Here's a photo from Bluffton's tragic past. The identity of the barn is in question, but to the best of our ability we've identified this as the Ami Pifer barn. The photo was taken following the April 1965 tornado.
Thanks to details from Charles Hilty, Richard Jordan, Sam Diller we've pieced this story together (the photo had no ID except the word "Pifer" written on the backside).
If you need Marathon fuel oil to heat your house, call Dick Cookson at 358-2871 (never mind the 419). His "metered service" was located along State Route 103 across from the National Quarry and between the railroad tracks and Riley Creek. He sold Marathon products.
This photo was taken from an advertisement in the 1973 Bluffton High School yearbook. Ken and Lee Cookson, Dick's sons, say the man in the photo is Merlin Zimmerly.
The year is 1963 - according to the license plate on the turned-over truck. The scene is the construction of one of the Interstate 75 overpasses around Bluffton. We don't have the specific information about this accident, but the photo reveals the following:
1 - Bluffton fire department responded. Truck number 2, a late 1930s-era Mack, is parked in the southbound lane. Is that Charles Swank of the fire department, talking the the man in the sunglasses?
We were fooled about the location of the previous overpass photo. But, not this time. This is the Bentley Road overpass under construction south of Bluffton. There are several things to point out.
First, the southbound lane of I 75 appears to be still under construction. The orignal Route 25 bypass of Bluffton eventually became Interstate 75. The original bypass was two lanes - the northbound lane of I-75.
Thanks to our two viewer comments, we've re-thought this photo. We believe it is the Interstate 75 overpass over the abandoned AC&Y Railroad, east of Bluffton.
The northbound bridge is completed and, actually traffic is one-way on that bridge, while the southbound bridge is still under completion in this photo.
HERE'S WHAT WE ORIGINALLY THOUGHT, AND THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NOT CORRECT:
This week celebrates the 140th anniversary of St. John's United Church of Christ. Here is a photo of the congregation's centennial committee, taken in 1973.
Front, from left, Meredith Stepleton, Rhoda Matter, correspondence; Silas Diller, general chairman; La Donna Derringer, secretary; Sidney C. Stettler, history chairman and booklet chairman; Leota Badertscher, church publications.
