Historical Bluffton

Once upon a time Stoney's was Smith's Barbershop

Posted by Fred Steiner on November 26, 2013 - 4:47pm

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One of Bluffton's many barbers, here's Dick Smith cutting BHS student James Swank. This is an advertisement in the 1959 Bluffton High School yearbook. Today this is Stoney's Barbershop, below Bluffton Karate Center.

We really like the cash register.

Icon view comments are welcome.

(Thanks for the correction, Sam. Ray Johnson was my barber. I never went to Smitties.)

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Historical Bluffton

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Main Street Bluffton 47 years ago

Posted by Fred Steiner on November 21, 2013 - 5:04pm

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This was Main Street Bluffton in 1966. The photo is from the 1967 Bluffton High School yearbook.

The photo was taken in front of what today is Chase, looking north. The most noticable change is on the west side of Main where Citizens National Bank is today.

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Before there was Vetter's there was Reichenbach Lumber

Posted by Fred Steiner on November 6, 2013 - 10:44am

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Before there was Vetter's Lumber, there was Reichenbach Lumber. Here's a advertisement photo of the staff, reprinted from the 1967 Bluffton High School yearbook.

Paul Reichenbach is standing on the far left; Jean Reichenbach on the far right. The Icon welcomes other identifications from viewers.

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Golden Spike Limited

Posted by Fred Steiner on October 31, 2013 - 7:40am

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Here's Nickel Plate Road Berkshire 759 pulling out of the former Lima Locomotive Works in the spring of 1969. The locomotive, built in Lima in 1949, was pulling the Golden Spike Limited. The train was headed to Utah where the centennial of the Golden Spike was to take place.

The train headed south and passed through Bluffton. Garth Gerber took this photo.

Icon viewers comments are welcome.

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Very possibly a victim of the 1965 tornado

Posted by Fred Steiner on October 24, 2013 - 4:35pm

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Here's a photo from Bluffton's tragic past. The identity of the barn is in question, but to the best of our ability we've identified this as the Ami Pifer barn. The photo was taken following the April 1965 tornado.

Thanks to details from Charles Hilty, Richard Jordan, Sam Diller we've pieced this story together (the photo had no ID except the word "Pifer" written on the backside).

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