Years Ago in Paulding County

By: Melinda Krick

It Happened in July …

Many important, unusual and memorable events in Paulding County history have taken place in the month of July:

1873 – The county’s first bank opened. “Paulding Bank” with George W. Potter, Banker.

1888 – The new courthouse is now inhabited. The furniture has all arrived and will be placed in position. The county officers have transferred their books, documents and papers into their new quarters. We have one of the finest courthouses in Ohio considering the price paid for its construction.

1888 – The sale of the old courthouse, county offices and contents took place at public auction and a good price was obtained for the property. The courthouse sold for $445 to M.D. Mann, who will move it to Jackson Street and convert it into an opera house.

1893 – Paulding is swept by fire with 43 business rooms and two dwellings destroyed, including the new Hotel Barnes and Deposit Bank. The hotel was set to open the next day. Fire enveloped the whole block of frame buildings fronting on Perry Street and also those fronting on Williams Street up to the alley next to Pursel’s brick block. 

1898 – Payne’s Second Big Fire: Two Whole Blocks Gone Up In Smoke! Fire raged for over four hours and thousands of dollars’ worth of property were destroyed on the evening of July 4. The fire was discovered in the rear of a store on the north side of Merrin Street. Hundreds of people from town and the surrounding country assembled to fight the blaze. Nearly 40 businesses were impacted.

1898 – A fire in Paulding on the south side of Perry Street in Paulding burned several business rooms containing the Model Opera House, a saloon, hardware store, meat market and bakery-restaurant. The Hotel Barnes and the Deposit Bank were spared.

1908 – The courthouse was struck by lightning but the only damage was a few slate tiles knocked off the little dome.

1913 – The two-story main building at the county infirmary [county home] caught fire from a spark from the kitchen chimney. The frame building and contents were totally destroyed.

1914 – Paulding’s first Chautauqua, a seven-day event conducted by the Redpath Chautauqua, was a grand success. Every afternoon and evening program had a good musical program accompanied by a good lecture or entertainment. The opening session was marred by heavy wind and rain that collapsed the large tent on the audience.

1916 – Oakwood Deposit Bank vault was blown open by thieves, who were unable to open the inner safe that contained the bank’s cash assets. The vault had been drilled by an electric drill. The thieves fled with a small amount of currency. Later, a badly wrecked car was found close to Toledo, and contained papers bearing the Oakwood bank name and a small quantity of dynamite.

1916 – A special election will be held asking voters to approve issuing $20,000 in bonds to purchase a site and construct a county hospital.

1921 – Paulding County’s new $200,000 brick highway, extending four miles west from the Payne corporation limits to the state line, completely opened to traffic.

1930 – State Route 9 through the county is now designated as U.S. Route 127, connecting Cincinnati with northern Michigan.

1931 – The Farmers & Citizens Bank of Payne has taken over the business of the Farmers National Bank of Haviland, which discontinued operations.

1933 – A dam is being constructed across Flat Rock south of the sugar factory. When completed, it will form a basin in which a large quantity of water can be stored. The dam will be about 150 feet in length, four feet thick and seven feet high a portion of the distance.

1933 – The Latty district school board has decided to abandon the Briceton School because of the small attendance and as an economy measure.

1935 – Trustees and clerks of the county’s 12 townships have formed a county trustees’ association. They elected O.E. White of Payne as chairman; M.M. Hoover, clerk of Paulding Township, as vice-chairman; and Charles H. Dunakin, county surveyor, as secretary-treasurer. This is the last county in the state to form an organization.

1938 – Vagabond Village, your neighborhood picnic ground and tourist camp, located between the junctions of U.S. 127 and U.S. 24, is now an official Greyhound Bus Stop.

1950 – Over 10,000 attended Paulding’s Centennial and Second Annual Homecoming. A mile-long parade opened the three-day celebration. Local merchants hope to make the homecoming an annual affair.

1957 – The first annual “John Paulding Days” is being staged here Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The stores will be open each evening and are already giving away tickets for grand prizes, including a portable TV set. Entertainment will include bands, dances, Teenage Road-E-O, kids’ day contests and a carnival on the north and east sides of the square.

1968 – Twenty-three cars of an eastbound Norfolk & Western freight train derailed west of Melrose, just east of the Goodwin crossing. The accident tore up about three-quarters of a mile of track.

1970 – Mr. And Mrs. Ernest Weller are tearing down the old Norfolk & Western Railroad depot at Oakwood.

1983 – Five Span Bridge, close to a century old, will soon be a part of nostalgia. Workers began tearing out asphalt and guardrails. Construction of the original iron bridge began in 1875. The first span on the west is the only remaining original span.

1984 – Paulding County Carnegie Library hosted ceremonies marking its listing on the National Register of Historic Places as the first county library funded by Andrew Carnegie.

1986 – Joint efforts of federal, state and local government agencies as well as numerous private companies have resulted in the containment of an oil spill on the Auglaize River between Five Span Bridge and Power Dam. The 42,000-gallon spill originated at Lima. Crews worked 24 hours a day for several days at the bridge, Oakwood and other locations. The oil impacted wildlife, killing many fish, birds and other species.