THE CHANGING FACE OF VERMILION: Beyond Bailey's Vermilion Hardware Store this (Fulper's) is the last vestige of the Vermilion, Ohio I, along with throngs of others who came of age in the last 60 years, knew. What will become of this quarter block along Liberty and Grand Street now that Fulper is gone is anyone's guess. Surely the day of the Mom and Pop store as retail business anchor stores is done. The corporate tsunami is overwhelming. Whether that's good or bad is irrelevant. It just is.
As one glosses through this page it is obvious that things doth change. But, perhaples after all is said and done, that is the fun of it.
EXAMPLE: And directly across the street (kitty-corner) from Fulpers (once the site of the ME Church/Plumbing Shop that burned long ago) sat this building. This store once occupied the northwest corner of Liberty and Grand Streets where, now, the ambulance garage is located. At the time of this photo it was the Guy Davis General Store. (Note the water tower in the background.) This was early in the 20th century.
Toward the middle of the century it was transformed into an auto dealership/filling station. At one time a fellow named Glen "Gyp" Martin had a Pontiac dealership in the place. Vermilion's "Singing Mayor" Leonard Osberg then occupied the upper offices and also operated a small cosmetic firm from those rooms.
In the late 1940's the building was destroyed by fire. Many valuable city documents were destroyed in the blaze - not to mention Martin's cars. Eventually Martin built the building that now stands on the site. It was an architectural favorite of mine that is now hidden beneath a 19th century vinyl facade.
After the auto dealership faded away it became a filling station for a number of years. Dick Barthel and, I think, Bud Fischer ran the place. But again that old tsunami time rolled over its walls and today its practicality as a safety headquarters is its only saving grace. Otherwise, it too, would be history.
AND THEN...: My good friend, Buffalo Bill Hlavin emailed me this photo of Vermilion's old water tower in Hanover Square several days ago. It, as one can see from the previous pic, stood behind (just north) of the general store.
One of the things these particular photographs are allowing "Viewers" this week is a fairly good historical look about the neighborhood of Liberty and Grand Streets.
This is really a very nice picture.
THE VFD OF '05: One of (if not) the oldest public voluteer agencies in Vermilion, Ohio is the Vermilion Volunteer Fire Department. A loosely formed volunteer force probably existed from the time the village was settled, but existing records show that a voluteer department must have had some formal organization as early as 1860 - because they had a hand pumper and a hose cart at that time. It was orignally known as Relief Company No. 4.
The photograph of the men of the Vermilion Fire Department shown above was taken in Amherst, Ohio in 1905.
Those pictured are: TOP ROW: Tony Becker, John Englebry,Ed Erbscorn, Wm. Schifley, Wm. Englebry, Al Mattison, Geo. Holl. SECOND ROW: Cottligs, Fred Berger, ?, Bunny Bond, Geo. Christman, John Naegele, Andrew Beekel, Charlie Decker. BOTTOM ROW: J.A. Klaar, Hank Schmoll, Charlie Lang, John Carr, Murray Stevens, Dave Miller, Lee Tischer, John Krapp, and Wm. "Dad" Tischer.
It may interest people to know that to become a member of this force in early days that a person was required to be a lantern boy for two years. That is; they had to carry a lantern or a hand torch at night to light the way for the firemen pulling the hand pumper and/or hose carts.
Local history buffs who take a close look at the names of these men will recognize many of them for their contributions to Vermilion's commerical and political organization in its infancy.
VERMILION BOTTLING WORKS: This wonderful picture from my friend Dale Hohler [the little boy standing in front of the building] is one of the very last pix of Vermilion's popworks. The operation was once owned by the Feldcamp family, and was later owned and operated by Dale's good uncle Larry Shafts.
I can't say for a fact, but I believe that the aforementioned corporate tsunami married to stringent government rules and regulations caused this business to become unmanageable. In recent years we have seen much the same thing happen to small cider mills in our region.
But the long and short of the matter is that Mr. Shafts allowed area fire departments to use this building in a sizeable training excercise, and it was burned for that purpose.
I was only about 10 years old when this event took place, but I do remember the day. I had a little Kodak Brownie box camera and took some photos of the fire. Those pix still exist. But I have no idea as to where they might be.
Numerous bottles from the popworks still exist and are regularly sold on eBay. I have some vague memory of drinking a few bottles of the beverage as a youngster. It was such a great feeling to know that there was a popworks in our town. It was a sad day when it had to end.
CLASS REUNION UPDATES:
Ray Beursken tells me that the VHS class of 1955 has scheduled their 50th class reunion on September 10, 2005 at the Boat Club. Class members of 1955 should put this date on their calendar. They're hoping for a good turnout.
Bruce Eldridge tells me that he and John Hunter just secured the Amvets hall for their 45th 60,61 & 62 class reunion. The reunion will be Sat. July 22, 2006. John Hunter, class of 1960, will be starting a web site in May or June of 2005. Bob Wolford, class of 1961, will be sending out a letter to all the classmates who attended our 40th class reunion asking them to update their E-Mail and help find other classmates.
A gal named Shelly from the Class of 1985 tells me that "the VHS class of 1985 will be having a 20 year reunion in the summer of 2005......no further details. The name of the organizer is Kim Schultz."
From Roger Boughton comes the following note. We've updated our newsletter and have some new pictures from Linda (Peck) and Bill Smiley from our reunion held last October. Keep the pictures coming as classmates who were not able to attend are enjoying seeing "old" school mates. Also, you might want to send us news from and about your family and we'll include it on our web site. Our survey clearly indicated that most wanted our reunion held in Vermilion in 2009. Thus, we'll be celebrating our "special" occasion (50th Reunion) in September of 2009. Put it on your calendar and plan to join the fun. Remember our web site is located at: Class of '59 and I'll update it as as I receive enough new pictures and information from our classmates to make it worth reading. So send me any information that you would like to share with other classmates and we'll put it up for all to see and view.
I've visited Roger's website and it's fun.
Persons interested in having their VHS (and vicinity) reunion plans posted on this site are welcome to do so. I can't provide anyone with webpages to post their activities in depth, but I can provide a link to existing pages and/or post some activity items here. All anyone need do is contact me at my email address and pass along their material electronically.
I should add that some of the people who are noted in this part of the page are good resource folks for all types of information if one should be looking for some long lost friend. I won't give out contact information unless I have permission from those named, but I will contact them on your behalf if you desire.
As news regarding VHS reunion activities comes to my attention it will appear on this web page. There's not much going on right this moment, but stay tuned folks.
The Beat Goes On: The page is generated by the dreaded Macintosh Computer and is written and designed by (me) Rich Tarrant. It will change weekly ~ usually on Saturday. Bookmark the URL (Universal Resource Locater) and come back at your own leisure. Send the page to your friends (and enemies if you wish). If you have something to share with those who visit this page, pass it on. And if you see something that is in need of correction do the same. My sister, Nancy, is a great help in that respect. It only takes me a week to get things right. And follow the bookmarks. You might find something you like. If you experience a problem with them let me know. Also, if you want to see past editions of this eZine check the new archives links below.
Links to other sites on the Web
Vol.2, Issue 45, January 29, 2005
© 2004 Rich Tarrant