Emergency Resolution of 1916

     Another document from the City of Waterville, now in the Wakeman Archives,illustrates the kind of problems the village had to deal with 100 years ago. 

RESOLUTION

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     Declaring the Ditch or Drain known as the Race on the North side of Mechanic Street from Third Street to the River a NUISANCE and ordering the same abated.

     Whereas the Ditch or Drain known as the Race on the North side of Mechanic Street from Third Street to the River has become a menace to Health:

      Therefore be it resolved by the Council of the Village of Waterville, State of Ohio, Three-fourths of all the members elected thereto concurring:

     Section I. That said Ditch, or Drain known as the Race on the North side of Mechanic Street from Third Street to the River be [one] and the same is hereby declared to be a NUISANCE.

     Section II. That the Street Committee be and is hereby authorized and directed to purchase the necessary tile and cause the same to be laid in said Ditch or Drain known as the Race on the North side of Mechanic Street from Third Street to the River, so as to abate the said Nuisance.

     Section III. This Resolution is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and that its passage is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety. The necessity therefore lies in the fact that said Ditch, Drain or Race has become a menace to health.

     Section IV. This Resolution shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law. 

Passed August 28, A.D. 1916: Attest: Clark J. Roach, Clerk and Joseph J. Loyd

A Tragic Accident from the Perrysburg Journal July 9, 1869

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      After leaving a ball at the Columbian House around three o'clock in the morning, Andrew Ovitt, Oscar Lyons and his wife Adaline and her two sisters, Lodusca and Alice, boarded their skiff to return to their homes on the other side of the river. The skiff which they used in crossing was perhaps half a mile above Waterville opposite Miltonville at the ferry. There was a deep fog and the water was swift and turbulent.

      When they reached the middle of the river the boat tipped and took on water. Lodesca was frightened and jumped upon the edge of the boat while Alice sprang upon the back of Oscar Lyons and the skiff capsized. Oscar swam for Dodd's Island [Granger Island] which he reached safely though exhausted, while Alice was barely alive when dragged ashore. Andrew clung to the boat which was bottom up and helped Adaline and Lodusca partially upon it. The boat upset twice more and then got away from them. Adaline seized Andrew around the body and Lodusca clung to her sister. Though not a good swimmer he started towards the island, frequently getting his feet tangled in Adaline's clothing and all would go under. When within five feet of the island Andrew sprang for a limb of a tree and Adaline lost her grasp upon him and the two sisters were lost. Lodusca's body was recovered lodged in the roots of a tree not far from where she drowned, but Adaline's body drifted over a mile and was not found for a few days.

     The three ladies were daughters of Mr. and Mrs. George Lomas of Miltonville. Adaline was about 20 years of age, Lodusca 18 and Alice 16.

The Old Wagon Bridge Collapsed in 1941

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   Requests for a new bridge in Waterville began in 1935 when the village council wrote to both Wood and Lucas County Commissioners. The old 1887-88 wagon bridge had been repaired in 1904 after two spans were knocked out by flood and ice.  In 1926 another section gave way, this time from the weight of a steam shovel. A more urgent request was made in 1937, citing the frequent repairs needed for the recurring holes in the floor of the bridge. The village solicitor also wrote to the Ohio Department of State Highways describing the unsafe condition of the bridge, pointing out that school children were bussed across it twice daily. This resulted in the Lucas County Commissioners passing a resolution citing the urgency of a new bridge in Waterville, but no further action was taken.

   Village records in the Wakeman Archives contain carbon copies of these documents, including an April 1938 request from Toledo Attorney E. Donald Demuth, the village solicitor, once more describing the emergency repairs being made after holes repeatedly occur in the bridge floor. A June 21st reply suggested the Toledo Division Engineer of the Department of State Highways be contacted to make the repairs. Of course, these were the years of the Great Depression and funds were scarce. In December 1938, Clerk of Council Ernie Hook warned of a pending collapse in a letter to the Toledo Division Engineer. Two and a half years later his unheeded warning came true when the old bridge went down under the weight of a milk truck.

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   Two independent milk haulers, Thomas Riegel and Robert Byerly of Millersville, started across the bridge from the Wood County side with their heavily loaded truck on July 24, 1941 and broke through to the bed of the Maumee River. Miraculously, they suffered only minor injuries. Spectators reported that the river ran white with four tons of spilled and ruptured milk cans. Telephone lines and Waterville Gas and Oil lines had crossed the bridge and were pulled down. Waterville citizens were actually glad the bridge collapsed so that their constant demands for a new bridge would now be answered. During that summer, drivers were able to ford the river at low water areas. Painted steel oil drums were placed as markers for the ford route south of Granger Island. However, as Fate would have it, World War II was declared in December following the attack at Pearl Harbor. All steel went into the war effort. A new bridge would have to wait.

