Note: Bluffton sixth graders in the 1953-54 school year (graduating class of 1960) created a booklet titled "The Bluffton Story." The following article is part of that booklet, which is now in the history collection at the Bluffton Public Library. This series continues each week on the Icon.
"The Central Ohio Light and Power Company"
By Gerald Tschiegg and Robert Kimmet
The Central Ohio Light and Power Co. came to Bluffton in 1937, and has grown steadily since.
This company supplies power to six counties and is one of the largest companies in Northwestern Ohio.
The company chose the Bluffton site because of the water supplied from the quarry located near the power plant.
The generating station uses about seventy-two million gallons of water daily for steam and condensing. This water is returned to the quarry where the temperature of the water does not go below 75 degrees even in the coldest winter.
"The Page Dairy Company"
The Page Dairy Company came to Bluffton in 1920, when the buildings were constructed on its present location.
The company in the beginning had a capacity of 5,000 pounds of mild a day and employed five. Today it has a capacity of 230,000 pounds of milk a day and employs 34 men and women.
The milk that the dairy receives is processed into powdered and condensed milk and heavy cream.
