When Elmore native Loren Hall posed for a photo atop a locally-made bicycle in 1892, the youngster probably didn’t realize the Elmore Manufacturing Co. would reach a nationwide market with the “Elmore Roadster” that cost about $100.

Seven years later the company, headed by Harmon Becker and his sons, would cease bicycle production and focus on manufacturing what would be called the Elmore Car in a Clyde, O. plant. That vehicle would also be sold to a large market and be used by taxi companies in Washington, D.C.

The photo of Hall and another of a group of people in an Elmore Car are among the more than 200 vintage photos of life in the villages of Elmore and Genoa compiled in a new book, “Images of America Elmore and Genoa” by Jennifer Fording, local history librarian at the Harris-Elmore Public Library.

This photo of Elmore native, Loren Hall in 1892 is among the more than 200 vintage photos compiled in a new book, "Images of America Elmore and Genoa" by Jennifer Fording, local history librarian at the Harris-Elmore Public Library.

The book’s official release date for sale is Aug. 15 but an advance copy Fording has left on display at the library is generating many comments from library patrons.

“People are getting a real kick out of it,” she said. “They’ll recognize someone in the photos or a business that no longer exists.”

The idea for the book came from a visit by a director of the Port Clinton Library, who was amazed by the collection of photos and other resources in the local history room of the Elmore Library.

“She said we should do a book,” Fording said.

The project took about a year with Fording starting by distributing flyers, seeking input from residents of the two villages with private photo collections to augment the Elmore library’s collection and that of its branch site in Genoa.

As she gathered the materials, Fording could see a pattern forming in the images that capture life of two towns that both forged their beginnings from the Great Black Swamp.

“I didn’t realize it but there was a competitive but friendly relationship between the two,” she said. “Whether it was special events, or churches, or the schools they would try to outdo the other.”

The book includes seven chapters that depict life from the late 1800s to the 1950s.

The first, “Let’s Paint The Town Red,” includes images of the social lives of the towns’ residents. Photos of the Elmore Juvenile Band, taken around 1906 and the Genoa Concert Band, around 1910, hint at the competition Fording witnessed.

A photo of a community picnic at Ernsthausen Woods around 1900 shows young girls in a foot race, attired in long dresses buttoned up to their necks. The next page features a photo from 1954 of four teens lounging at a local beach, the two girls wearing one-piece bathing suits.

Photos of local businesses comprise chapter 2, The Customer Is Always Right.

The Wel-Com-In Restaurant, owned by Elmer Damschroder, was a popular spot in the 1920s and 30s and was patronized by Henry Ford when passing through town on business.

Chapter 3, All Aboard!, features photos of the rail and streetcar systems that passed through the towns and chapter 4, Elmorites and Genoans, includes many of the earliest families to settle in the area.

Chapter 5, School Days, includes photos of some of the early school buildings in the districts as well as graduating classes, faculty staffs, and sports teams from the early 1900s to the 1950s.

One photo shows a group of Elmore High School students, who formed the Cadets in 1893-94, and drilled with Civil War muskets loaned by the Elmore chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Photos in chapter 6 depict life in the communities through their churches and chapter 7 photos show tragic events, including natural disasters as well as events such as fires and major accidents.

Arcadia Publishing, South Carolina, is the publisher.

Fording is scheduled for book signings Sept. 3 and 10 in Elmore at the Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Festival and Grubs and Suds Festival and on Sept. 17 at the Genoa Street Fair.

Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the library, she said.

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed