By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the February 18, 2026, edition of the Brookville American. Don’t discount the archives of your local library. You never know what fabulous research materials are tucked away in storage and maybe not yet cataloged – books, ephemera, manuscripts, three-dimensional objects. Local…
Franklin County’s Yesteryears
Read your favorite Forgotten Franklin County articles from the Brookville American online and in color!
Do You Remember the La Claire Guest House?
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the March 2, 2022 edition of the Brookville American, and is featured in Volume 3 of Forgotten Franklin County. It’s been 57 years since the large 2-story brick structure graced the Main Street of Oldenburg, lot 18, to be exact, just east…
Billman’s Aquacycle
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the January 2026 edition of the Brookville American. The Aquacycle first caught my attention about ten years ago. I was looking for an obituary but got distracted by a front page story along with an intriguing image in the June 24,…
Here One Day, Gone the Next
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the April 6, 2022, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 3 of Forgotten Franklin County. The little building at 309 Main Street always intrigued me. I knew it was old because of the brick style and the brick lintels above…
Mound Haven
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the November 20, 2019, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 1 of Forgotten Franklin County. U.S. Highway 52 is the main thoroughfare in and out of Franklin County, unless, of course, it’s closed for what continues to seem like endless,…
In Search Of…
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the February 5, 2020, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 1 of Forgotten Franklin County. Do you remember the television show? It was on once a week from 1977 to 1982. Leonard Nimoy was the host. The program investigated controversial…
Southgate
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the January 5, 2022, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 3 of Forgotten Franklin County. Southgate, interchangeably referred to as South Gate, is in Highland Township, and many of you probably pass through it on a regular basis and don’t…
A Story Too Good Not to Share
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the March 30, 2022, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 3 of Forgotten Franklin County. When people remodel their homes they find all kinds of interesting and unusual things – old newspapers in the walls (which were typically used for…
Birchill
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the January 20, 2021, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 2 of Forgotten Franklin County. ….one of Franklin County’s showplaces and one of the most beautifully landscaped little gems in the town of Brookville. But that was more than…
“No Finer Home on Wheels”
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the January 13, 2021, edition of the Brookville American, and in Volume 2 of Forgotten Franklin County. ….was just one of the advertising slogans for the luxury trailer coaches made right here in Brookville. Our county was once known for its…