The Erie Canal in New York — from folly to fame
Traveling in this country during the 16th and 17th centuries was difficult in the extreme.
Futuristic Oliver, built on shoestring, still head turner
On February 23, 1929, Charles City, Iowa, residents read startling news in the Charles City Daily Press: There was to be a $50 million merger between the Hart-Parr Company, one of the city’s major firms, the Oliver Plow Works and Nichols & Shepard Company.
The Whippet: More than just an old automobile
Folks often ask how I think of stuff to write about, and while I sometimes really have to scratch to come up with a subject, especially when a deadline is breathing down my neck, things I see in my travels often trigger a memory that leads to an idea for a story.
Old property wills can make fascinating reading
Old wills, and I mean really old wills, are fascinating to read. They're a way to learn about how our ancestors lived, as well as seeing what worldly goods were important to them.
Looking back to 1938 gives a glimpse into the past
From my Looking Back Department, comes this glimpse of farming in July of 1938 (I was almost five years old), as recorded in the...
Fordson collection is a fortunate find
I spent July 12 at the Ashtabula County Antique Engine Club's 33rd annual show, at their well-developed grounds along Route 322.
Exploring the humble beginnings of the M1 rifle
By SAM MOORE
With this month being the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, it might be an...
Ohio Manufacturing Company built early tractors
One of the early tractor builders in Ohio was the Ohio Manufacturing Company in Upper Sandusky. In 1899, Samuel S. Morton built a crude tractor in York, Pa., with a large, horizontal, one-cylinder, hopper-cooled Otto engine mounted on a relatively, for the time, light-weight chassis with a short wheelbase.
Acme Cultivator Company origins are obscure
By SAM MOORE
During most of the 20th century Salem, Ohio, was a hotbed of industrial activity with several large manufacturing plants, such as those...
The way it was in the spring of 1939
In March 1939, I was still five months away from my sixth birthday and one more from my first year in a one-room country...
