31 December 2017
18 December 2017
08 December 2017
29 November 2017
20 November 2017
17 November 2017
13 November 2017
1947 4th of July Festival-July 3, 1947
PLAN TO CELEBRATE
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
JULY 4th & 5th.
AT RIPLEY, O.
2 -- BIG NIGHTS --2
AT O.K. WAREHOUSE
Continuous Free Screening Of Official Army Movies
Radio Stars, Dancing, Games & Concessions
Something Doing Every Minute!
Sponsored by Courts-Fussnecker Post Adults 50¢ Children Under 12, Free With Parents
26 October 2017
19 October 2017
The Mecca Restaurant-November 24, 1949
Sell Your Tobacco in Ripley;
Meet Your Friends at The Mecca
While in town stop at the MECCA RESTAURANT for
the best of Beers, Ale, Soft Drinks, Sandwiches, Short
Orders, Chilli, Lunches, Cigarettes, Cigars, Candy, etc.
Enjoy our food, enjoy our drinks and enjoy our service.
SPECIAL ATTENTION TO FARMERS & TRUCKERS
---------------------------------------------------
Mecca Restaurant
MAIN STREET NEAR FOURTH RIPLEY, OHIO
27 September 2017
The Ripley Bee-July 12, 1951
Two Addicts Picked Up After Failure to Get Dope Here
Even small towns like this one can be stop-offs on the long trail down which dopers stumble to degradation and ruin.
Two human derelicts who said they were man and wife proved that here as the told their story of addiction to Mayor Robert C. Rohner and Chief of Police Harry Reinsmith at city hall.
Reinsmith had arrested them after they attempted unsuccessfully to get narcotics for faked ailments from several local physicians and one drug store.
They gave their names as Opam Irene Watson, 36, and Edward Watson, 49. Both said they had no real home address, that she was a native of North Carolina and he was from Missouri. They reported they were connected with a carnival that was playing in Maysville, Ky.
Both were emaciated. wan, shaken from their addiction. But they freely answered every question.
The mayor grilled them on suspicion they might be peddlers as well as addicts. But finally they convinced him they were not.
They had neither hypodermic needles nor dope in their possession.
But they could not deny their addiction. The arms of both of them were punctured like pincushions.
They said they mainly used heroin, but also took morphine if they couldn't get the "big H."
They wouldn't name a single procurer from whom they obtained the stuff. They wouldn't even give the names of towns and cities where they had gotten it.
Ed said they became desperately in need of dope while in Maysville.
They came here, he said, because they thought they might have a better chance of "taking a shot" out of a doctor here than in Maysville, where physicians knew there was a carnival in town and possibly would be more on the alert.
But things didn't work out like that. Doctor after doctor turned them down. So did the drugstore.
Finally they stopped at the office of Dr. Lyle C. Franz.
The physician was out. But the janitor was in the waiting room. They pushed past this man into the doctor's office.
The janitor ejected them and notified Dr. Franz as soon as he returned. The physician phoned Reinsmith.
The officer picked up Watson near the physicians office and arrested Mrs. Watson near the bus station.
At the hearing before Mayor Rohner, Mrs. Watson admitted she twice had been an inmate of the federal hospital for dope addicts in Lexington, Ky., and said he had been there once. She told the mayor that both of them were released form that institution in February 1961, after serving sentences of one year and one day.
Mayor Rohner reported the woman said she wanted to go back to the institution. But officials there told him in a phone conversation that they had a long waiting list and it would be impossible to admit either of them in the near future.
So the mayor instructed Reinsmith to return them to Kentucky. He drove them in a police cruiser to the Maysville-Aberdeen bridge.
They had came here by bus.
22 September 2017
View of Ripley from Kentucky shore. Postcard dated August 6, 1936
Another ebay postcard find. Can't get enough of these.
18 September 2017
14 September 2017
Greetings from Ripley, Ohio Part 2-August 21, 1941
Sent to LR Giles, Sunbury, Ohio on August 21, 1941
"Thursday Morning-
Just starting out after a night's rest. Everything fine and dandy so far. See you soon.
