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Historical Ada

Artifact hunter hosted by Ada Historical Society on March 4

Like many other community groups, the Ada Historical Society (AHS) is on the rebound following something of a COVID drought in terms of activities and membership.

The AHS is hosting Brandon Place, an amateur artifact collector and history enthusiast, for a presentation at the historic Ada Train Depot,  at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday March 4. The free event is open to the public.

Ada homes, past and present

This is a plate from the 1902 publication "Ada and the O.N.U. The New and the Old" photo book selected by Dr. David Devier. 

Devier notes that three of the four houses are still standing in the community. The home built for ONU President Dr. Solomon Lehr burnt down many years ago.

What were your high school ambitions, favorite song, best known for?

Okay graduates, here's a challenge. When you said goodbye to high school, what was your ambition (in five words or less). Your favorite song? What would you have been best known for among your classmates?

The attached "Senior Feature" from the Ada High School yearbook of 1947 provides us with an interesting range of answers. (Easier to read PDF HERE.)

Here's random sampling of:

AMBITIONS
"Be happy in old age"

"Dress designer"

What was the mystery animal of 1956?

By Fred Steiner

In late November 1956 – actually this week 66 years ago, the major topic of residents of  the LaFayette and Bluffton area was of a mysterious animal that “cried like a baby and screamed like a woman.”

A front page story in the Bluffton New described the circumstances surrounding this mystery. 

Before you read about the 1956 mystery animal remember to watch Bluffton Forever next week for a story from 1958 about another mystery animal that appeared in the Bluffton rural community. 

The story from the Nov. 29, 1956, Bluffton News follows: 

Head: Cry’s like a baby, screams like a woman 

What became of "the most remarkable of all mounds in Ohio?"

In part 3 of his series, Fred Steiner offers an account from “The History of Hardin County, Ohio,” published by Warner, Beers and Co., in 1883. 

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Most remarkable of all mounds in Ohio
The most remarkable of all mounds in the State was one in Hardin County, in which were found about three hundred skeletons. A doubt has, however, been expressed that these were all Mound Builders skeletons.

F&M picnic memorabilia shared

The Ada Historical Society is looking for materials from Farmers and Merchants Picnics from earlier years up to about the 1980s.

Here's one submission from Bill Garver on Facebook: 

Ada Tri-County Farmers and Mechanics Fair premium booklet, circa 1883.

Note that is the "mechanics" fair and not yet the "merchants" fair. 

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