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What better way is there to kick off this newsletter than at the very beginning?
A Letter from the Past
Let's start with a letter we unearthed from Edward Ford's father Captain John Baptiste Ford to his wife in 1883.
His spelling is quite strange, and if you zoom in you can see that the early typewriter he used to concoct this message had a very peculiar way of printing letters.
Rescuing History: One Photo at a Time
Right now, sitting in our office are multiple tubs and folders holding what feels like 1,000 photos. We have everything from vintage photos to century old treasures. Some are tiny, some are ripped, and others are flaking, cracked, or stained.
After scanning the photos in, the real transformation begins. After rotating, cropping, and color-correcting, it is time to tackle the damage. It feels like every pre-1980 photo is covered in a million black and white specks, not to mention deep gouges and lost material. Piece by piece, we repair every scratch and stain. It is slow, meticulous work, but thanks to modern software, photos that looked completely ruined are brought right back to life.
Once we have restored the photos, we use custom software to quickly upload them to archive.org. It also lets us tag them with detailed metadata very rapidly, which is crucial so that they can easily be found and sorted by keyword or category.
It is an honor to safeguard these moments for generations to come. Watching a faded, torn piece of paper transform into a crystal-clear window into our past is pure magic. Seeing the archive come together like a mosaic to form the history of Rossfotd is a beautiful sight indeed.
Step by step, we are building a digital archive that will serve as a beacon of local history. These images will bring back memories for long-time residents, help students with school papers, power local history blogs, and decorate the walls of neighborhood businesses.
If you would like to get involved and help with the process, I would be more than happy to train you. You will need a decent desktop or laptop computer, and an internet connection.
Send an email to RossfordHistory@gmail.com and let's get to work!
A History Lesson from One Who Was There
The following is a transcript of a history lesson written by Elliot M. Warner on the early Rossford History. Born in 1844, Elliot Warner came to what would become the Rossford area in 1875. He was best known as a fruit grower on the land Rossford High School now occupies, where he grew large amounts of peaches, pears, plums, apples, cherries, currants, quinces, gooseberries, and grapes. The son of a preacher, he taught Sunday school at a little red schoolhouse at Eagle Point Road and River Road. He had 3 children, one of whom was known for opening a grocery store.
He lived to almost 87 years of age, and he died in 1930.
Early History of Rossford, Ohio
(As compiled by Elliot M. Warner)
The ground on which Rossford was built was not only an ideal location, but also it is of historical interest.
At one time it was an island in the Maumee River together with a part of East Toledo.
The part of Grassy Creek from its mouth to where it is crossed by the B&O RR flowed in the opposite direction from what it does now. The bed of the river can be traced down the low ground along the B&O tracks to South East Toledo past Navarre Park, and the two channels of the river came together somewhere in the vicinity of Ironville.
Here was a great camping ground for the Indians, and when a small boy, was told by an old gentleman in his 80s that in this vicinity he had seen several thousand Indians camping on the ground near and where Rossford now stands. It was an ideal place for the Indians. The Maumee River provided an abundance of fish and later proved a profitable business for commercial fishermen for many years up until the early '90s. The river also attracted all kinds of game.
Many Indian relics have been found here, such as arrowheads, tomahawks, and pieces of pottery. However, there was one place the Indians did not go: that was up at the end of Eagle Point, so named on account of the eagles that built their nests and raised their young in the large oak trees located there. To the Indian, the eagle was a sacred bird and was never molested. The eagles used to fly up and down the Maumee River, flying to Ft. Wayne and beyond to the Kankakee Swamp, some of them reaching a great size, measuring nine feet in wingspread. It was not until the county was settled by the white man that the eagles left. When an eagle was killed, its mate left never to return.
Progress here was slow, but gradually the land was cleared. There was a lot of heavy timber and brush, lots of hazel brush. It was a hard pull for the pioneers, who realized it would be of great value someday. They worked hard, realizing they would not live to see and enjoy what they knew would come, but labored with the hope that the generations to come would see it.
For many years Mr. Caswell owned a larger part of Eagle Point including Eagle Point Colony, which he finally lost back in the '80s; at that time it was appraised at $100 per acre.
At that time and in the early '90s, this end of Ross Township was thinly settled. I can find no record of when the old frame schoolhouse that stood where the Hi-Speed gas station now stands was built. It was moved across the road and a brick schoolhouse built in its place in 1881 at a cost of $1,050. The Mr. S.B. Rinker family moved into the old schoolhouse and lived there several years. The brick schoolhouse and ground served until the beginning of Rossford, when it was sold at auction to the Catholic Church at a reported price of $300 and served as the Catholic school for some time.
The salaries of the school teachers range from $28 to $45 per month, teaching from 20 to 30 pupils.
