December 29, 1999
Marker to note Tiffin's history
By Erik Burriss
Staff Writer
Tiffin is to receive its first historical marker next summer as part of statewide preparations for Ohio's bicentennial in 2003. The marker is to be placed in a park planned between the Sandusky River and Frost Parkway.
Although the text on the marker has yet to be determined, according to application filled out by Rosalie Adams, president of the Seneca County Historical Society, the sign will commemorate Seneca County's first permanent structure, Seneca County's first white settler and the statue of the American Indian maiden which stands next to Frost Parkway.
The county's first permanent structure was a fort built for the War of 1812 and known officially as Camp Ball.
"It was named Camp Ball by the army," Adams said. While doing research for the application for the marker, she discovered that forts built in that era were referred to as camps.
The first white settler in Seneca County was Erastus Bowe, who moved to the area in 1817. With some hired help, Bowe constructed a log cabin and tavern on the site of Camp Ball, making him the first business owner in the county, as well as the first settler.
The statue of the American Indian maiden, presented to the city in 1926, commemorates a spring used by Native Americans and pioneers.
The only other historical marker in the county is in Fort Seneca, even though the marker is for Camp Seneca in what is now Old Fort.
The Seneca County Museum Foundation is to pay one-third of the marker's $1,500 price tag. The remainder would be split between the Ohio Bicentennial Commission and a grant program sponsored by basketmaker Longaberger Co.
Brian Newbacher, communications manager for the bicentennial commission, said a six-member panel selects which proposed historical markers will receive a grant. The panel is made up of members of the commission with an interest in history and include several professors.
"Historically significant people, places, buildings or events" are eligible for consideration, Newbacher said. Financial need is also taken into account.
Adams said she is working on applications for two other markers for historical sites in Tiffin.