-Sadie"
10 September 2017
06 September 2017
30 August 2017
29 August 2017
22 August 2017
Greetings from Ripley, Ohio 1936
This is a scan from a postcard I just picked up on Ebay dated October 26, 1936.
"Dear Rodger:
How are you? We left from home at 5:30. Ate breakfast in Washington C.H. Arrived here at Ripley at 9:30. Daddy is getting gas. Good bye. Mother"
Sent to Roger Hull Thornville, Ohio
"Dear Rodger:
How are you? We left from home at 5:30. Ate breakfast in Washington C.H. Arrived here at Ripley at 9:30. Daddy is getting gas. Good bye. Mother"
Sent to Roger Hull Thornville, Ohio
27 July 2017
04 July 2017
23 June 2017
02 June 2017
Roselawn Tavern August 29, 1946
Make Labor Day
A REAL HOLIDAY
Forest Bradford Orchestra
Will Play For Dancing
Deliciously Prepared Foods
FANCY FRESH DEEP SEA SCALLOPS
Choicest Steaks, Country Ham, Lobster, Clams on the Half Shell, Southern Fried Chicken, Frog Legs, Fish, Garden Fresh Vegetables and Salads, Apple and Peach Cobbler, and those elt-in-your mouth BISCUITS!
Closed All Day Tuesday
Visit The Beautiful Horseshoe Bar
The Finest, most Spacious In This Section of the State
Mixed Drinks, Wines, Champagne, Beer
THE ROSELAWN TAVERN
U.S. ROUTES 52, 62 and 68 RIPLEY, OHIO
26 May 2017
Ripley Oil Company October 8, 1942
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
MOBILGAS MOBILOIL ACCESSORIES WRECKER SERVICE
FARMERS' FESTIVAL VISITORS
Stop Here For Lunches, Sandwiches, Soft Drinks, Candies, Cigarettes, etc.
Meet Your Friends Here!
Ripley Oil Co,. Inc.
RIPLEY, OHIO PHONES 12 and 27
19 May 2017
27 April 2017
Ohio River Flood April 9, 1913
HIGHER THAN
1884
----------------------------
And Far More
Destructive to Property Was
the Deluge
of 1913-All Records Broken.
-----------------------------------------------------
Rapid Rise
of the Waters Caught Many Unprepared and
Losses Were
Very Heavy---Story of the Flood
In Ripley
and Vicinity.
Overturned
houses, barns and outbuildings lying everywhere and driftwood piled high all
over the flooded district makes Ripley a desolate looking place and marks the
havoc played by the greatest flood in the memory of white men in the Ohio
Valley.
History has
repeated and exceeded itself, and the greatest flood ever known in the history of
the Ohio Valley is now over. They said in 1884 that it was the champion record
flood and never could or would happen again. Then in 1907 when we had two
floods a cracker jack in January, nest to that of ’84, and another lesser one
in March, but big enough. They said such things were never known before and
never would be again. But this year 1913 has put all records to route with two
floods again in January and March, this latter the zenith, the climax of all
big and little floods in history. But we still survive, and the flag still
waves on Rankin Hill!
Never before
did a great flood in the Ohio River come so swiftly and fiercely. The river has
been at a normal spring stage when a series of furious storms and torrential
rains descended on the helpless region, filling the streams with mad torrents
of water. All of the tributaries of the Ohio soon began to disgorge huge
volumes of water, and the river rose by tremendous leaps and bounds, fifteen to
twenty feet in a say, until it soon sprang over its banks and rapidly invaded
the valley and towns. The rapid rise made it impossible for people to remove
out of the way of the water, as all of the moving had to be done at one time. Within
one day only, the water rushed into our town and entered the principal business
section. The merchants moved their
stocks of goods in frantic haste, many of them working all night with a force
of helpers, and wading in the water at the last. But much stock was abandoned,
or piled high on the counters or shelves where it was caught by the flood and
upset and ruined. In most of the stores the water rose nearly to the celling
and was 10 or 12 feet deep in other cases. Nothing escaped the reach and the
ravage of the ugly, greedy flood.
