to OSR as it appeared in the field […]

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 […]

In the wartime 1940s when the US military was looking for safe places in America to serve as storage stations, Shelby was chosen as the site for an Army Air Force Supply Depot. Opened in 1943 as the Parsel Supply Depot, the facility survived the war and was renamed, after the Air Force became a […]

If fate had taken a slightly divergent path long ago; if history had followed its course in the direction it was pointed without veering off another way; we would be looking at a very different map of Mansfield. If we could escape for a moment the world we occupy today in order to glimpse an […]