Area History

Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles Volume 2, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in the summer of 1831 and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. This is the second in a three-book trilogy. Volume 1 was Amelia Changes […]

MANSFIELD — The Bissman Building was built in 1886. It was located near the railroad tracks because they were in the business of receiving, warehousing, and distributing groceries. So unquestionably their loading dock was a very busy place. This rare image from the 1890s shows how much times have changed since that horse-drawn era, and […]

MANSFIELD — A public place where people gather has a unique soul that cannot be compared with any other kind of building, because it carries the echoes of a thousand different events, a thousand different people and 10,000 smiles. Conversely, a community of people carry that place in their hearts as a symbol: one that […]

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 1831 and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of a young girl. “I came overland this time; it only took 10 days,” Charles said. “Although I think it took […]

BELLVILLE — There have been Universalists in Bellville since the 1940s, but they have been meeting in this amazing edifice since the1890s as All Souls Church. Today it is known as the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. Undoubtedly one of the most exquisite buildings to come out of the Richland earth, All Souls is constructed […]

This is a really small story about something barely significant: a place you could drive through and not even notice. But the little story points to a much more significant element of history that is quite often overlooked, that has to do with transmission of lore from one generation to the next. The story concerns […]

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 1831 and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of a young girl. The four-mile ride from Mansfield to Oakland Inn was not eventful, and Amelia was glad Uncle Jacob […]

The era of streetcars and trolleys in America is intimately woven into the history of Mansfield, but more than that, the era of streetcars in Mansfield is inextricably stitched throughout American history. We had one of the first electric trolley systems in the US, but more importantly, we manufactured the electrical mechanisms that made it […]

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 1831 and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of a young girl. The remaining month of Amelia’s visit slipped by quickly. The more she got to know where things […]

At its height of vitality in Mansfield the Westinghouse plant covered 42.7 acres between Third Street and Sixth Street. Today most of that square footage is merely naked concrete slab. But one piece of the manufacturing complex that still stands is the loading dock. The factory closed in 1990 but the loading dock has survived […]