Thousands of
dollars of damage has been wrought by the rapidly rising waters, and because another
flood of the size of that of 1884 seemed impossible, the people were unprepared
for such a river. Every merchant in the flooded district has suffered heavily
and residents in the section, who moved their household effects to their second
floors, lost much of their goods, as the water reached the upper floors of
scores of the buildings. In some cases the collections of a lifetime were
entirely lost and many are unable to replace them.
Never in the
experience of our little city has the damage been so great as during the
present flood.
On Thursday,
March 27th, 1913, the water crossed Second Street at Cherry-the
lowest point-about 2p.m. The rise was so rapid, being from eight to nine inches
an hour, that the merchants on Main, Second and Front streets became alarmed,
and a general exodus was started. So rapidly did the water rise that by night
it had reached the gutters on Main Street, and those who had a late start in
moving, finished with the water running in on them.
By Friday night,
March 28, Main Street as entirely covered, and the angry flood continued rising
at an alarming rate, causing people in all of the low lying sections, and
others who had heretofore felt perfectly secure and safe from the reach of all
water, to move their belongings.
The rise
continued until Tuesday morning, April 1, when the water reached a height of
from 69 to 70 feet, seven or eight inches higher than the memorable flood of
1884.
Boats landed
on West Second Street in front of the residence of Mr. J. C. Newcomb; on Main Street
at the Latona House; on Market at the old Lewis well; on Third Street at the
residence of Mr. Val. Swisher; on Fourth Street at the residence of Mr. Horace
Maddox; on East Second Street at the alley between Mrs. Sarah White and Mr.
Thos. Buchanan. Front Street was entirely inundated and every house held from 3
to 10 feet of water.
In the lower
part of town, lying east of Main Street, many houses were lifted from their
foundations, and were floating, while many others toppled over and were
wrecked.
Wind added
to the destruction of property on Sunday and Monday, wrecking property along
the exposed streets. Front Street suffered most, as very few houses escaped
damage. Shutters were torn from houses and windows broken and much other damage
done.
The food
supply of the town began to run low on Sunday, and the good people of
Hillsborough, again to the front as they were in 1884, sent in the first
supplies. Almost a dozen automobiles loaded with food and clothing from the
Woman’s Relief Committee, arrived early Sunday afternoon, and was taken to the
Presbyterian Church, which was turned into a commissary, and was then
distributed to the needy. Later supplies began to arrive from Mt. Orab,
Georgetown, Morrystown, Macon, Russelville and from farmers and was placed
where most needed.
On Tuesday
the steamer Greendale, the Government Relief Boat, arrived with supplies for
350, and the Relief Committee heaved a sigh of relief as this ran them for
several days.
An alarm of
fire on Sunday morning caused much worry, as the supply of water was very low.
The blaze, which occurred in the home of J.H. Donald, on Front Street, proved
to be a small affair and was quickly extinguished by a bucket brigade. A fire during the high water would have meant
a great disaster for Ripley as it would have been impossible to reach it with a
fire hose. Steam was kept up in the fire
engine, and all possible precautions taken to meet any emergency; and up to the
present time we have escaped the vengeance of the fire fiend, which so many of
our fellow flood suffers in neighboring towns have experienced.
The supply
of city water was exhausted on Tuesday, April 1, and this caused a great deal
of anxiety as the wells in the town are very few.
The streets
and houses were thrown into darkness on Saturday night, March 28, both the gas
and electric light plants being submerged.
The river
returned to its banks on Sunday, April 6, leaving behind a scene of desolation
and destruction. A heavy coat of mud covered everything the water touched, and ruined
much property. The businesses housed along Main Street proved to be the greatest
suffers, as the water reached much of the stock of the business people and
ruined it. It was with heavy hearts they started to clean up and make their places
presentable again, and discouragement was written on the ??? of all. But at the present time the work is well under
way, and some of the stores have opened their doors to the public.
Large forces
of men and teams hacve been put to work on the streets, clearing away the debris,
and within a few weeks the old town will assume its usual appearance.
The Bee
office sustained much damage. The rapidly rising waters made it impossible to
remove everything an as a consequence the loss was heavy. A large quantity of
stationary was ruined, all the machinery complexly submerged, many old files
lost, and a great deal of furniture wrecked. The issue of April 2, 1913, was
missed, the first time this has occurred under present ownership of 35 years,
and it is with regret this remarkable record is broken, but with 10 feet of
water on the floors and the offices piled high with wreckage, we feel we are fortunate
in getting through without greater damages or loss.
The work of
clearing away the debris and cleaning up the houses started on Wednesday, April
2, as the water came to a stand on Tuesday, and started to slowly recede in the
afternoon. It will take many weeks for the town to recover from the disastrous
effects of the flood and before people can move back into their homes. Ripley
has survived many floods, but never has she gone through such an experience as
this. But as in years past she has met all issues squarely and is facing this
with a fighting spirit that will overcome the effects and in time place her
back on the same high plane of which she is justly proud.
The mayor appointed
the following citizens as a Relief Committee, to handle supplies during the
flood. J.C. Newcomb, Chairman, F.P.
Hite, W. L. Russell, T.E. Shotwell, Mrs. J.R. Stivers, Mrs. Ella Kendle and
Mrs. J. F. Work. J.B. Newcomb was appointed Secretary and Miss Lucy Reinert,
Asst. Secretary. W.H. Reinert, H.L. Mefford, F.E. Boyd, Mrs. T.E. Shotwell and
Miss Mayme Tyler assisted the committee greatly in handling the work.
The gas and
electric light plants suffered some loss and expense, like the rest of them in
the flood district, but it is not injured or ruined, as reported, and will soon
be in good running order again. The
boiler and engine were submerged of course, and have been cleaned out and fixed
up all right. The dynamo and switch board were taken and blocked up, but not high
enough as the water caught them and rusted some parts of them. But nothing was
lost or broken, and the buildings were not much damaged. The gas plant was
filled with mud but has been cleaned up. Some of the pole lines and gas pipes
have suffered also. All necessary repairs have been or soon will be made and
the plant will then be in a better condition than before. The electrical parts
of the armatures were shipped to Cincinnati to be tested and repaired, and on
their return will be rest by an expert of the General Electric Company, which
constructed the plant. The gas and electric light will soon be in operation.
The Ripley
Mill and Lumber Co. suffered the greatest wreck and loss of all here, we believe.
They had to remove a large lot of their
stock into their mill and to higher ground to keep them from losing it entirely
by going off down the river. But the water caught their entire plant and all
their stock of lumber and flooded and floated everything. The old lumber shed
on the river bank was moved off into the street and wrecked, and the large
lumber house back of the office was partially wrecked. All the fine stock
stored in the mill was floated and jumbled and muddied. The all the small piles
and some of the big ones or rough boards were upset and tossed about with wreckage
and drift driven in from the river by the wind until massed into a horrible
mixture, covering the mill yards and the track five or ten feet deep in places.
All of the lumber will have to be separated and replied, and much of it must be
washed off with the hose to remove mud on it. When the lumber floated, booms
were constructed to hold it in, and most of it was saved, but some of it got
away and went down the raging river with the other drift and wreckage.
The water
was 8 feet and 9 inches deep in the Ripley National Bank, and 8 feet and 2
inches in The Citizens National Bank. The latter raised their counters and
fixtures on blocks about 5 feet high, but the water floated and upset them, and
they were broken to pieces. Both baking houses suffered severely, but had no
broken windows. They were in the water about 9 days, and then took several days
to clean up and dry out, like the rest.
18 April 2017
Reinert's Restaurant August 6, 1942
Not 100 Years Old, But.......
a famous old RESTAURANT
For 40 Years A Popular Place To Eat In Ripley.
Billiard and Card Tables in Room Adjoining Restaurant.
Where Tobacco Men Gather During The Annual Tobacco Market.
Try One Of Our Famous Fish Sandwiches.
Reinert's Restaurant
20 MAIN STREET PHONE 108
02 April 2017
The Hotel Bodmer August 6, 1942
25 MODERN ROOMS
ERECTED 1933-ANNEX BUILT 1941
The name Bodmer has been famous
with the traveling public that has been
coming into Ripley since 1874, when
A.C. Bodmer opened his first restaurant here.
When we built the new Hotel Bodmer
in 1933, we built it with the thought in
mind of giving the same friendly, effic-
ient and painstaking service that had
characterized our restaurant business
since it was founded 68-years ago.
