All Bluffton Icon News

Boys cross country team finishes 10th 

By Cort Reynolds

Led by two top-four standout runners, the Bluffton boys squad finished a solid 10th at the 20-team Div. III state cross country meet late Saturday morning, November 5, at Fortress Obetz. 

Pirate senior Landon Armstrong crossed the finish line third out of 185 runners in 15:55.3 to pace the red and white in his last race.

Bluffton senior teammate Erik Nygaard finished right behind him in fourth at 15:59.2.

The speedy Pirate duo finished higher than any other tandem in the meet.

Brylan Holland of East Canton won the boys state crown with a time of 15:41.7, followed by Rittman's Luke Snyder in second at 15:50.8.

Two earlier structures burned; safe blowers ignited a 1901 fire

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

A piece of Bluffton history disappeared this week with the demolition of the former Bluffton Farmers’ Grain mill.

The mill was among one of the longest continually operated businesses here. Joseph Deford, Shannon founder, operated a lime kiln and a grist mill in the 1830s. At the same time the Siddall family started a saw mill.

Both those businesses were operated thanks to the flowing water power of Riley Creek.

Here’s a history of the Bluffton Farmers Grain mill, roughly connected to that 1830s Deford enterprise. This history’s focus covers the business from 1886 until a 1934 fire.

Grist mill
The Bluffton grist mill, one of the successors of Deford’s grist mill, was purchased by Siddall and Son, and later purchased by the Steiner Brothers in 1870.