1906 - No spitting on the sidewalk
2023: Automobiles replace electric railroad
By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com
Some photos are worth one-thousand words. This photo (on top) could rival War and Peace, containing slightly north of one-half million.
We’ll save viewers lots of time by offering highlights.
• Year: 1906
• Event: Bricking Bluffton’s Main Street for the first time
• Location: Looking south on Main
• Specifically: CNB on right side, Edward Jones on left
• Activity: Men bricking the street, posing for the photographer; check out bricks on sidewalks
• Sign of the times: On the far right side a sign reading, “No Spitting On The Sidewalk”
• Translation: Tobacco chewing men, hobbling out of saloons – if they could read, were put on notice
• Biggest surprise: A railroad track on Main Street
• Surprise number 2: A rail siding heading off to the left
(today’s walking alleyway between Shannon Theatre and Ten Thousand Villages)
More photos HERE.
Stories Posted This Week
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
- Phyllis Ann Reynolds, 77, worked at Citizens National Bank
- Jane Ann (Diller) Thurman, 75, was a nursing home administrator
- Julie C. (Field) Amstutz worked for Putnam County ESC
- Pirate volleyball sweep vs. Wayne Trace
- Findlay Patrol's Donovan promoted to sergeant
- Pirate girls soccer win vs. Delphos Jefferson
- Sept. 14 Bluffton Council: Request for RTA bus signs, pre-1950s unused Maple Grove plots tallied
- Mornings with Mommy resume at Trinity Lutheran
Monday, September 14, 2026
Sunday, September 13, 2026
Saturday, September 12, 2026
Friday, September 11, 2026
- Mennonite Home Communities provide backup phone numbers during outage
- Pirate volleyball wins in four vs. Elmwood
- Howard Thornsberry worked in the produce industry
- Pirate girls soccer silenced by Bath
- Pirate boys soccer nipped by Liberty-Benton
- Sept. 12 Open Doors offers sneak peek at future Bluffton museum space
- Innovation Forum challenges leaders to think deeper about AI
- Invitation to Sept 15 Bluffton Lions program with Dr. William H. Kose
- Deer archery hunting begins Sept. 12 in Disease Surveillance Area