Many factors played important roles in the history of Bellevue. The most important, however, were railroads which elevated the community into the national transportation spotlight. A look at the multi-million dollar improvement that dot Bellevue’s railroad complex could make one forget it was a primitive railroad which opened the local doors to the world nearly […]
(Continued from last week) Bellevue, unfortunately, was without the guiding direction of a civic organization such as a chamber of commerce. A chamber of commerce would pull the community together in one loud voice that could be heard. However, Bellevue did have a Retail Merchants Board that promoted the interest of the business community. In April […]
(Continued from Dec. 17) The first urging of the cut-off came in 1924 and surfaced again in 1927. Late in 1927, county commissioners were finally going to take action but for a newly passed law that the state was to take over Route 20 and other state highways under the new Ohio regulations. However, the state […]
The Christmas season of 51 years ago in 1940 brought the cheerful news the General Electric would locate their lamp plant in Bellevue. G.E. officials indicated to the Bellevue Boosters that 100 people would be employed at the plant. The 100 sorely needed jobs were certainly a welcome boost to Bellevue’s economy after nearly 10 years of […]
(Continued from last week) The bus-trolley collision on Jan. 22, 1929, in a blinding snowstorm, claimed the lives of 19 people. The crash took place on the railroad crossing at Baur Rd. and what was then called Monroeville Rd., now Route 20. The far reaching effect of the tragedy altered the course of Bellevue’s history. In an […]
It has been nearly three-quarters of a century since an electrically powered mass transit system linking Bellevue with Fremont, Norwalk, Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit was finally dismantled. A book, The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story, authored by Herbert H. Harwood and Robert S. Korach, details the life and death of the Lake Shore Railway. What […]
(Continued from last week) With the end of the war, the salt market collapsed. Supplies became excessive and prices fell, hurting all producers. Flagler was especially hard hit because his firm was so large. What was more, salt producers began to form alliances and consolidate as they struggled to remain solvent. Flagler went bankrupt in the […]
(Continued from last week) Above all, Flagler was a man of contradictions. He could be ruthless in business deals that built Standard Oil into an empire but loving to a favorite pet. He could go home without fail every evening for almost two decades to care for his sickly wife, and then make decisions that sacrificed […]