Community

History, festivals, churches, clubs, the library and everyday life in Bellevue and nearby towns.

A Flat Rock sailor in Tokyo Bay, 1945: Willis Lodge and the USS Monterey

A letter home from a Seneca County sailor aboard the light carrier USS Monterey described the end of the war in the Pacific.

By Tom Brandt · Sep. 2, 2026

The spring-fed pool northeast of Bellevue was a popular tourist stop from 1914 to 1990. It is now part of a state fish hatchery.

By Greg Whitlock · Jun. 20, 2026

Ohio's first railroad reached Bellevue in 1839. Interurban cars, grain merchants and a giant freight yard followed.

By Diane Kessler · Apr. 27, 2026

Sherwood Anderson grew up in Clyde, eight miles from Bellevue, and drew on it for his 1919 book of linked stories about small-town life.

By Rachel Yoder · Dec. 17, 2025

Each December, volunteers decorate the 1880s brick mansion at Lyme Village east of Bellevue in the style of a Victorian Christmas.

By Rachel Yoder · Dec. 6, 2025

A history column follows Ohio's 37th Infantry Division into New Georgia in July 1943 and two soldiers whose actions stood out.

By Tom Brandt · May. 20, 2016

Seven pizza shops donated food for the scholarship fundraiser before the high school's Winter Band Concert.

By Tom Brandt · Feb. 26, 2016

A disability rights group's push to move residents into small community settings worried families of the 34 young people living at Flat Rock.

By Diane Kessler · Feb. 24, 2015

Restaurants, clubs and a 'Battle of the Banks' were set to compete Feb. 5 at the Green Emerald.

By Tom Brandt · Feb. 3, 2015

Jodie Fleming offered free henna designs while Jim Andrews showed his shipwreck prints and paintings.

By Tom Brandt · Oct. 2, 2014