Tag: Local Legends
Club Island’s quiet streets hide a wild past on Grand Lake. Before it was a subdivision, it was the site of secret prize fights, a Gilded Age oil bust, prohibition era stills and a private lodge.
The definitive history of the 1910 St. Marys elephant walk. Meet Granada and Fedora, the world-famous daredevils inside the 80-pound costume who walked a wire above Spring Street, and discover the incredible coast-to-coast tour that brought their legendary act to Ohio.
In 1927, an alligator gifted to St. Marys’ Memorial Park escaped into the St. Marys River, disappearing for over a month. The town was electrified when news broke that their fugitive reptile had been captured by a fisherman eighty miles away in Fort Wayne, Indiana. However, the celebration was short-lived. The story took an incredible turn when the captured alligator…
Mercer County, Ohio, is home to stories that weave together its early frontier history, a sensational tale of a medical school that likely never existed, and the haunting memory of a brutal crime that shocked the region in 1872. These narratives—distinct yet intertwined—have shaped the county’s folklore and historical identity. The Rise and Fall of […]
I. Genesis of a Legend: The Pie-Pilfering Proto-Hoedag (1926) Our saga begins not with a roar, but with a whisper—a whisper of missing pies. The setting: the hallowed (and apparently not entirely secure) clubhouse of the Hunters, Traders, and Trappers (H.T. & T.), a social organization in St. Marys, Ohio. While a modern account (The […]
Discover ‘Nelson,’ a 30-ft tall wooden Bigfoot sculpture at Mercer County Fairgrounds. Crafted by Bear Hollow Wood Carvers, he’s Celina’s whimsical new landmark
