Seneca County Historical Society

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Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the buildings on the west side of N. Washington Street near Six’s...
06/24/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the buildings on the west side of N. Washington Street near Six’s Corners in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo comes from the late 1960’s and we’re seeing the Commercial National Bank branch office at Six’s Corners that opened in November, 1960. At the time when the top photo was taken, there was a Gulf gas station to the north (right) of this bank building, and McGowan’s Tavern was on the left.

There have been a lot of changes in over the last 55-plus years as seen in the bottom current photo. Both the bank and Gulf Station buildings were demolished years ago and a new gas station was built in their place. Just recently, the gas station built a large addition for selling beer and wine. The former McGowan’s Tavern is still there, hidden by the new gas station addition, and it’s now occupied by the Hoptometry Brewing Company.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the SW corner of S. Sandusky and W. Perry Streets in Tiffin, Ohio...
06/23/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the SW corner of S. Sandusky and W. Perry Streets in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo comes from the 1980’s when this was a Bonded gas station. The bottom photo is how this view looks today as this has been converted into a Subway.

Summer Time – June 21st was the first day of summer for 2026, so to celebrate we’re featuring a photo of the old Hedges ...
06/22/2026

Summer Time – June 21st was the first day of summer for 2026, so to celebrate we’re featuring a photo of the old Hedges Boyer Pool in Tiffin, Ohio. This photo was created (with the help of an AI program) to combine and colorize two separate photos that were taken of each half of the pool. It gives us a panoramic view taken from the sunbathing deck and looking down onto the pool. Here, we can see the diving boards at the deep end and the floating barrier separating that area with the shallow end. This looks like a picture perfect summer day and the place is just packed with swimmers. The good news is that summer is here. But we also need to remember that June 21st is the longest daylight day of the year and from there on, every day that goes by will get shorter until the first day of winter on December 21st. So enjoy summer and the daylight while we can!

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking east down Court Street from S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. Th...
06/21/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking east down Court Street from S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo was taken in the late 1960’s when the building on the corner was the Commercial National Bank and to the left was the Laselle’s store. Today, these buildings are now Seneca County offices. The bottom view is how it looks today with new vintage street lights, an arch, and with an updated streetscape design. We can also see that the exterior of the old bank building was modernized.

Memories from Saylor’s Meat Market – Over the last two posts, we featured some history of the meat markets at 264 S. Was...
06/20/2026

Memories from Saylor’s Meat Market – Over the last two posts, we featured some history of the meat markets at 264 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio, with the Saylor family being the major contributor to this business. Even though the Saylor Meat Market closed in the early 1940’s, we can still find reminders of their existence with us today. In the top two photos today we’re featuring large lard cans with the one on the left from “Saylor and Mayer” (1926 - 1927) and on the right was a “Saylor & W**k” can (1915 to 1925). We’ll often find these cans at local farm auctions because they were great for storage containers after the lard was gone.

The other incredible piece of history found in the basement of the 1920 addition were two concrete block columns that were used to support some heavy equipment on the floor above them. On both columns there were some white rectangular blocks where workers and contractors stopped by and left their signatures and names over the last almost 100 years. These notes and signatures were written in pencil and many have sadly faded away. We had first seen these signatures almost 20 years ago when they were easier to read, and at that time we were thrilled to find the name of a family member – “Marce Huss”. We’re sure that many people from Tiffin remember Marcellus “Butch” Huss who managed the Bazely Meat Market for many years. In the middle image, we marked with a yellow arrow where his signature still barely exists, however we can’t make out the year it was written. It looks like “Butch” Huss’ time at the Saylor’s Meat Market might’ve helped to prepare him for his long career at Bazley’s in Tiffin.

There are other names and notes written on these white blocks including: Russell Nye in 1927, 1928 and 1932, Bill Zimmerman in 1931, maybe Warren? Saylor in 1923, Elchert’s Sewer? in 1992, “moved equipment in 1944”, plus several other names that we can’t decipher. Seeing the remnants of the slaughterhouse equipment in the basement, and by standing on the spot where workers signed their names, helps to paint a picture in our minds of how things used to be, and the conditions that they worked in – almost 100 years ago.

Saylor’s Meat Market History – Yesterday we featured a view inside of the former Saylor’s Meat Market at 264 S. Washingt...
06/19/2026

Saylor’s Meat Market History – Yesterday we featured a view inside of the former Saylor’s Meat Market at 264 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The vintage 1927 photo featured the store sales counter with the large cooler behind the counter. Over its early life and many years of this building, this location contained one meat market after another. The original building along S. Washington Street was half the size that it is now, but that all changed in 1920 when it doubled in size reaching back to the alley. That happened during a time when the business was known as the “Saylor & W**k Meat Market” which was in existence from around 1915 to 1925. Today’s photo shows the new 1920 addition in the rear, and we’ve included a close-up view of the incised stone that’s near the roofline with the words: “SAYLOR – W**K – 1920”. With this new addition, the meat market officially became a large slaughter house where the cattle were processed for the meat market.

