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Historical Bluffton

One century ago this BHS team made a name for itself

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

This Bluffton High School team wasn’t even called the “Pirates,” yet 100 seasons ago, it set the standard for a winning football tradition in our community.

The 1923 red and white Bluffton team, playing before most school athletic leagues were formed, won eight games and lost only one. Even its loss, by a close 3 to 9 score, was impressive.

Here’s the story of this Bluffton team:

One room, ten twins

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Imagine teaching school with a classroom with five sets of twins.

Beyond all the other issues of teaching, 110 school years ago, that was the situation at the Hilty country school west of Bluffton on Columbus Grove Road. Ed Hilty was the teacher of the 10 children plus the remaining students covering grades 1 to 8.

Like all one-room schools in the Bluffton Swiss Settlement, this school had three names.

First is had a township identification, in this case, District No. 3.

Second it had a tree name, in this case, Silver Maple school.

Third, it had a Swiss surname, based on several factors including the original Swiss land owner, in this case, a Hilty family.

For the rest of this story, names of the twins and more photos from the Hilty school click HERE.

A baptism font unlike any other

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

The St. John's United Church of Christ, at the corner of Jackson and College, has a baptismal font featuring Bluffton artist Peter Klassen's work. There are six ceramic pieces created by the artist in the 1930s.

The images feature marriage, Christmas, baptism, family, Jesus and the dove of peace.

Klassen became a member of the Bluffton College faculty at the invitation of President S.K. Mosiman in 1924 and remained on the faculty until 1958. Visitors to the campus can see more than 30 works created by Klassen and by his students in bronze, wood, and marble. 

Professor Klassen was born in Kronsgarten, Ukraine, on April 8, 1888. In 1923 the Klassen’s arrived in Canada from Russia.

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Mysterious Bluffton: Swimming pool in the Riley

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

­Imagine a mysterious Bluffton location partially under water. Stand near the entrance to Steinmetz Field. Turn toward Harmon Field. Take about a dozen steps toward the creek.

There you will discover the remnants of a dam. That dam backed up the creek, but not anymore. Instead, it simply creates a mysterious Bluffton location.

Today the dam is just an impediment in the stream. However, on the Harmon Field side of the stream stand the remains of a very well-constructed flagstone wall. The wall on the Steinmetz Field side lost its battle with nature years ago.

Why is there a dam? Why a flagstone wall? Who built these structures and when?

By our definition, Bluffton’s places of mystery involve unexplained human-constructed features on our otherwise familiar landscape. They exist today like the statues of Easter Island.

This partially underwater site fits our list.

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

August 1947: A sound foreign to Bluffton’s ears

The first-ever diesel locomotive passed through town on a test run

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Remember seeing your first-ever electric-driven vehicle in Bluffton? Compare that to the following image: It passed through Bluffton in an unusual color scheme (reddish-orange) blasting a very foreign sound (a “hoarse” whistle).

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