   New approaches were installed to the abandoned electric trolley bridge at Roche de Boeuf and for the next seven years it was used as a "temporary" crossing. Waterville merchants were so glad for Wood County customers to again be able to patronize their stores, they planned a week of celebration when it opened. But drivers trying to pass each other on the high narrow bridge would find it a harrowing experience, particularly when the wind was blowing hard.

   In the summer of 1948 the new bridge was finally built at a cost of more than $485,000. It was opened and dedicated on December 3 with another grand celebration. Mayor Albert Graf welcomed other local and state officials and a large crowd of happy Waterville residents.

Information for this article obtained from documents in the Wakeman Archives, Watervillore by Midge Campbell, and Olde Waterville by June Huffman.

Waterville's Olde Town Hall

   The original location of the Chamber of Commerce building at 122 Farnsworth Road was around the corner at 16 North Second Street. It was moved in 1996 to make room for a parking lot for Zion Lutheran Church.  Known as The Olde Town Hall after the new municipal building was completed in 1984, it was then occupied by the Chamber of Commerce.

   Before the move was begun The Waterville Historical Society was given the opportunity to inspect and remove any of the many old documents stored in the building which they felt should be preserved. Discovered among the dusty books and papers were the original plans proposed by several builders for a council room and jail which the village had advertised for bid in 1885.

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   Proposals written in beautiful longhand along with simple drawings were made by William H. Myers, Frederick E. Sargent, William Witte & Company, J.F. Patton, and L.G. Gunn. Some made two proposals, one for a brick structure and another less expensive one made of wood.

   On October 15 an article of agreement between the Village of Waterville and William H. Myers was made to build a council room and jail for the sum of $561.00, with the work to be completed on or before December 1, or the contractor to be assessed $2.00 each and every day the work was delayed. The specifications called for a 40 by 20 foot building with 10 foot ceilings and two jail cells of nine feet square.

   The work was completed on time and Myers asked for another $9.00 for extra work he had done. Then on December 28 he and J.B. White sent a bill for $33.00 for labor and materials for one desk, three benches, shelving, hooks, coal box and two bunks. Alfred.J.Taylor was then mayor, George.M.Utz was clerk, and the council members were Oscar.W. Ballou, Henry. Knarr, Thomas Pray and Charles.W. Shoemaker.

   To relocate and extensively renovate the building in 1996 cost another $60,000.  The Lutheran Church exchanged location sites with the village and paid for the moving with Graham’s Building Movers. The Chamber agreed to increase their rent and pay for new landscaping.  

   Due to mistakes in early records which were perpetuated through the years, the building was thought at one time to be owned by L.L. Morehouse from 1847 until 1873 and then by Frank Whitcomb until 1884 when the village bought it from him. Perhaps they owned the lot or an earlier structure, but The Waterville Archival Research Center has the original documents which make clear that it was built 122 years ago as a village hall and jail.

   William Myers would be pleased to know the basic structure he built so soundly is still an integral part of Waterville life.       

THE ROUTE 24 BYPASS

With the long-awaited completion and opening of the new Route 24 bypass around Waterville finally taking place on August 28, 2012 it is interesting to look back on the history of this highway. Who could have imagined it would take so long?!

In 1961 the State highway department presented plans to relocate U.S.24 from Maumee to Napoleon.  A map of the proposed relocation was printed in The Blade showing the alignment between Waterville and Whitehouse roughly where it is today.

The Anthony Wayne Trail which was completed to Waterville in the 1950s when the old Miami and Erie Canal was drained and filled in, would be for local traffic and access to the park system along the river.

Then began the first of many studies by ODOT. The Waterville bypass would be completed by 1970! Instead a bypass of Defiance and Napoleon were completed and their old Route 24 became a scenic byway in 1968. In 1969 ODOT said the bypass around Waterville would be completed sometime in the 1980s and until then a widening of the road from Maumee through Waterville would alleviate congestion.

A Waterville citizens' group was formed to protest the widening of the road through the village and reducing the four lanes to two at State Route 64, creating a bottleneck and safety hazard and further delay the construction of the bypass. This was at a time when the elementary school was on River Road and many children west of the Trail walked to school.  US 24 was widened from Maumee to Dutch Road and not through the village in 1976.

