A one-of-a-kind piece of Bluffton history and one of the community’s oldest known objects is for sale.

It’s both functional and a work of art. Based upon its history, the object comes up for sale only twice every century.

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Its provenance includes residents (from present to originally owner) Richard Boehr, Dick and Bob Millager, Charles Hankish, Sr., D.S. Flick and maybe even D.L. Goble.

The piece is a combination safe on four wheels. It weighs several hundred pounds.

Here’s the short version of its history:

In the 1870-80s era D.L. Goble built a stately brick home on South Main Street, which is now Chiles-Laman Funeral Home. Goble sold the residence to D.S. Flick, Bluffton’s first postmaster.

The safe appeared shortly after that and is the probably the safe used by the Bluffton post office, because it has Mr. Flick’s name painted on the front.

Meanwhile, the residence was sold to John Boehr (Dick’s father), who owned it from approximately 1925 to 1931. Paul Diller purchased the house from Boehr. Diller sold it to the Chiles-Laman company.

Meanwhile, the safe was sold by Mr. Flick to Charles Hankish, Sr., who had it moved to his 107 N. Main St. business, which he operated until the late 1950s.

Bob and Dick Millager eventually bought the Hankish building (today it’s the Family Eye Care building) and the safe went with the building purchase.

In the 1970s the Millager brothers sold the building and Richard Boehr purchased the safe.

Moving the safe to the Boehr building on Vine Street required Dean Nonnamaker’s assistance. Nonnamaker happened to have a very large crane, which helped manage the move.

Boehr, who is moving out of his Vine Street building after over one-half century there, for some reason, says that he doesn’t need the safe.

He knows the safe’s combination and will assure potential buyers that if they lose the combination not to worry: Samuel W. Diller, retired Bluffton barrister, has the combination memorized.

The front of the safe states “Alpine Safe and Cycle Co., Cincinnati, O.” D. S. Flick’s name is also painted on the front.

Mr. Boehr asks that only serious buyers inquire. With its previous sales history, the Icon estimates the next time the safe comes up for sale is sometime in the late 2060s.