The local hot spot in Dayton in the 1870’s was a saloon called The Pony House. James Ritty, owner of the saloon, was tired of the dishonesty of his bartenders who were pocketing some of his profits and had an idea of a way to solve the problem. In 1879 after many trials and [...]
By 1870, Delphos had been incorporated for 20 years and had a population of almost 2000 people. The soldiers had returned home from the “War Between the States,” a new 3-story brick school building had been built on North Jefferson Street . and the Bredeick-Lang house stood as a fine example of modern [...]
In 1844, about the time Delphos was being settled, Samuel Morse’s famous message, “What hath God wrought” was being telegraphed from Washington D.C. to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles. It was the official opening of the first telegraph line. Within a few years, the line had grown to include Philadelphia and New York City [...]
At the time Delphos came into existence, most families didn’t have money to spend on store-bought clothing and linens, but had to depend on their own expertise with a needle and some thread to make such items for their households. It was a very tedious and time-consuming chore. But that all changed with the invention [...]
If you were born before 1960, you probably remember going to a shoe store as a child and having your feet x-rayed with a fluoroscope. You would try on a new pair of shoes, stick your feet in the opening at the bottom of the unit, and while you were looking through a porthole on [...]
This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. Probably the most well-known local persons associated with the war were the young drummer boy Avery Brown and Captain Rudolph Ruel who organized a company made up entirely of Delphos men. But there are many more names listed in local history books and many [...]
For many years, most of the artifacts that were a part of the Delphos Historical Society Museum on the second floor of the Old Commercial Bank Building remained unseen, the only access to them being from a Third Street door. But all that has changed. As part of our recent expansion/renovation, we put a [...]
Canal Days is fast approaching and one of the events that draws a lot of people is the waterball contest. Area firefighters come together to participate in a wet game of “who can get the ball across the opponents line”. If you have never experIenced this event, you need to check it out this year. [...]
Admiral Byrd’s Snow Cruiser The Lincoln Highway Buy-Way sale is over for another year, but the highway itself continues to draw “roadies” who like to travel at a much slower pace and enjoy the scenery. In fact, the Lincoln Highway Association has over 1,000 members from 39 states as well as 6 other countries. Each [...]
Recently, while cleaning out a room in the old Commercial Bank Building part of the Canal Museum, we discovered a letter dated April 5, 1938, addressed to the Delphos Can Company from a 13 year old boy in Alabama. Seems his grandmother had an oil can and liked the name that was on the label [...]