Luckey Historical Society Newsletter Feb 2010
February is always a rough month for me. Maybe it is the lack of fresh air and sunshine. The only great thing about February is that March comes after February. In February I don’t like to go out on my own for much of anything. So, I haven’t ventured out to get prices for our shirts and I haven’t turned in applications for town hall donations to businesses. I did scan Rife family documents, organized them, added to the Rife family tree and print the collection. I am an official paying member now of Ancestory.com and have been having fun with my own family adding to our tree and publishing the tree along with family photo’s. If you have something that you want me to look up please let me know. I paid my membership for a year.
During our last meeting we decided to use the sketch of the old town hall on our t-shirts. I had an estimate from Color Wheel in Luckey but the price seemed rather high. I received a couple of suggestions where I might go to get a cheaper price.
During our last meeting we decided to order another 20 calendars. As of a week ago Wednesday, we had 18 requests. I didn’t go into town last Wednesday because of the snow so am not sure if they have all been picked up.
We have received a bid from Zach Sarver RE the restoration of the town hall. Now we need to get some more money in the bank. We are hoping that the city will at least pay for paint. The original color of the exterior was very dark, probably dark brown, as it has cedar shakes for siding. It originally was probably stain. You can’t stain over paint so we will have to find a dark paint.
At our last meeting I brought in some samples of “chicken scratch” embroidery. I wondered if it was common around these parts. It is a poor man’s substitute for lace. The pieces that I have seen done are beautiful. Ruth Rothenbuhler found two wonderful pieces to show. Maybe she can bring them to our next meeting. Irma Meyer also found some old “chicken scratch” patterns to share.
We have received a request for anything relating to the train service here in Luckey. Any old timetables, maps, tickets, PHOTOGRAPHS, or information would be greatly appreciated. Drew Predmore is researching the rail service here in Luckey with the hopes of posting the collected information on line. We have very few photographs with rail cars or engines in them. I recall the day the tracks failed and the engine parked downtown at the elevator tipped off the rails. I believe that was the last engine to ever visit Luckey. …..AND WHERE WAS MY CAMERA!!
If any of you drove past my house last fall you couldn’t miss the huge pumpkin sitting out front. The pumpkin was so large that two people were needed to lift it into my front seat. Once in the front seat it was large enough for me to fasten it in with the seat belt. I saved all of its seeds. As you are planning your gardens for next spring, try to find a spot for a couple of the pumpkin seeds. I will give a prize for the largest pumpkin and hopefully you all will donate all of the pumpkins back to LHS so we can sell them at the fall festival.
Some of us have been trying to reconstruct the south side of Main Street. We have few pictures. The other problem seems to be that they moved buildings. I would have like to be around at that time. I am shocked at the number of buildings that were moved. If you have any pictures of the south side of Main Street, please let me borrow them. They may be the key to unlock the mystery of South side of Main Street.
Keep looking for those old photographs of Luckey. We haven’t had any new ones in a while. I know there must be more out there somewhere.
Hopefully we will be having a “flea” sale at the fall festival again this year. Now is the time to begin collecting articles for us to sell.
Over and out
Sally
February meeting: Feb 18th 2010 at 6:30 in the Luckey library
February tea: Feb 25th 2010 at 1:30 in the Luckey library
Luckey’s beginning is tied to the development of the railroad. The town began when Samuel P. Hathaway built a store of the future site of Luckey before the grading of the Atlantic and Lake Erie Railroad. Grading for the railroad began in 1872. Hathaway’s store supplied workers and locals with much needed materials. Our depot was built by 1881. The Luckey Depot stood just south of Main Street on the west side of the tracks. The products of Luckey were shipped to market on the train. Staves made in the local mills, potash from Englehart’s Ashery, logs were loaded onto flat cars and shipped to market and the lime products of the area were shipped out on the train.
In the area south of the station were the stockyard pens. Farmers would buy cattle out west and have them shipped to the Luckey Stockyards. They would then drive the cattle through the streets of the town to their farms where they were fattened for market and then driven back to Luckey for shipment. Two local trains ran each day, one in the morning and one in the evening. The locals only ran two or three cars and were pulled by a small engine nick-named “The Dinky”. There were also express trains that ran on the line such as the 20th Century Limited. The railroad line eventually became the Ohio Central and later the Toledo and Ohio Central, the New York Central and finally the Penn Central. The Penn Central ceased operations through Luckey on April 1, 1976. Today most of the tracks have been removed but the line can still be seen in satellite images. The depot was offered to the town but was the offer was declined. The building was torn down in 1965 and used for lumber.
The photographs below are the only ones that I have seen showing the Ohio Central. Our town survival depended on this rail. I wish we had more photos showing loading and unloading, people at the depot, the cattle yard, the engines, the rail cars, etc. Keep your eyes and ears open, see if you can locate any more photos.
