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History
of Ohio Hills Folk Festival
The
year 1998 marked the 94th year of the Ohio Hills Folk Festival, making
this festival one of the oldest and longest running festivals in the
state of Ohio.
The Ohio Hills Folk Festival, considered one of the finest such events
in Ohio, had as its original a fair organized in 1871 at Quaker City. As
with other fairs of the day, prizes were awarded in a number of
categories, as these prizes were inducements to share with others some
of the best farm methods and products in the area. The early fair at
Quaker City offered prizes for the best grain cradle, best oxcart, best
horseshoe, best team of oxen, best wine, best melodeon, best boots and
best cheese.
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That
early forerunner of the Folk Festival vanished after several years when
the fairgrounds fell victim to an expanding community, but was
resurrected in 1904 under the name "Fall Entertainment". Later
known as "Homecoming", the three-day event featured coon
hunting, baseball, professional aerial acts, and a parade that offered
as prizes, a pair of pants for Best Comic; a box of candy for Best
Patriotic; and $2 for the automobile from the most distant state.
The
modern day Ohio Hills Folk Festival, winner of the 1969 "Festival
of the Year" award, features barbecue chicken, soap making, steam
engines, old farm implements, the 1821 Quaker Meeting House, and other
exhibits that recapture the heritage of this Quaker community.
The
Ohio Hills Folk Festival is held in Quaker City, Ohio, on the week of
the second Saturday of July. |
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Probably the most publicized Folk Festival photograph of all time is
shown above.
Among
other uses, it was published in the July 1965 issue of Wonderful World
of Ohio magazine and as the frontispiece of a booklet, Festival Foods,
published in 1968 by the Travel and Tourist Division of the Department
of Development, State of Ohio. The photo was taken by a staff
photographer with the Development Department in 1960, and used in Ohio
festivals' brochures. The
elderly-appearing Quaker is showing an antique Quaker doll to a
youngster now grown to adulthood. In
the authentic old costume is Blanche B. Hall, descendant of the pioneer
Quaker family which settled the local area. She died in 1970, and was,
for 39 years, an employee of the Quaker City National Bank, and a Folk
Festival booster as long as her health permitted. A
painting from the photograph, made by a lifetime friend, hangs in the
directors' room at the bank.
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A
portion of the Friday night Folk Festival parade crowd at 1970 Festival
is shown in the photo, taken at the corner of Pike and Broadway Streets.
The Friday night attendance is always the largest. |
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One
of Quaker City's most impressive landmarks was the old Cochran building
which occupied the site of the present telephone building. It has been
but a memory since it was razed in 1967 to make way for the new
construction. The tree story brick and stone building contained three
store rooms with two floors and was constructed in Quaker City's boom
days by Alex Cochran. In its time, the building housed a variety of
business ventures, but by the late 1920's, it had outlived its
usefulness. The
old red brick post office is at the far left in the photo. The post
office building was last occupied in 1961, after almost 65 years under
several post masters, as headquarters for the United States Mail. |
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Old No. 10, the town jail, for many, many years was located on
village-owned land between the alley and Leather wood Creek just north
and east of the old iron bridge. It had few customers except transients
and friends of John Barleycorn - tramps and drunks. Village council had
the old relic moved to the pot house (glass factory) grounds near the
water filtration plant when the concrete bridge was constructed. No one
knows why it was designated No. 10.
Remember the huge sycamore that
stood nearby? |
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The
Cline livery stable was long a landmark in Quaker City and the last of
the livery stables to yield to time and progress. The building partially
seen on the right is the present Hasting's barber shop. Notice also the
old gas light.
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