The Historical Society has a substantial collection of Wayne County postcards, many from the early years of the 20th century, collected by Rick and Elaine Peterson, Patrick Hagans, and others. You can see a selection of them on display in […]
WCHS remains closed due to pandemic
WOOSTER, Feb. 24, 2021 – The Wayne County Historical Society remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The board of trustees is carefully monitoring the latest information and guidance from the CDC and state and local health authorities, as well […]
A toast to the new year!
For decades, when Wayne County residents rang in the new year, there was a good chance that a bottle of Cedar Valley rye or bourbon figured in the celebration. Founded in the mid-19th century by Cyrus Bowman on Cedar Valley […]
Lions and tigers and bears. Oh, my!
Scores of ducks, lions, elephants, and rabbits live together in harmony on the shelves of the Wayne County Historical Society’s permanent collection. Crafted of ponderosa pine, the members of this menagerie are all products of the Toy Kraft Company. Founded […]
The key to becoming a county seat
For the first few years of Wayne County’s existence, court sessions were held in a series of log homes and rented structures. The question of where the county seat would be located was a matter of no little importance, and […]
WCHS receives Ohio Humanities OH CARES grant
The Wayne County Historical Society has received a $5,000 OH CARES grant from Ohio Humanities to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus-driven closure of the historical society’s campus. The grant was made possible by funding that Ohio Humanities received […]
Boston Pianos were built where?
“The love of music is a strong factor in welding the affections of your children to all that is good, pure and noble … [and] a Boston Piano should be looked upon as a necessity, as valuable to the welfare […]
Pottery by Doylestown native Samuel Routson
Stoneware bowls, pitchers, crocks, and jugs were essential items in the early 19th-century kitchens of Wayne County, and the Historical Society has several fine examples turned out by a local craftsman, Doylestown native Samuel Routson. After serving an apprenticeship with […]
WCHS mourns the passing of Dave Broehl
Like so many others in the community, we are mourning the passing of WCHS board member and past president Dave Broehl, without whom the Wayne County Historical Society truly would not be what it is today. Dave served as president […]
An invention ahead of its time
Wayne County native Hiram Swartz had a long and distinguished career as a lawyer, probate judge, president of the Wayne County Bar Association, and two-term mayor of Wooster (1877 – 1881). He was also an inventor, who devoted almost 30 […]
Rally to the colors!
It’s difficult to overstate the importance a unit’s colors to a Civil War soldier. To capture those of the enemy was the pinnacle of achievement; to lose one’s own, a source of shame. Typically, the national flag and a distinctive […]
Rebecca Beall is home again
When Stefan Dedecek, conservator of paintings at McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc. in Oberlin, Ohio, examined our oil-on-canvas portrait of Rebecca Johnson Beall in 2017, he found it to be in very poor condition. The painting was obscured […]
A beautifully crafted rifle from Sugar Creek Township
This .36 caliber black powder percussion rifle was manufactured somewhere around 1850. It has a 36-inch, octagonal barrel, dual triggers, brass patch box, and is 51.5 inches overall. On the top of the barrel is stamped “J. M. Myers” while […]
New video documents Juneteenth 2020 march
On June 19, 2020, residents of Wayne County gathered to celebrate Juneteenth as part of the Wooster-Orrville NAACP and Second Baptist Church’s 2020 Juneteenth Liberation March for Black Lives. Several videographers helped WCHS document this historic moment.
Money changes everything
Did you know that prior to the Civil War, banks were allowed to print their own money under the supervision of bank examiners employed by each state? It was an arrangement that often led to fraud or outright theft, leaving […]
Interested in Wayne County geology and archaeology?
Dr. Joseph H. Todd published a fascinating 45-page booklet on the Geology and Archeology of Wayne County, Ohio in 1910 and the Society recently turned this publication into a digital format and made it available for free to read on the Internet Archive. […]
After 35 combat missions, “did that ground feel good!”
As a B-17 crew member in the Eighth Air Force’s 385th Bomb Group, Technical Sergeant Donald W. Bupp flew on 35 combat missions over Germany between October 1944 and March 1945, first as the ball turret gunner and later as […]
A look back at one of our first acquisitions
Continuing our stroll through some of the most interesting artifacts in our collection, here’s a short video about one of the first items acquired by what would become the Wayne County Historical Society.
A tale of manufacturing boom and bust
This harvester was built by McDonald & Co., which in its heyday was the largest manufacturing company west of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1847 by Angus McDonald, a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, and Alexander Laughlin, the company produced a variety of […]
How historical societies and museums are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic
The Daily Record‘s Valerie Royzman spoke with WCHS Board President Doug Jones, Cleo Redd Fisher Museum curator Kenny Libben, and others about how historical societies and museums in Northeast Ohio are responding to — and collecting artifacts and stories to […]
