Crawford County Messenger and CCHS News

Crawford County has rarely stifled its opinions regarding national politics. The tone was set by residents in 1807 who burned an effigy of Federalist, Aaron Burr outside the courthouse. And this was hardly the county’s...

A Passion for a New Art Much of the world’s first oil boom was captured in the photography of one John A. Mather, an English immigrant whose love for his art allowed such a vivid...

The colors of the 150th, on display at the state capitol The year is 1862. The War of the Southern Rebellion has flooded field after field with blood and the dead. Though volunteers had already...

Gate House at the Pymatuning Reservior – 1930’s While in recent times the imposition of man’s power over nature has come under much needed scrutiny, there are situations where the total destruction of one area...

GW Depot with McHenry House to the left in 1869 As with most establishments in the hospitality industry, success could not have been attained without competent management. The same holds true for the McHenry House,...

A crowd gathered to greet one of the inaugural A & GW trains. Note the Depot in the background. As time progresses forward it becomes increasingly difficult to imagine the grand structures that once dominated...

Mary Jane Tryon Somewhere in the 1840’s, Mary Jane Tryon made a quilt. As she sat piecing together the small, intricate blocks, she could never have imagined the impact her quilt would have 168 years...

“Hold up there, Santa. How should we greet you?” Not so long ago I was admonished for wishing somebody a “Happy Holiday” instead of a “Happy Thanksgiving.” “I don’t celebrate ‘holidays,’” the person told me....

On December 7, 2015, the Crawford County Historical Society took ownership of the James and Elizabeth Tarr Mansion, thus saving it from planned demolition. In that moment, thanks largely to the support of the community,...

From a 1907 postcard, Conneaut Lake’s main thoroughfare (Water Street) facing west. With summer now if full swing, many area residents and vacationers have already made their way to Conneaut Lake to enjoy the many...

As colorful balloons fill the skies over Crawford County for the annual Thurston Classic, it’s always a worthwhile venture to dig into the histories of father and son, Samuel and Alic (sometimes Alex) Thurston, the...

James Densmore As you string out words into strings of sentences across the screen of your computer, tablet, or mobile phone, know that the keyboard layout we have all become so familiar was conceived in...