The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-05-02

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Taylor, Einstein & Hobbs, Howard &
Naylor, and f. Ayres & Co. There
were also eight physicians and twelve
lawyers.
On the 9Th Of January, 1892 the
charter Of the Mad River & Lake Erie
Railway now &. SIC was granted.
The road was commenced in Septem-
Der 1885, and completed to Tiiin in
1871. The benefits derived by not
only the citizens of Tifin, but Of
Seneca county from the completion Of
this road were immense. a market
was established at home for their pro-
duee, the value Of land was enhanced,
and the tiresome and dreaded journeys
TO the Lake for merchandise and mar
ket were Obviated. 1t gave power
ful impetus to the onward progress
Of the county, and from that day to
this each successive year has ad-
vanced the city nearer the goal Of dis
tinctiOn and wealth. The star Of Tiff
fin was in the ascendant, and that Of
its rival, Fort Ball, "paled its inefiect.
ual fire" and finally became absorbed
in the other. 1t has long years since
lost its individuality, and has become
part and parcel of Tifin.
A country peopled 10y an intelligent
class Of men and women could not
long be without regular mental pab-
ulum, and so, on the 4th of August,
1892 was issued the first number Of the
Seneca P1friot, the first paper printed
in the county, under the management
Of L. & J. II. Brown. 1t was a queer
production, its columns being devoted
TO the dissemination of Democratic,
Wing, and anti-Masonic doctrines,
giving each party an equal showing.
After three months, however, it bios
somed out as a Democratic organ.
In 1910 a second printing press was
brought to Tihln by an association,
and in July Of that year the first num-
Der Of a paper entitled the "Nan
Burenite and Seneca County AdCer-
tirc7'' was issued by "H. CrOnise and
Others" In II itdiseontinued and in
the Spring of 1912 appeared as the
Seneca advertiser, under the control
of John G.. Breslin. Tifin Eow has
four newspapers. The TRIBUNE, the
advertiser, the Sa5, and the Deodsche
Pressc.
The first Court House was built in
the fall Of 1896 at a cost OF $500. In
May, 1S4l it was destroyed by fire, and
in June It's rebuilding was ordered,
and the result is the present Court
House. tt was at that time consider
ed an elegant building of its class, but
now scarcely reflects credit upon the
city.
From 1892 the success Of Tiflin was
comparatively assured. Since then it
has made no giant strides, nOryet has
its pathway been one strewn with
flowers. Vigorous effort on the part
of its people, hearty concurrence in
such schemes as promised to promote
the towns best gOOd-these causes
have produced their legitimate effects.
In lS4S the following paragraph was
written: "a few years ago the whole
country was n wilderness, the home
of the Indians who were trapping
along the Sandusky and its tributaries
or hunting in the low lands through
which they flow. But their wigwams
have vanished, their council fires have
become extinguished, and their hunt
ing-gronnds are the cultivated fields
of white men. The bones of their
warriors and young men lie scattered
in various places, tacitIy telling that
olfee the red men were lords of the
soil and the rightful owners of the
land we occupy. Their war dance has
ceased. Their wild whoOp and fierce
veil are heard no longer in the silent
woods. They have gone and the
wilderness has passed away. 4 little
later, and here and there a hardy adj
venturer is Drawing the difficulties of
an unsettled country, while the idea
of railroad is not yet dreamed Of.
But now the powerful locomotive
with its immense train comes sweep
ing along upon the iron rails, bringing
the luxuiies of every cline, the labor
of every nation, to our very DOORS
The. idea is, rather good, and so we
quote it verbatim, but what a pane
gyric the same gentleman might have
written if the lines Of railway
now nearly completed had even
been contemplated. We will not
attempt imagining it.
There are thousands of anecdotes
and incidents connected with the
early settlement of Seneca county to
which We cannot even alIude. Our
province is not that of the historian
but of the Journalist, and so, having
thus briefly outlined the past of this
pleasant city, we attempt conveying
some impressions as to its attractions
or advantages of to-day, real or pros
pective.
Tiffin contains a population Ofabout
1000, though the general impression
is that it is a much larger place. 1t
has its city government, Mayor and
councilmen, is divided into wards,
and possesses all the working ma
chinery of cities of the secOrd class.
The location of the city is one of rare
beauty. The Sandusky river mot
navigable at this point enters town
upon the west and within the town
limits describes an irregular semi-cir-
Gle. From the river upon either side
the ascent is gradual, admitting the
best of drainage and at the same time
requiring no heavy grading of streets.
Along the river front are manufactOr-
les and private residences, of the Latter
many have beautiful lawns reaching
down to the waters edge. Upon the
west side of town (the portion famil-
iarly known as Fort Ball are the de-
pot grounds, grain warehouses, sew
eral manufactures and a large numdeT
of residences, many Of them very at
tractive. A suspension bridge on
Washington street connects the north
and south sides, and a pier bridge she
east and west sides. Tiflin proper is
upon the south and east banks of the
river, although there is uniformity
of streets upon all sides. OF the west
and north sides we have little 10 write.
They offer many delightful building
building sites and this will, we pre-
dict, in the future become the chief
manufacturing portion of town.
Washington street, which pursues
a north and south course, is the main
business thoroughfare. From the
bridge south the ground gradually ris-
es for half or three quarters of a mile