Description: Five photographs document the Van Wert Peony Festival in the 1950s. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Van Wert became known as the "peony capital of the world" due to the large number of peony farms in the area. In 1902, the first Sunday in June was named "Peony Sunday," and later became the Peony Festival. Peonies are a type of shrub that in the spring produce large double blooms of red, white, or yellow flowers. The photographs measure 5" x 4" (12.7 x 10.16 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3299_5938361_001
Subjects: Plants and Animals; Agriculture; Flowers; Festivals; Parades & processions; Floats (Parades)
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio)
 

Description: Peony field in Van Wert, Van Wert County, Ohio, ca. 1940-1949. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00418
Subjects: Van Wert County (Ohio); Ohio Economy--Agriculture
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph of Liederkranz cheese at a factory in Van Wert, Ohio was taken in the 1960s. Liederkranz cheese was invented by Emil Frey of Monroe, New York in the 1882, while he was trying to make Limburger cheese. Frey was a member of a Liederkranz Club, a German singing society, and named the cheese after it. He started the Monroe Cheese Company, which moved to Van Wert, Ohio in 1926 and was sold to Borden Company in 1929. Borden sold the factory to Fisher Cheese Company in 1981, but it too stopped producing Liederkranz cheese after a contamination problem in 1985. Liederkranz cheese is made from cow's milk. It has a yellow crust that is edible and a soft white inside. The photograph is 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3172_3805965_001
Subjects: Business and Labor; Dairy products industry; Cheese; Factories
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio)
 

Description: Before the Ohio Penitentiary’s closing in 1979, the execution chamber within the facility housed and displayed photographs of many of the prisoners sentenced to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of Roy Smith is one of them. The caption at the bottom of the photograph reads, “Roy Smith, of Van Wert County, Electrocuted August 9, 1935, for the murder of Deputy Sheriff Forrest Good at Van Wert, Ohio.” Smith had been a farmer before his conviction. He shot and killed Deputy Good on April 18, 1935 while being questioned about a theft of grain that was recently committed by his brother. Smith was executed at the age of 29. From 1897 to 1963 there were a total of 315 people in the state of Ohio, both men and women, who were legally put to death on the electric chair, or “Old Sparky” as it was often referred. Before this time the main method of execution had been hanging. However, the electric chair was considered to be a more humane way to carry out death sentences. So in 1896 the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill mandating that electrocution was to replace hanging as the state’s sole method of execution. It was not until 2001 that lethal injection replaced electrocution as Ohio’s only method of execution. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08223
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's front entrance. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F07_485C
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's front facade. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F07_485B
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's side facade. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F07_485E
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's front facade and clock tower. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F07_485D
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's side facade. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F06_484
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's front facade. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F06_483
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's front and side facades. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F06_485A
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.
 

Description: The Van Wert County Courthouse dominates Van Wert's business district with its impressive facade composed of galvanized iron with pressed-zinc trimmings. Because the walls are made of pressed brick, the building is fireproof. Above the entrance is an 8 foot tall statue of Justice. It represents Second Empire style architecture. This image shows the building's front and side facades. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F06_485
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; stringcourses; quoins; cornices; balustrades; dormers; clock towers; mansard roofs; pavilions (building divisions); Second Empire
Places: Van Wert (Ohio); Van Wert County (Ohio); 101 E. Main St.