We stopped by the old Saylor’s Meat Market today and were given a great tour from Paul Bonnell who owns the building, which is now his business known as the “Tiffin Industrial Supply” store. This facility had everything needed to be an efficient, self-contained slaughterhouse/meat market. The following photos include views of: Photo A – the stairway to the basement from the alley where the cattle were taken, Photo B – the holding pens where the cattle were kept waiting to be processed. There’s a shallow ditch in the floor to carry away the blood, Photo C – the pen where the hides were stacked and the flesh side was covered with salt to allow it to cure, and Photo D – where (on the left) you can see two tall metal doors which were the entrance to the smoker, and on the right along the ceiling are rods hanging that held a trolley used to transport the beef sections to the cooler through the tall door on the right. In many ways, this was like walking through a museum where much of the equipment from the original business still exists from 100 years ago. While going on this tour, we found it incredible that this type of work happened downtown surrounded by other businesses and homes and was a part of everyday life long ago.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views at the interior of the business at 264 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio....
06/18/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views at the interior of the business at 264 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top vintage photo comes from a 1927 newspaper publication and the caption says that this was the “Saylor’s Meat Market”. Also mentioned was that “the state inspector of markets and slaughter houses on his visit to Tiffin reported this to be the most sanitary market he had inspected. This establishment operated its own slaughter house which is kept as spotlessly clean as this immaculate market. W. Saylor, the proprietor, is standing on the left in this picture.”

We checked the Tiffin City directories for some history of this place and learned that after the glowing review by the state inspector, that they changed the store’s name to the “Saylor SANITARY Meat” market. We also learned that there was a Saylor family member managing a meat market at this address from 1901 through the early 1940’s. In fact, there’s been a continuous line of several different meat markets here at this address as far back as the “Balmer & Lecrone Meat Market” in an 1881 city directory

One thing that’s a sign of a “sanitary “ meat market is all of the white tile on the walls and floors which can be easily cleaned, and we can see that in the top vintage photo. The bottom photo is how this view looks today, and all of that wonderful white tile is still there. Today, this is the location of the “Tiffin Industrial Supply” store, which is on the north side of the Clover Club.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views from the inside of 92 Madison Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top vintage phot...
06/17/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views from the inside of 92 Madison Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top vintage photo was shared with us from Brenton Hippler and we’re seeing the inside of “Hip’s Nite Club”. The photo that Brenton provided was somewhat blurry, but with the help of an AI program it helped to sharpen it up and make it legible. According to Brenton,” the older gentleman and lady are my great grandparents Ray Vinson Hippler and Thelma Feasel. The younger couple is my grandparents Ray Victor Hippler and Audrey Hoffman.” We can see that the wall behind the bar is decorated with one dollar bills, and that one dollar bill in 1964 would be worth almost $11 today. According to Tiffin City directories, the Hip Nite Club was in business from around 1963 to 1965. The bottom photo is how this view looks today and this is now the Madison Street Tavern. The back bar is different, but the tin molding along the ceiling is the same in both photos. Thanks again to Brenton Hippler for sharing this with us.

Then and Now – A week ago we received some great photos from Brenton Hippler and they were views of the establishment a...
06/16/2026

Then and Now – A week ago we received some great photos from Brenton Hippler and they were views of the establishment at 92 Madison Street in Tiffin, Ohio. In today’s photos, we’re comparing views of the outside of this location and the top vintage photo shows “Hip’s Nite Club”. The photo that Brenton provided was somewhat blurry, but with the help of an AI program it helped to sharpen it up and make it legible.

In an effort to learn more about this location, we checked the Tiffin City directories, and found that in 1956, this was called “Al’s Lunch” and it remained that name until the 1963 directory when it became “Hip’s Nite Club”. Raymond Hippler was listed as working at “Al’s Lunch” during that time, while Ray Victor Hippler also worked there off and on. When it became “Hip’s Nite Club” in 1963, Raymond Hippler was manager and Audrey Hippler was a waitress. In 1964 and 1965, Raymond was listed as the manager, Audrey was a waitress, and Victor was a bartender. In 1966, this location became Michael’s Café and Victor Hippler was a bartender there. Raymond Hippler went to work at the American Standard as a fireman.

The business to the right of Al’s Lunch/Hip’s Nite Club was Johnny’s Hamburger Shop at 90 Madison Street for this whole time. The bottom photo is how this view looks today and all three of these storefronts are now the home of the Madison Street Tavern. Thanks again to Brenton Hippler for sharing this with us.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the Lake Mohawk area just south of Tiffin, Ohio on SR 231. The t...
06/15/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the Lake Mohawk area just south of Tiffin, Ohio on SR 231. The top photo is from a 1920’s postcard labeled “Club House at Mohawk Lake, Tiffin, Ohio”. On the left we can see the lake and dam and on the right there’s a dirt or gravel drive up to a building on the right. What’s so rare and special about this postcard is that we can see the postcard’s photographer’s automobile parked along the road in the lower left of the postcard. This postcard was published by Harry H. Hamm of Toledo, Ohio and you can see his name printed on the back of the vehicle. The bottom photo is how this view looks today, around 100 years ago.

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