Stone Age People in the Great Black Swamp
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FTBPC Upcoming Presentations
Andrew L. Tuttle Memorial Museum
Andrew L. Tuttle, a lifelong resident of Defiance, Ohio, bequeathed his extensive collection of Native American artifacts, coins, documents, stamps, military memorabilia, and other artifacts, to the city of Defiance with the stipulation a museum would be established in his name. The City accepted the entire collection in 2003 and steps were taken to catalog and stabilize the collection. The Tuttle, as the museum has been nicknamed, officially opened to the public in May 2011. More information can be found at www.tuttlemuseum.com.
The Andrew L. Tuttle Memorial Museum is located at 514 West Third Street,
Defiance, Ohio 43512, 419.782.0746
The museum is open Thursdays: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the first Sunday of the Month 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tours by Appointment are not available at this time. Closed Holidays
Waterville Historical Society
The Waterville Historical Society (http://www.watervillehistory.org/) collects, preserves, provides access to, interprets and fosters an appreciation of history that has an impact on the Waterville, Ohio and surrounding area. Since 1964 the Waterville Historical Society has played an important role in the Village of Waterville, designated a city in 2012. In 2014 the society celebrated its 50th anniversary and was awarded an Ohio Historical Society Historical Marker commemorating the society on one side and the 1881 Wakeman Hall on the other.
Allen County – Fort Wayne Historical Society
The History Center (https://fwhistorycenter.org/) in Fort Wayne (pictured at left in 1901) is home to the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, including its museum and collections. When formed in 1921, the society had few assets, consisting of some historical relics that had been preserved by the Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Today we maintain a collection of more than 32,000 artifacts, photographs and documents representing the history of Fort Wayne and Allen County. The largest of these is the very building in which the society has resided since 1980 – the 1893 City Hall building, designed by Fort Wayne architects John F. Wing and Marshall S. Mahurin. The History Center also oversees the adjacent Barr Street Market, the oldest public space in Fort Wayne dating to 1837, and the 1827 home of Miami Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville.
Board Members Needed
If you are not currently on the Board and are willing to serve in that capacity (3 year terms), make sure by November that you are a member for 2023
(only current members can be on the ballot) and also a paid member. We cannot vote for someone that may not be a MVHC member in 2023 because they fail to pay their dues. All Board members are expected to make at least half of the 4 Board meetings per year and to be on a committee or be an Officer. If you have questions or the willingness to be put on the ballot, please contact Board Member Willis Beck, Nominations Committee Chair, at 419-874-8076 or [email protected].
We currently have 18 Board members and are allowed up to 24. Self nominations will be taken from the floor.
Ohio Scenic Rivers Program
The Ohio’s Scenic Rivers Program Presentation by Christina Kuchle (ODNR)
Sunday, March 21st, 2021, Nazareth Hall near Grand Rapids OH
Because of our prior deposit arrangement with Nazareth Hall for this Fall, we are postponing the presentation that we already had arranged to the new date. Hopefully, this will indeed occur but we are prepared to postpone again, or cancel altogether.
The agenda will be:
12:00 – Gather, greet, peruse organization info/display tables
12:30 – Luncheon (optional) $20 – rsvp required
1:30 – Presentation by Christina Kuchle
3:00 – Tour of Nazareth Hall building and grounds
Lunch Menu: Garden Salad, Apple Glazed Pork Roast, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Buttered Baby Carrots, Cornbread Stuf_ng, Triple Chocolate Cake, Coffee, Iced Tea.
This will be open to the public. We will make a special invitation to our MVHC members and the members of our Partnering organizations, and those that we know are “friends” of MVHC.
Please put this on your calendar and consider bringing others. All precautions will be made to follow the needed safety guidelines. We invite our Partner organizations, historical organizations, museums, and other related heritage groups, to bring brochures and information that can be set out on information display tables (provided). Please contact Frank Butwin at [email protected] or 419-270-0622 to make an arrangement for a table
Scenic Byway Strategic Plan
Scenic Byway Strategic Plan Becomes a Reality
In March of this year, the MVHC completed its five-year Corridor Management Plan (CMP) update for the Maumee Valley Scenic Byway (MVSB). Established in 1998, the Ohio Scenic Byway Program is a grassroots effort to heighten awareness of our state’s cultural, historical, archeological, recreational, natural and scenic resources. Ohio’s Scenic Byway program is administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in partnership with local communities, organizations and government agencies. Its purpose is to promote travel and recreation and to enhance and provide stewardship for the intrinsic features that distinguish the highways, roads and streets that comprise Ohio’s designated byway corridors.
