Metamora High School - Meteor Yearbook (Metamora, OH)

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THE METEOR HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF METAMORA “The Biggest Little Town In Ohio” By Myrtle Crockett The first white man to settle within the present boundaries of Metamora was Frank O’Neill who built a log cabin here in 1833. Other settlers followed and it is interesting to note that they thought they were “taking up” land in Michigan. Taxes were paid at Adrian until the bloodless “Toledo War” made the disputed region a part of Ohio, with the provision that “The people residing upon it should be left to their own judgement, obeying the one jurisdiction or the other, as they may perfer, until the next session of Congress.” Settlers had their choice of Lenawee county with Adrian the county seat, Henry county with Maumee for the county seat, or Lucas county with Toledo for the county seat. With the admission of Michigan into the Union, Amboy townshp became a part of Lucas county and remained so until the organization of Fulton county in 1850. Settlement continued gradually until 1845, when Hezekiah Culver built a grist-and-saw-mill on his land. Associated with him were Delbert Compton, Edmund S. Guernsey, Russell Packard and William Marshall. Formerly grain had to be taken to Tecumseh for grinding and so the grist mill made Metamora quite a trading center. There were five families living in Metamora at the time of its platting. It is not known how it came to be so named but it lacked but a few votes of being called Stumptown. Edmund S. Guernsey built the first store, a log building 14x20 feet on the site of the Home Savings Bank building. Soon Milo Culver, son of Hezekiah, built a larger two story structure, 20x40 feet in size, constructed of 1x6 inch planks laid one upon the other, making a six inch wall. In 1852 a plank road was built from Toledo to the state line near Morenci. This was so superior to the corduroy roads to the south that traffic westward passed through Metamora and gave it quite a boom. Two three-story frame hotels were erected and as one old settler puts it “the rooms were full most of the time and so were the roomers.” A plank bridge 200 feet long was built across Ten Mile creek, and being the only bridge in this section of the country, was referred to as “The Bridge.” This road was a toll road and the old toll gate building now stands back of theToledo Western depot. This and the house owned by Augustus Ries west of the creek are the only two original buildings left in Metamora. The first frame school building of Fulton county now stands by the roadside, one-half mile east of Metamora. Metamora’s boom was of short duration; for with the building of the Lake Shore Railroad, commerce went to the south, and Swanton, Wauseon and Archbold sprang up. Delta is about as old as Metamora. Metamora has suffered four disasterous fires. The first on November 29, 1894, Thanksgiving Eve, destroyed the entire mercantile section, the M. E. church, and one bam,thirteen buildings in all. They were all frame structures, most of them three stories high, and the light made by them was so bright that it was seen by the Adrian Fire Department, who, thinking the fire but a short way south of Adrian, followed it and came to Metamora’s assistance. Metamora has had a Chautauqua annually since 1912. It was at the first Chautauqua that it received its slogan, “The Biggest Little Town in the State of Ohio.” It has its own telephone exchange, a municipal waterworks system, electric lights from the Toledo Edison Company and its own newspaper, a weekly publication. The Metamora Record ’ first published by E. A. Brooks in 1900, is now owned and pub- lished by Clyde H. McComb. i r, Metam°ra was incorporated June 1, 1893 with James H. Garnsey as mayor and Dr. George F. Fiasch clerk. Its present population is 560 but the business section would indicate a much greater population. Tllere 's an excellent school system with 327 pupils enrolled. The present building, a $30.000 brick structure, was built in 1910 with only one half of the rooms in use. The addition of rural districts to the Metamora district has so increased the enrollment that the present building is inadequate. We have a first grade high school. Mr. Jesse Kinner has served five years as superintendent and Mr. E. A. Gordon three years as principal. Page six METAMORA is the first recorded, platted village of Fulton county. Hezekiah Culver, owner of the land, platted it and placed it on record at Ottekee, the -»iw- county seat of Fulton county, in 1851, one year after the organization CaeJJ of the county.

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METAMORA HIGH SCHOOL TO OUR COMMUNITY O the men and women of Metamora and the community we want to express our sincere thanks for the co-operation given to the work and the play of our school. Many have been our calls for help but you never failed us. .As a matter of fact, many of the things you did came out of the generosity of your hearts without our asking. We should like to ask the readers of the “Meteor,” who might be inclined to forget the welfare of our community and do their dealings elsewhere, whether the co-operation shown below does not deserve some co-operation in return? Has it been some outside city that did these things for us? Least we forget, fellow students and fellow citizens, let us think on these things: 1. That the maintenance and operation of this school depends upon the business done in THIS community. 2. That the school games, contests, and plays were attended by the people of THIS community. 3. That the LOCAL business men are the ones that placed the advertising and thus made possible this “Meteor.” 4. That OUR people give their time and advice to help the Juniors and Seniors plan their life work, and prepare for it. So here’s hats off to OUR Community—lets boost for it! BOOST!

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METAMORA HIGH SCHOOL RESIDENT Coolidge said,“The contribution teachers make to the welfare of humanity is beyond estimation. We realize how true this is when we are leaving Metamora High School forever. Our teachers are our friends, they are understanding and sympa- thetic. We confide in them, or go to them with our troubles. At times they may have been quite provoked at us, and one really can not blame them—but in years to come when we are great somebodies, they will feel quite happy to think that they have helped us in our climb. In the heart of every Metamora student, and especially in the hearts of the Seniors, lies gratitude and appreciation for the influence and knowledge our instructors have given us. We can never fully repay their efforts, but we can, to the best of our ability, become the men and women that they would have us be. Page seven