Fort Loramie Historical Association

05/29/2026

05/25/2026

Memorial Day Celebrations and Sales - 1926.

05/23/2026

Sixty years ago, this sharp-looking FLHS senior class went to Washington DC on their senior trip. Any memories out there?

05/17/2026

Ninety years ago on May 17, 1936, a gas explosion at the St. Remy Catholic School in Russia injured five people and nearly demolished the building. Erected in 1926 under the direction of Father Frank A. Ratermann, pastor at St. Remy, the school stood at the rear of the church. The explosion followed a supper that had been served in the basement to about 150 people. The supper honored two priests, Rev. Raymond Guillozet and Rev. Clemens Goubeaux, who had been ordained to the priesthood at St. Charles Seminary at Carthagena the week before.

At nine o’clock that evening, the women who were in the building’s kitchen washing dishes and cleaning up after the dinner noticed the odor of gas and called for everyone to evacuate the building as quickly as possible. The explosion occurred shortly after that. Those injured included Francis Monnin, 17; Mrs. Leo Voisard, 35; Mrs. Leo Monnin, 35, sister of Rev. Guillozet; Mrs. Wilfred Goubeaux; and John Guillozet, 60, who was taken to Piqua Hospital. Earlier that day, B. L. Grilliot had made an address on the history of Russia and St. Remy Parish to a large crowd in the school basement. Fortunately, the explosion did not happen while events were underway in the building, or a large number of people would have been killed or seriously injured.

Fire broke out after the blast and was put out by the village fire department with assistance from the Versailles Fire Department. Damage was extensive in the west end of the school building, with the walls, ceilings and roof caving in. The doors to the main and rear entrances were blown off and windows throughout the building were shattered. The entire interior of the first floor was a mass of debris and wreckage, but a statue of Mary, located in the southeast corner of the dining room, was found untouched.

The building was reconstructed over the summer and was ready for occupancy by September 14.

05/17/2026

In the 1930's a newspaper called "The Western Times" was produced and printed right here in Fort Loramie by Geroge Fleckenstein and his family for about 3 years. His daughter Evelyn Busse(Fleckenstein) was a type setter for the paper at the time. This was a weekly newspaper about Fort loramie and local events. Pictured here is a photo of the first page of the January 3rd 1936 edition along with a few other pictures. This is an incredibly valuable piece of our local history we want to share. The museum will be working over the next few months to digitize this paper to be shared with the community. It's truly one of a kind.

However we could use your help spreading the word. The museum is currently in possession of the 1936 addition of the paper that was donated by the Busse family. We also have some loose papers from the 1937 addition.

It might be a long shot but we'd like to see if the community might have copies stored away that we could get access to make copies of. Please let us know if know of any copies out there.

05/14/2026

100 Years Ago...
Minster Post - May 14, 1926

05/05/2026

The Alliance making plans for the historical societies of Shelby County!

05/01/2026

Happy May Day! These photos were not taken locally, but does anyone remember Fort Loramie first-grade teacher, Miss Quinlin having students do a May Pole every year? I'm sure that having young kids do this was as frustrating as trying to herd cats!
The May Pole "dance" was an ancient European tradition that celebrated the start of summer.

04/28/2026

Curbs are being poured on Elm street today!

04/13/2026

This April, 1965 tornado photo of the Bill Holthaus farm was sent to us by Mark Eilerman. The farm was located on Eilerman Road, between Ft Loramie Swanders road and State Route 705.