The first movement towards growth in this community came in 1894 when Parks Foster conceived the idea of building an electric streetcar line from Toledo to Perrysburg and over to Maumee and down to Toledo, forming a belt line. The right of way was secured and work started in April, and electric cars started running from Toledo to Perrysburg on July 29, 1894. The steamboats plying between Toledo and Perrysburg stopped running at this time, and some property was being sold and homes being built between Toledo and Perrysburg.
The beginning of Rossford was in 1897, when Edward Ford purchased the ground between the Maumee River and Wales Road, and began building the Edward Ford Plate Glass Works Aug. 29, 1897. And commenced construction of new dwellings April 11, 1899. On May 31, 1899, Abram Frick sold 7 acres located on the main highway west and adjoining to the Edward Ford property for $7,600. On August 14, 1899, the site was selected for the new public school. Aug. 23, 1899, a 5¢ fare on the electric line from Warner's Corner (Glenwood Rd.) to Toledo went into effect, and on the same day the first fires were put in the boilers of the Edward Ford Plate Glass Factory.
August 29, 1899, construction started on the Rossford Public School building, a four-room frame structure.
March 16, 1900, S. Frautschi moved to Rossford and bought the grocery store operated by Mr. Ketcham.
March 5, 1900, the post office was opened with R. Tuller as postmaster in the schoolhouse.
April 22, 1900, first Easter Service of the Methodist Church held in the schoolhouse.
June 1900, frame of the Disciple Church on Maple St. was raised. January 4, 1902, Capt. J.B. Ford contributed $1,000 towards the purchase of the Disciple Church by the Methodists.
P.S. Ross Township was laid out in 1874; it consisted of a narrow strip of land 1½ miles wide and 11 miles long on the north end of Wood County. The last wild deer to be legally shot in this locality was taken by W. Davis about 1876.
TRHS Inaugural Meeting Report
We had a tremendous turnout at The Rossford Historical Society meeting tonight. We counted 29 people who showed up, which was so many that we had difficulty getting our seating under control (we promise to do better next time).
We did our introductions, met some amazing people, discussed our mission statement, went over our website, discussed our plans to make a Halloween Parade float, we furthered our partnership with the Rossford Public Library, and discussed some possibilities about where we will conduct the various events we're sure to cook up in the future.
TRHS could not be more proud of Rossford for showing up and getting involved. It was such an incredible meeting that went far better than our wildest dreams. We are so glad all of those who could make it came and shared their stories with us. Special thanks Neil for taking time out of his busy schedule to attend, and to Kyla Knight from IPS for offering the use of a pickup truck for our Halloween Parade float. We hope to see even more people next time!
If you missed it, that's okay. We'd love to see you next time!
In attendance: Judy Sikorski, Cory Cooper, Damian Stewart, Mayor Neil MacKinnon III, Library Director Kristine Goldsmith, President of the Library Board of Trustees Tom Uhler, Rossford Area Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Austin Potter, Chamber of Commerce Director Glen Poitinger, local history author Gary L. Franks, Kyla Knight from Industrial Power Systems, Doug Kalmbach, Sandra Rakovan, Mary Westfall, Colin Fraser, Andrea Myers, Sherry Van Camp, Barb Hoffman, Rob Wood, Gerri Martis, Jim Martis, Colleen Smith, City Administrator Allyson Murray, Valencia Kimbrell from Sage and Soda Inc., Pat Linkous, Dick Goeke, the legendary Joe Kornasiewicz Sr., a minor whose name we won't list here, and a few more whose name either we couldn't make out (apologies), or they forgot to sign in.
The next official TRHS meeting is October 6th at the Rossford Public Library from 6-8 p.m. Again, our meetings are always open to the public.
Remember, all upcoming events are always listed on our Events page.
How You Can Get Involved
During the next meeting, we will organize the group and discuss how members can volunteer their skills to help TRHS reach its full potential.
We're always going to need help with photo and document scanning and restoration efforts.
Have you ever wanted to be in the newspaper? We can make that happen! We can also use contributors for the newsletter. Let us know if you have the gift of the pen.
Are you well-versed in a certain topic like researching, genealogy, fact-checking? We can set aside time during a meeting for you to teach the rest of us about these things. so that we are better able to document and preserve history.
We are gearing up to start interviewing citizens. Let us know if you think you have what it takes to conduct or record interviews (audio and video). If you think you have a great story to tell, and would like to be interviewed, please send an email.
Like educating people? We are going to start coming up with educational seminars to share with our fellow citizens of Rossford, including inside the classrooms of Rossford schools.
Do you have a lead on a possible donation of artifacts or photos? Please let us know, so we can get out there and save these things from leaving Rossford, or going the landfill, and keep them safe right here at home where they belong.
If you can't wait till the next meeting, or you have some good ideas that you'd like to share, please send an email.
Our next official meeting is October 6th from 6-8 p.m, at the Rossord Public Library. Open to the public.
If you are interested in any of these things, please let us know by emailing us, by indicating it on your membership application, or in person at the next meeting.
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