By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD Nice surprises happen on a regular basis at the History Department of the Franklin County Public Library District. In August of 2019, I had a phone call from a man in Florida. He straightaway asked, “What do you know about W.S. Baker?” It was like the final question in a game show that I could bet my entire winnings on,…

By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD Did you ever see this plaque on the front of Knecht’s Interiors at 766 Main Street and wonder what it was all about? A land office was a location established by the United States Government from which to sell territorial and treaty lands opened to the public. And one was established in Franklin County only nine years after it became…

By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD In the Forgotten Franklin County column of last year at this time, we mentioned briefly the site of the current fairground and a little of its history. If you remember, it was originally part of the old county Poor Farm, and across the street from it, and near the river, is the Stringer pioneer cemetery, which was turned into the…

By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD ….’nuff said – that title is enough to pique almost any reader’s interest. Locals’ fascination with the prehistory and archaeological findings of the Whitewater Valley goes back well over a century and a half. Here, the 1880s seem to be a heyday of discovery, investigation, and excavation, as well as the formation of clubs such as the Brookville Society of…

By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD …not really, but that’s what it appears when holding an old stereocard in hand. A stereocard features two photographs or printed images positioned side by side, one for the left eye and one for the right. The images are just ever so slightly different, and when a person uses the magical stereoscope, these two flat images are combined by our…

By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD That was the term used in numerous letters to the editor – primarily ones sent to Cincinnati and Indianapolis newspapers. Locally known as the monastery, it was actually a friary because it had once served as a school for Franciscan Friars. It was located in Ray Township in the town of Oldenburg. Notice I said, “was.” It’s gone. Claimed by…

By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD No, not gasoline, but good old A&W Root Beer. If you wanted to take home a gallon from the Elm Drive-In, that’s all it cost. Have you ever driven by something unusual – an abandoned building, a dilapidated old sign, or just a strange cultural oddity – and wondered what its original purpose was? There’s a little building just north…

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 history departments and their archives hold unique and wonderful things – much more than just…