Historical Bluffton

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125 years ago this building housed four businesses

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Next time you have a cup of coffee in the Twisted Whisk Cafe, 101 S. Main St., imagine being in that building 125 years earlier. What would it be like?

In 1898, you wouldn’t have a cup of coffee in your hand. 

Instead, you might be talking with Andrews Hauenstein, who had the building constructed for his apothecary business. That’s an older word for a pharmacy. 

Or, you might be looking at possible wallpaper to purchase for your house.

Or, you might be looking at a musical instrument to purchase.

Or, you might be having a pocket watch repaired. 

If you had a reason to go to the second floor, you’d step into a room housing Bluffton’s first-ever telephone exchange.

At the turn of this earlier century, the Twisted Whisk was home to three separate businesses on the first floor and a fourth business on part of the second floor. These were a pharmacy, a wallpaper shop, a jewelry-musical instrument store and a telephone exchange.

Accompanying this story is a photograph of the building when it housed these businesses. Several things have changed since this photo was taken. But, the businesses occupying the building in 1898 are obvious.

First, the doorway is no longer in the center. It’s on the far right.

For the complete story visit Bluffton Forever HERE

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By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday.

Here’s a Bluffton hometown classic football story.

It’s Spike Berry’s version of something that only happens in movies–except this one is true. If you don’t believe us, ask Spike.

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By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

A barn explosion, rather than a barn-burner describes this game 64 basketball seasons ago in the packed old Bluffton High School gym, featuring the LaFayette Wolves versus the BHS Pirates.

The late Charles Hilty describes the game, from his seat on the gym stage as the official scorekeeper. This story is reprinted from “Bluffton Anthology: A Creeks Runs Through It,” available at the Bluffton Senior Citizens Center and The Black Lab.

By Charles Hilty
Who won the 1959 Bluffton-Lafayette boys basketball game? The scoreboard (after some hesitation) said Bluffton did 61-60, but the referees couldn't decide. 

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By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Can you guess the number of horses in Richland Township and Bluffton 128 years ago? Try 683. That’s nearly 1 horse for every 5 persons here.

That interesting statistic is one of several uncovered in an assessment of Richland Township and the Village of Bluffton in 1895.

Most of the details relate to agriculture, simply because our American society was agriculturally based at this time.

The Bluffton News reported the assessor’s 1985 finding. We’ve posted these directly from the News story, that follows:

Assessor J.W. Steiner made his report to the county auditor last Friday, after having put in 31 days in gathering the usual statistics and data for the township and corporation. 

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By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

You’ve walked past these holes countless times, but never thought to look up.

It is believed that these holes, created by bullet shots, on the side of the outside wall of 101 N. Main St., were created when John Dillinger’s gang robbed Citizens National Bank on Monday, Aug. 14, 1933.

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By Paula Scott

On Wednesday, January 11, nineteen individuals who are interested in the history of the Bluffton area gathered for an exploratory meeting on the topic of creating a Bluffton historical society and museum, with or without the “Historical Society” name tag.

The meeting was chaired by Dan Groman, a vintage Chevy car enthusiast who has visited many historical sites across Ohio. Groman collected names and emails from those in attendance and scheduled future meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, with a February 8 meeting planned for 7:00 p.m.

Welcoming those in attendance, Groman explained that he has visited several excellent museums in small Ohio communities and decided that it was time to pitch a similar endeavor to residents of the Bluffton area.

The first steps towards creating a historical organization are forming a nonprofit organization with bylaws. Groman has started sketching out bylaws using another organization’s rules as a template. The discussion included the idea of creating a committee to visit museums and to begin holding monthly meetings. 

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