The 1980s to 2000 saw increased traffic and many accidents including fatalities. The Fort to Port Improvement Organizations was formed in the 1980s and got support from communities along the highway's 77 miles for a new highway. In 2000 a Waterville "SMART" group was formed and became very active. (Safety Means Alternative Route Twenty-four)  Then an opposing group formed: FARMUP. (Farming Americans Resisting More Unneeded Pavement) They urged improving the route rather than widening or building a bypass. ODOT began holding public meetings presenting various alignments for a new road having less detrimental impact and involving fewer residential and business relocations. After three years of construction the Route 24 bypass is completed. Waterville has become a destination city for visitors and a pleasant and safer place to live.

The Wakeman Archives contains the long and contentious, dangerous history of the road, including letters to and from ODOT officials, mayors, governors, congressmen, etc., news clippings of accidents, editorials and letters to the editor as well as petitions, maps and Fort to Port records. Thanks to all who made it happen.

The Flood of 1913 Ohio's Greatest Natural Disaster

     Although Waterville suffered no loss of life, only property damage, the southwest part of Ohio was hardest hit with hundreds dead and thousands of buildings destroyed in the apocalyptic storm of 1913. It began days before with tornadoes in the western states and moved east to flood 14 states, Indiana and Ohio getting the worst of it. On Easter Sunday, March 23rd, the near biblical deluge began and lasted for four days, more than four months normal rainfall for Ohio. Even large factories, office buildings, bridges and barns were toppled. Streetcars and trains were knocked over and moved great distances. Gas lines ruptured and sparked raging fires. An estimated 20,000 homes were destroyed and much fertile farmland washed away.

     In Waterville the Maumee River surrounded the River Road school and kept rising. The canal also ran over its banks and downhill to worsen the situation. Midge Campbell wrote in Watervillore: "At 5 a.m., on March 25, the canal floodgates near the Waterville quarry were opened to stop the overflowing and relieve the pressure on the banks - pouring still more water into the flooded river. The people in the lower part of town had been in a precarious position, sandwiched as they were, between two over-flowing bodies of water." Residents living along River Road moved to higher ground, and some Farnsworth Road and Second Street homeowners moved their furniture to their second floors.

     The Ohio National Guard was called out and spent weeks helping to restore order in the devastated southern Ohio cities. Dayton suffered the most destruction and it was said dead horses littered the streets. Midge Campbell also reported that she heard the horses kept on Granger Island behind the school had to be shot as a humane decision before they drowned in the icy water. It was impossible to remove them.

     Eventually, both state and national flood control measures were taken as a result of the storm. Dayton erected five dams and has never suffered a major flood since.

     Opel Marlowe Witte, born in 1898, recalled in a 1987 oral history that she and her future husband Harry canoed around Waterville's flooded streets to view the incredible scene and check on their neighbors.

The Christmas Connection to Baer Park

     One of Waterville's most active volunteers, John H. Baer, 47, was killed in a tragic accident while helping to hang Christmas decorations at Third and Mechanic Streets in 1971. He was a member of the Waterville Recreation Committee for 15 years, had coached the Waterville Little League baseball team, served as chairman of the village summer festival committee and was elected to serve on village council. As a result of a 15-foot fall from a scaffold, he received serious head injuries and died after surgery. He was survived by his wife Eileen and three children.

     An eight acre plot of land behind Elm Street and next to the railroad tracks had been reserved to build a new elementary school when needed. When it was deemed impractical for that purpose, it was decided to develop it into another park and to name it Baer Park in honor of John Baer. For the next three years it was delayed by controversy and financing problems. The plans drawn up by landscape architects included a large pond for fishing and ice skating but was met with opposition, and the pond was erased from the plan. A proposal for lights at the baseball diamond also drew the wrath of nearby residents.

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     After tearing down a small house on Elm Street to make way for an entrance drive into the park from the north end of Fifth Street, the park was finally completed with the rest of the original plan intact. Tennis and basketball courts, baseball and softball fields, playground equipment, picnic areas and a pavilion were constructed. Even a sledding hill was added.

     Dedication day for the park was held May 21, 1977 with speeches, music, and ceremonies in the morning, followed by a family picnic lunch, games, contests and more music all afternoon. In the following years the playground was improved, and a paved trail now surrounds the whole park. It is a very popular recreation area for all ages.

Check it out with the City of Waterville and Global Tennis.

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