When former residents return to
Ripley for a visit, and when travelers
stop here, they like to stop at the new
HOTEL BODMER
Rooms $1.25 up
Recreation Room For Guests
25 March 2017
The Ripley Oil Company January 7, 1932
Ride Through 1932 On
Ripley Oil Co. Gasoline
The Ripley Oil Company is a Ripley
Company employing Ripley labor,
so why not buy from home people.
Our Gasoline and Motor Oil for sale
by:
DAY & NITE GARAGE
BLACKBURN & MILLIGAN
GERMANN TRANSPORTATION CO.
GERMANN GROCERY
--------------------------------
The following Groceries Sell Our Kerosene:
SULLIVANS GROCERY
ALBERT RICHARD
A&P GROCERY
GERMANN GROCERY
The Ripley Oil Co.
RIPLEY, OHIO
16 March 2017
The Cotton Blossom Floating Theatre-May 4, 1915
From Wikipedia:
"A showboat was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a special type of riverboat designed to carry passengers rather than cargo, and they had to be pushed by a small towboat, also known as a pusher, which was attached to it. Showboats were rarely steam-powered because the steam engine had to be placed right in the auditorium for logistical reasons, therefore making it difficult to have a large theater."
 |
| The Cotton Blossom Showboat was built in 1908. It was then known as the Great Modern Temple of Amusement. |
The Cotton Blossom was crushed by ice during the winter of 1918. This article was taken from the Mt. Vernon(Indiana) Western Star
"We return now to another cold weather story, which includes an ice gorge, a
frozen Ohio river and the sinking of a show boat at a local wharf.
The Steamer Jewel and the show boat Cotton Blossom were forced to tie up
here due to heavy ice floes and later the gorge; and when the gorge started
breaking the boats were torn loose from their moorings by the moving ice and
sank on a reef just west of the Mt. Vernon Water works. The Cotton Blossom
was broken in two with its nose touching the bank and the Steamer Jewel
which was used in towing the show boat was at the stern of the Cotton
Blossom with water over the entire lower deck.
Both boats had been docked here for three months and the freeze up of the
river was so sudden that Capt. Otto Hitner, in charge of the craft, was
unable to move them to a safe harbor.
Another boat, the dismantled Steamer Clyde, owned by the Flesher Boat Co. of
this city, was tied up just above the American Hominy Co. mill (now the Mt.
 |
| Date Unknown |
Vernon Milling Co.) and the moving ice carried it down stream and lodged it
against the covered Barge, Belle V. Flesher, also owed by the Mt. Vernon
firm. The company's towboat D.T. Flesher was docked in clear water just
below McFadden's Creek and was safe. A flat boat owned by the Fleshers was
carried down the river to the foot of Store St. (now College Ave.)
The ice gorge formed down stream near Slim Island and as more ice came down
the Ohio the gorge was finally backed up several miles before the breakup
occurred.
The two sunken boats were valued at $25,000 and were insured. After the
marine adjuster had made a satisfactory settlement with Capt. Hitner, the
theater boat was sold back to the captain and the Steamer Jewel was sold to
the local Flesher Co. Both boats were dismantled as crews of men made
frantic efforts to salvage as much as possible from the two crafts before
the real force of the moving gorge could destroy the boats completely."
10 March 2017
A. Groppenbacher " Monarch" Advertisement 1885
FOR SALE BY
A. GROPPENBACHER
The Merchant Tailor and Gents.' Furnisher,
OF RIPLEY, OHIO
No. 3 MAIN STREET.
07 March 2017
Eveslage & McCormick's January 21, 1885
EVESLAGE & M'CORMICK'S
-NEW-
SILVER PALACE
No, 34 Main St., Ripley, O.
-o-
-o-
A FULL LINE OF
JEWELRY, WATCHES, CLOCKS,
SPECTACLES, VIOLIN STRINGS, &c.
A Large Assortment of Silver and Plated Tableware.
-----
-----
Goods all New and of Latest Pattern
-----
-----
SPECIAL ATTENTION-GIVEN TO REPAIR-
ING. WORK WARRANTED.
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