City tour highlights historic places
The Auglaize County Historical Society hosted a walking tour in downtown Wapakoneta Tuesday evening in
honor of the 52nd anniversary of the moon landing. It started at the courthouse, went north on Willipie Street to Auglaize
Street and east toward the railroad tracks and then down the other side of Auglaize to Blackhoof Street.
"The courthouse is always a highlight," Melissa Luthman, vice-president for the historical society’s board of trustees,
said.
First up was the courthouse, built in 1894 for less than
$300,000 (over $7 million today). The building was built with Berea Limestone. And while the tour didn't go inside
the building, Luthman said it was restored roughly two decades ago and has murals and marble pillars and railings.
"If you get a chance it's open Monday-friday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.," she said. "You can walk in there and most of the offices that are in there are happy to talk about the history of the rooms that they have."
She continued with the history of Wapakoneta, which was founded as a council
house for the Shawnee Native Americans that lived the area; the Shawnee were forcibly removed in 1833.
Wapakoneta managed to grow because of its proximity
to the river, the qualify of farmland, its position as
county seat in 1848 and the railroad.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong's grandfather actually worked at the courthouse as a county
commissioner from 1941-48.
Luthman's next stop was the fire house, which wasn't always a fire house.
"It was originally built as a city building," she said.
The building housed the mayor's office, the
police department, the fire department
and other city offices. The office moved in 1966 and again in the late 1990s to the current location. Armstrong's father actually served as safety
service director while the office was still located there.
She then took participants to the post
office, built in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration to
help employ workers during the Great Depression. The administration also employed artists, and there are panels on the wall that depict what life was like before white settlers moved in.
The woodwork and marble inlay are is original to the building.
Across the street Luthman pointed to the
movie theater, built in 1904 by Michael
Brown as a service to the community.
"It was a play theater, or an acting theater,”
she said. "They would have different companies come in and do different productions."
They eventually added a screen for
movies and kept it permanent.
Above the theater is Escape Wapak.
She then guided the group up Auglaize
Street toward the railroad tracks. Along the way she pointed to the Charme Hair Design
building, which previously served as a drug store where Armstrong worked after school to be able to pay for flying lessons.
"He earned $.40/ hour," she said.
At the time, lessons were $9/hour.
The building next to Mercy Unlimited, a private home, used to
be the Auglaize National Bank and was
built in 1911 and designed
by the same architect who developed
St. Joseph Catholic Church. It's also the
only building used excessively for residential living in downtown.
The Lange Photography building was
originally a Kreitzer Buggy Works building and built after the railway came through town.
Next on the tour was the historical
marker by the railroad tracks; the train system arrived in the city in 1858.
"There are only nine Ohio historical markers currently in Auglaize County," she said.
The Eagles building was, Luthman suspects, the council house for the Shawnee nation in town.
"It wasn't so much a standing building per se so much as a place to meet and discuss topics with other tribes," she said.
The Alpha Cafe, with a neon sign and
oak wood bar, moved across Auglaize Street to its current location.
"They literally moved the bar across the
street," she said. "It's the original bar that was in the original
building that got torn down."
The old Koneta Inn Hotel originally
opened in 1898, but the building was leveled after a fire and recently transformed into parking lot. The
new space will have a veteran's memorial and an original piece of art commissioned
by First on the Moon, Inc.
Further down Auglaize Street is a threestory building that served as a Masonic lodge.
"The social clubs were active in a lot of the buildings downtown," she said.
The last building she talked about on Auglaize Street was the Wintzer building, built in 1848.
"The Wintzer company is actually the
oldest company in Auglaize County," she said.
Luthman ended the tour at the Auglaize County Historical Society, located in First Presbyterian Church, which used to be the Women's Club.
Janice Longsworth went on the tour after
seeing an advertisement for it on social media.
"I thought it was an interesting thing to be
able to hear about the different buildings," she said.
She was also excited to talk about businesses and building downtown with ties to Neil Armstrong or his family
"The most fun part for me is hearing all the reminisces that
people that come on the tour have cause it's typically all locals that come on the tour," she
said. "They all have different memories of the different buildings and businesses that have been downtown."
Her ultimate goal for the event was for people to learn and enjoy themselves.
Michele Prater, who recently moved back
after 30 years, decided to take the tour and learn more about her new community.
"It's really interesting," she said. "I'm learning things I didn't know."
Mark Luthman, Melissa's uncle, wanted to visit to learn more about the courthouse and the architecture.
"It's a neat downtown," he said.
This was his first time taking the tour, and described the tour as wonderful.