Delphos, Ohio Negative Collection photographs

Collection – Box: 1

Identifier: MS-0338

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The Delphos, Ohio Negative Collection consists of approximately 300 negatives. The majority of the negatives depict scenes and events from the town of Delphos, Ohio during the early part of the 20th century, including portraits, farm scenes, and images copied from prints, postcards, newspapers and books. The collection includes fifty negatives taken in 1951 by the Hoverman Photographic Studio during the Delphos Centennial parade and celebration.

Dates

Creation: 1872-1981

Extent

0.46 Cubic Feet (1 legal box)

Scope and Contents

Delphos, Ohio is a small, northwestern Ohio town of approximately 3,000 people, fifteen miles northwest of Lima, Ohio. Delphos is located on State Routes 309, 66, 190, and Highway 30, which runs east and west of Interstate 75. The town is situated in the far northwest corner of Allen County, where it borders Van Wert and Putnam counties.

The negatives in this collection document the history, growth, and townspeople of Delphos, Ohio. The town is typical of hundreds of small Midwestern towns which came into existence in Ohio in the mid-19th century. The photographs of Delphos show how small town commercial areas developed in response to local industrialization and expanded agricultural commerce.

The majority of the images are 4 x 6 cm. copy negatives made by the Center for Archival Collections. These photographs show historic buildings, Main Street, local businesses, churches, quarries, the Flood of 1913, family portraits, school classes, trains, social clubs, baseball teams, factory interiors with workers, fires, members of the police and fire departments, and the Blizzard of 1978. The copy material came from original prints, postcards, The Delphos Herald, and a variety of books and pamphlets, including Delphos Vincenqui-Bicentennial Historical Book, 1851-1976 (1976), Old Cars (1977), Historical Atlas of Allen County, Ohio, 1875-1880 (1880), Fireman's Yearbook (1953), History of Delphos (n.d.), and St. John's Centennial Edition (1981).

The larger format 4 x 5 in. negatives are primarily of the 1951 Delphos Centennial Celebration and parade taken by the Hoverman Photographic Studio. The pictures in this group show numerous views of the parade, scenes from the "dramatic spectacle" entitled "One Hundred Years along the Tow-path", and shots of an original conestoga wagon complete with a team of oxen.

A separate collection of Hoverman Studio 8 x 10 glass and film negatives is cataloged as MS-476.

Biographical / Historical

The negatives were collected by the Delphos Public Library beginning in October, 1982, with federal funding administered by the Ohio State Library for project PUP or "Photos Used for Programming" in slide-tape shows. Federal funding enabled the library to collect original negatives, prints, and newspapers from which copy negatives were made. Work was begun under the direction of Alan Hall, Director, Delphos Public Library. The negatives were donated to the Center for Archival Collections, with prints and slides provided for the Public Library.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.