industrial – Noel B. Poirier

“Negligence Born of Familiarity”: Tragedy at the Penn Iron and Coal Company

The Penn Iron and Coal Company as depicted on a 1899 perspective map of Dover, Ohio. (Source: loc.gov)

I am often drawn to tragic stories because, in many cases, the individuals involved end up being lost to the historic record. This often happens because many tragedies occur when people are younger and have yet to establish themselves or create a family to carry on their names and stories. This is one such tragedy.Continue reading ““Negligence Born of Familiarity”: Tragedy at the Penn Iron and Coal Company”

One House’s Story: The Seibold Family

The Seibold House on South Broadway in New Philadelphia, Ohio, 2018. (Source: google.com)

This house was constructed by one of the county’s most significant business families of the late 1800s and early 1900s. While the family’s patriarch is perhaps best known, this house was the residence of one of his sons for nearly fifty years. A note about addresses: House numbers and street names often change over time.Continue reading “One House’s Story: The Seibold Family”

One House’s Story: Flaccus Brothers

The Flaccus Brothers house on Front Street SW in New Philadelphia, Ohio, 2018. (Source: google.com)

I’ve driven past this New Philadelphia building many times and, given its proximity to the railroad tracks, had always assumed it was somehow connected to a railroad. I now know that it was associated with an entirely different type of business that sat on that property for many years at the beginning of the 20thContinue reading “One House’s Story: Flaccus Brothers”

Decapitated and Burned: Explosion at the Stone House Mine

Two miners digging coal in a coal mine in North Dakota, c. 1925. (Source: dp.la)

Recently I posted an image of a Bureau of Mines Mine Rescue Car that visited the mining town of Roswell in 1923. That image, and a comment from someone who saw it, led me to examine a tragic incident from 1927 that occurred at a local Tuscarawas County coal mine outside of Mineral City. TwoContinue reading “Decapitated and Burned: Explosion at the Stone House Mine”

Mine Rescue Car Visits Roswell

Detail from a larger image of the men who attended the Mine Rescue Car during its visit to Roswell, Tuscarawas County, January 1923.

My neighbor gave me a panoramic image taken in December 1923 titled “Department of Interior, Bureau of Mines, Car #5, at Roswell, Ohio, December 1923” that shows the miners of that community and even lists some of their names. Recognize anyone? During the first few decades of the 20th century nearly a million people workedContinue reading “Mine Rescue Car Visits Roswell”

New Philadelphia Carriage Maker Charles Houpt

Haupt Property Google Earth from Street Level NE feature

There was once a busy carriage making shop founded by a Pennsylvania-born blacksmith on what is today 2nd Street SW that manufactured and repaired carriages, buggies and wagons for over twenty-years. Today the site is occupied by a nondescript office building. Charles Houpt (1833-1921) was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1833 to farmer Philip HouptContinue reading “New Philadelphia Carriage Maker Charles Houpt”

The New Philadelphia Agricultural Works of English & Dixon

While the buildings that once housed the New Philadelphia Agricultural Works of English & Dixon no longer stand, the ongoing development of the site that once hosted it gives the opportunity to examine one of the city’s earliest industrial efforts. The location on South Broadway that once housed the Howden-Buffalo manufacturing plant has, for overContinue reading “The New Philadelphia Agricultural Works of English & Dixon”