You are here

Home » News

Historical Bluffton

Before she became a comedian, Phyllis Diller was on staff at Bluffton Presbyterian

Posted by Staff on September 9, 2024 - 6:00am

PHOTOS from Travis family archive: LEFT) Betsey Travis Angus and Phyllis Diller. RIGHT) Eloise and Boyd Travis with Phyllis Diller.

Story provided by Rev. Tom Castlen, former Bluffton Presbyterian Church minister

Church celebrates 175 Years, provides anecdote from the 1940s

After World War II, there was a scramble to call pastors. Bluffton Presbyterian had not had a pastor during the war and they wanted to call Ernest Bigelow who was graduating from Yale Divinity School. 

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
»

June 23, 1947: The day Bluffton Presbyterian Church appeared on the NYT front page

Posted by Staff on August 19, 2024 - 7:44am

Headline: Ohio Church Has $2,000 Grow Into $10,000 By Following Parable of the Talents

By Paula Pyzik Scott

Bluffton Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2024. Located at Cherry and Main streets and providing what is effectively the village’s town square, the church is a prominent landmark and institution in Bluffton.

It’s still a bit of a surprise to learn that the church once graced the front page of the New York Times, a publication that currently has over 10 million subscribers.

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
»

Bluffton Fire Department is a huge History Day hit

Posted by Staff on August 16, 2024 - 8:44am

Stay tuned for our photo story

By Paula Pyzik Scott

You turn on the tap and the water flows all day, every day. Is there a fire? You call 911 and the Bluffton Fire Department comes in mere minutes armed with high tech trucks and immense water power.

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
»

Chunk of interurban history excavated on Main St.

Posted by Paula Scott on August 13, 2024 - 7:25am

Interurban train/trolley service on Bluffton's Main Street may seem like a chapter of forgotten Bluffton, but on Monday, August 12, Bluffton Council passed around a hefty chunk of that rail line. This summer, extreme heat buckled a portion of rail that still lies under Main St. Last week, crews excavated and removed the twisted rail and sliced off a hefty piece for display.

For more information on the Western Ohio Railway, see the following:

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
»

Bluffton's Swiss Day tradition

Posted by Paula Scott on June 24, 2024 - 8:23am

C. 1950-1960 Swiss Day photograph from the Bluffton Public Library at
https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll28/id/8286/rec/31

Pictured here: a photograph of several unidentified individuals gathered around a piano, taken during a Swiss Day celebration held in Bluffton, Ohio. According to information written on the back of the original photograph, the pianist is Nancy Wismer Hilty.

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
»

On a Festival of Wheels tangent: 1888 view of Jackson and Grove

Posted by Paula Scott on June 9, 2024 - 6:00am

Browsing BlufftonForever.com for stories connected to the theme of Bluffton's Festival of Wheels--which is headed our way on Friday, June 14--this horse and wagon wheels image made us say "Whoa!"

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Barns, wooden fences and empty lots were all that occupied the neighborhood of Jackson and Grove streets in 1888, when this picture was taken.

Handling the powerful rig in the photo were Peter Diller (left) and Albert E. Lugibill, in the fancy striped coat on the right. The horses are a pair of Percherons owned by Bucher Brothers, taken around for stud services.

From a note on the back of the photo, written in 1959, we learn the following: The house in the left background is now occupied by Mrs. Addie Graber. Looking east, the photo was taken from the corner now occupied by the Paul Clark residence.

Read the whole story at 135 years ago, this was the Jackson-Grove intersection of Bluffton

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
»

Pages