Bucyrus Historical Society

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Bucyrus Historical Society

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Preserving and promoting the history of Bucyrus, Ohio and adjacent Townships

Museum (Scroggs House) [open Fridays 1PM to 4PM from April until December except on holidays]

10/29/2026

The Bucyrus Historical Society is proud to announce that our Scroggs House Museum has been selected to be an official site in the Ohio Leadership Trail program of America 250-Ohio. We are in the specific "Leadership Trail" classification because of our extensive collection of Lauretta Schimmoler memorabilia. As you should be aware, Ms. Schimmoler, who always considered Bucyrus as her “home,” was the individual whose leadership was behind the origins of the Aerial Fight Nurse program, the forerunner of todays Medivacs, etc. Coincidentally, she also started the Bucyrus airport!
We welcome everyone to our museum to see the large display which is set up to recognize Lauretta Schimmoler’s contribution to aviation in general and specifically the medical link to it for which she laid the foundation. This morning, some of this Society’s board members “sat in” on a video conference outlining the plans for the Ohio Leadership Trail program in the months (and we hope, years) ahead.
Do come and visit our museum, learn about the life and career of Lauretta Schimmoler, a true Ohio Leader, and of course stay tuned for future developments in this exciting program!

10/20/2026

It's not too early to mark this November 13th event on your calendar. It will be a good time to view our updated (and some new) exhibits if you've not been by since last year. Remember our refreshments are always alcohol free—for the real grog you'll need to go elsewhere!

10/15/2026

This morning a Bucyrus native officially became a part of Ohio history in a very permanent fashion when one of a series of four columnar monuments (with accompanying bronze statuary by nationally recognized sculptor Brenda Councill) honoring the women of Ohio “whose courage, leadership, service, and determination have helped shape our state,” bore a quote from the writings of journalist and political activist, Georgia Elizabeth Hopley (1858-1944). Those were the words released by Secretary Of State Frank LaRose’s office about the new monuments, which now grace the south plaza at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. The Bucyrus Historical Society was fortunate to have had an on the spot reporter for this event in the person of Alison Kovac, our previous curator.

Several state dignitaries were also present, and actively participated in the dedication. They included Secretary of State LaRose and Governor DeWine and his wife. The Society is privileged to be able to share the following photos of the freshly unveiled monuments which were taken by Mrs. Kovac today.

The inscription on one of the columns, which was originally written by Georgia Hopley as part of a pro-suffrage flyer titled “a Few Facts,” and published in 1915, reads as follows:
“But we are optimistic, we so thoroughly love our American young women. And we so thoroughly believe in them, with their bubbling energy and sweeping ambitions, that we rest in the hope that the new day has risen and will bring light.”

All Bucyrians, female and male, young and old, should be proud to have the words of “one of our own” now carved in stone and standing on the grounds of our state’s capitol building for all to see and read for years to come. And, by the way, the Bucyrus Historical Society does have various items in its archives pertaining to Georgia Hopley and other members of her family. Stop by our Scroggs House museum any Friday afternoon and take a look at what we have in our collection.

10/13/2026

If you want to hear the "definitive" story about John Prat Hopley and his Bucyrus "roots" and "connections" and don't mind a short drive over to Bowling Green in the afternoon of October 21st, here's your solution! Yes, that's Alison Kovac, the Society's previous curator, who is giving the presentation. We know that it will be worth your time and travel.

10/13/2026

Here are a couple of additional photos of “made in Bucyrus” T.&O.C. railroad cabooses and one also made in the T.&O.C. shops but for the Zanesville and Western R.R. A total of 95 cabooses were built here. These photos have been provided to the Society by the N.Y.C.R.R. Historical Society and we thank them for their willingness to make them available to us.

10/10/2026

Did you know that there once was a "Crawford" style auto tire made in Bucyrus by the Rufenacht Rubber Company, which was a precursor of the former Swan Rubber Company (which actually had its origin as the Swan River Tire & Rubber Co.)? Just think, Bucyrus might have become another Akron, as the tire capital of the USA! Instead we "settled" for being the rubber hose capital—at least for a long time. Anyone know where the name Swan River came from or when and why the name change?

10/08/2026

Based on a helpful article which appeared in the October 4, 1895 issue of the Bucyrus Evening Telegraph and its summary of information from an earlier article from the October 4, 1870 issue of the Bucyrus Daily Forum we have been able to annotate the earliest Sanborn map (1884) to show which businesses occupied what "rooms" on the ground level of the Quimby Block back in 1870. We don't even know when the Quimby Block was built (it had to be before June 1859) but we do know that it was demolished in 2001 to make way for the current FC Bank building.
How many of you have ever heard of any of those old establishments, most of which were gone by the time the 1895 article was written? Are any of you related to the folks who owned or worked in any of those "rooms?" Let us know, if you are! Any family photos to share from back then? If so, we'd sure like to see them.

10/07/2026

Question for everyone. Does anyone of our viewers happen to know anything about the "Exchange Bank" which was apparently in business in Bucyrus from April 21, 1856 until presumably some time prior to April 1863. It was located on the northeast corner of the square (by one report) or on N. Sandusky Ave or in "Ward's Block." (which may have been at the corner of N. Sandusk and Mary St.) This has been a new discovery for us and one which seems elusive as to its details.

10/06/2026

Notice the sign for the “Crawford County Farmers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Co.” posted at the corner of the Birk Brothers Pharmacy here!. This was the ground floor of the Bucyrus Opera House Block some time between 1902 and 1916 and is an enlargement cropped from an exceptionally good photo taken showing the entire Opera House building. The ironic feature of this sign and the business it represented, which at that time had its office on the second floor of the Opera House, was that the firm decided to move from the Opera House to a new location at 113 E. Mansfield St. in March of 1929.

The question arises, did their departure carry with it the “substantial” character of their early years as reported a the local newspaper, since just a little less than seven years later the entire Opera House building was a smoking ruin? Oh, one more thing, neither the owners of the Opera House building, nor any of the businesses which were in it, had their insurance (some had none at all) with that company. Sure saved the Farmers’ Mutual folks a lot of money! Today, The Crawford County Farmers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Company is a part of Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, still with us out on Hopley Ave. For them at least, things are indeed still “substantial!”

Quite the opposite for the Opera house Table Supply Store, located on the ground floor of the Opera House building which was felt to be "auspicious" by the local press in it's beginnings there in 1902. You can clearly see from the "after the fire was out" photo shown here just how "auspicious" things ended up for them.

Address

202 S Walnut Street (PO Box 493)
Bucyrus, OH
44820

Opening Hours

1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+14195626386

Website

http://www.bucyrushistoricalsociety.org/

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