The MVSB is one of 27 byways in Ohio, and was designated through the efforts of the MVHC and local stakeholders. The nearly 90-mile route begins on the north side of the Maumee River in the City of Defiance at the intersection of State Route 15 and River Drive (CR 424). The byway follows River Road eastward through Napoleon, Waterville and into Maumee to the site of the former British Fort Miamis (an affiliated site of the National Park Service), where it ends. On the south side of the Maumee, the byway starts at Napoleon on State Route 110 and continues on State Route 65 through the historic towns of Grand Rapids, Perrysburg, and Rossford, ending at I-75.
On April 16 the CMP update was accepted by ODOT, signifying our full compliance with this requirement of the Program. The CMP is a written docu-ment that serves as a record of a scenic byway’s development as well as the plan by which the scenic byway is implemented and then maintained and enhanced indefinitely. The CMP identifies six goals over the next five years.
Goal 1: Educate the public about the unique intrinsic qualities of the Maumee River Valley. Updating existing brochures and promotional materials will be an immediate first action to meet this goal, but we’ll also be looking to improve our website presence as well as developing digital applications for the more tech-savvy visitors and users. We would like to bring all this together by developing an integrated signage and media system of local heritage features.
Goal 2: Advocate for the continued development of a multi-modal byway corridor. The Ohio Scenic Byway program emphasizes vehicular travel, but we well know that the Maumee Valley can also be enjoyed by foot, bicycle, or boat. By reaching out to transportation/travel advisors, and with input from local stakeholders, we will develop an action plan to make the byway a major destination for all types of travel, with a strategy for advocacy and implementation.
Goal 3: Encourage organizations, business and communities to view the byway (and its intrinsic qualities) as a tool for economic development in the region. With the help of local universities, other byway organizations, and experts in the field, we hope to compile data on the economic impact of recreation/heritage/eco-tourism, and distribute the results through a variety of media and outreach.
Goal 4: Work with city, village, and township planning/zoning commissions and other stakeholders to preserve the uniqueness of the byway and to garner more involvement in the byway. We will identify the stakeholders in the MVSB with an interest regional land use, share information about
incentive/recognition programs, provide updates on economic studies, and meet annually for a “state of the byway” meeting. To enhance public access to the byway’s attractions, we will help jurisdictions to evaluate current access, site limitations, and signage for these attractions.
Goal 5: Promote community pride in the appearance of the MVSB. We’ll work with municipalities and local historical societies to install interpretive signage at key locations along the Byway, and to develop an awards program to recognize beautification efforts or preservation successes.
Goal 6: Extend the existing Byway east to Toledo and west to the Indiana state line, with no gaps. It’s been on our plate for several years to capture the entire Maumee Valley in the Byway, as it tells a complete and uninterrupted narrative of our region’s natural and historical development.
As part of the MVHC’s overarching mission, the Scenic Byway Committee will specifically focus on management, coordination, promotion, and development of byway initiatives in the corridor. Anyone interested in serving on the Byway Committee or contributing in other ways is invited to contact Maura Johnson at 419-278-0773 or [email protected].
For more information about the Ohio Scenic Byway program, go online to
https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/odot/programs/ohio-byways-program.
226th anniversary of the Battle of Fallen Timbers
The video below is courtesy of the Fallen Timbers Battlefield Preservation Commission.
Columbian House
The historic Columbian House gets a facelift at the hands of owners Tom and Peggy Parker.
Built in 1828 by founding father John Pray as a stagecoach inn, it quickly had additions built onto it so to serve multiple purposes in the years ahead. For nearly 200 years it has been overlooking the original town square and what is still the heart of downtown Waterville, Ohio.
On the National Register of Historic Places it remains on of the finest examples of Federal style architecture.