Unusual snapshot reveals a forgotten Bluffton of 100 to 125 years ago

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Yes, this is a Bluffton street intersection. But, where? Only one clue reveals the location. A street sign on the right side of the intersection reads “GROVE ST.” A second street sign on the pole next to the Grove Street sign, not readable however, identifies what is today’s Kibler Street

A handwritten sentence on the photo’s back side confirms the location. It reads: Bentley Road and Grove Street Bluffton, Ohio – looking into Kibler Street.

Below the handwriting it is a stamped “Neu-Art Studio, photographers, Bluffton, Ohio.”

This photograph came from Paul Klassen, one of Bluffton’s oldest residents, today in his ninth decade.

CONTINUES

Here’s what we know and don’t know about this scene.

• We don’t know the year the photo was taken. There are several hints. First, none of the streets are paved. We simply need to learn when paving took place. (It’s more difficult to learn than you may think.) Actually, Grove Street was bricked before it was paved. That occurred sometime in the early 1920s.

• Street poles and electrical wire help determine a year for this photo. Bluffton’s electric power plant opened in 1897. The telephone arrived in the early 1900s.

So, based upon absence of bricks and presence of electrical wires, this photograph was snapped sometime between 1900 and perhaps the early 1920s. We're guessing early then later.

For more photos of this scene, plus a comparison photo showing the intersection today, click HERE.