Huntington County History and Education Center

08/07/2026

Bicycle shops have long kept the community rollin’

This week’s installment is about “wheelin’ and “dealin’.” The wheelin’ is being done on just two wheels and the dealin’ refers to the shops that peddle those two wheels.

A little research found that a German inventor, Baron Karl von Drais, is regarded as the inventor of the bicycle in 1817. The thing did have only two wheels and a steering bar, but no pedals or drive chain. Its mode of propulsion was strictly two feet on the ground. There are several other claims to being the first — with the oldest being from a sketch by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1500.

The first mechanically propelled bicycle has been credited to a Scottish blacksmith in 1839. His “velocipede” was fined five shillings for a traffic offense that involved knocking over a little girl. The odd, large-front-wheel variety everyone has seen was of French design in early 1860, and accurately described as being difficult to mount and dismount due to its high front seat. It did have wire-spoked wheels with solid rubber tires, however.

The many improvements that ensued led to touring clubs and racing on both sides of the Atlantic by 1878. The first Tour de France was held in 1903. The bicycle joined horse buggies as the two mainstays of transportation before the advent of the automobile. More than one billion bicycles had been manufactured by the early 1900s and they remain the dominant mode of transportation in the world today. That’s hard to believe when you drive on the interstate.

Bonnie’s Bike Shop is listed as Huntington’s first recorded bicycle shop at 446 Cherry Street in 1932. Boniface Drummond was the proprietor. There most certainly were many bicycles in town at that time, but Bonnie’s was the first listing in the city directories that offered bicycle sales and service. The 1937 Directory lists Bonnie’s with Paul Drummond as owner, at the same address. The Erie Drug Store is also selling bicycles in 1937 at 833 East Market Street with J. H. Dumbauld and O. G. Burns as owners. Ray Reust, who became an iconic figure on the Huntington bicycle scene, appears in the listing for the first time, but no occupation is given for him.

By 1939, Drummond’s Cycle Shop is at 2 South Jefferson Street, which would likely be in one of the stores on Albert Johnson’s famous “buildings on the bridge.” How many remember seeing those buildings, which appeared in “Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not”? That same year, Raymond Reust, while still working at Caswell-Runyan making cedar chests, set up his first bicycle shop in a closet-sized room in the Union Laundry building on Cherry Street. In 1941, we first see Ray’s Bike Shop at 421 Cherry, with a large ad in the City Directory listing sales, service, rentals, key duplication, guaranteed tires and accessories, and “wheel goods repaired and retired.” Telephone number 370-J. It was a simpler time.

In 1959, Ray and his brother, Gene, purchased the building at 422 Poplar Street that became familiar to many boys and girls in need of bike repair or for admiring the new Schwinn Bicycles. Gene sold O’Brian Paint in the front of the store while Ray sold and repaired bikes in the back. They both were locksmiths, with Ray handling the walk-in business while Gene went out on calls.

It was not until 1983 that another bike shop made its appearance. Bikes Unlimited, owned by Rich Coles, opened for business at 1243 First Street that year. He relocated Bikes Unlimited to 1706 College in 1987.

In 1984, Barry and Dianna Cochran opened C-Team Cycling at 221 East Washington Street, and served the community at that location until 2008.

Bikes Unlimited is not listed in 1989, and Ray Reust died in 1990 after 50 years in the bike business and the town’s only Schwinn dealer, leaving only C-Team Cycling to service the town’s cycling needs. That changed in 1998 with the introduction of D and D Bike Shop in Warren, owned by George DeWeese.

From 1998 until 2008, C-Team Cycling and D and D Bike Shop serviced the community until Spokesman Cycling entered the market in 2013 at 227 South Jefferson Street. It was owned by Larry Buzzard, and he moved Spokesman Cycling to Roanoke in 2020.

Our most recent entry into the cycling field is former Huntington mayor and bike enthusiast Brooks Fetters, who opened the Huntington Bicycle Shop in 2022 in the lower level of the building it shares with Whimsy, at 45 Etna Avenue.

In 1981, our own Ray Reust was asked by the Marion Chronicle-Tribune if he thought more people would start riding bicycles as gas went over $1 a gallon. Ray, who recalled the 1930s and gas that wouldn’t sell for 12 cents a gallon, said, “People will stay home and do some walking, but adults probably will not start riding bikes for more than a week or two. When the novelty wears off, they will hang it on a nail in the garage … and that is where it will stay.”

Reust recalled World War II, when just about everything was rationed. Keys were scarce and so were locksmiths, so he learned to make keys and repair locks. Reust explained that if “a guy had a job he couldn’t handle. He’d call us. We’d do it; we had to eat.” Reust serviced most commercial vaults in town, including assignments at city hall, the Courthouse, banks, jewelry stores, and many area homes.

Reust predicted that cost-conscious people would cut back on non-essential driving. “Instead of running up to the lakes every weekend, they’re going to do their picnicking in their backyards.” Some other answers to that question the paper received were: “I’m going to stay home and meet my neighbors.” “My wife will think of something.” “Paint the garage.” “Sell my camper.” And “Teach my wife to use the lawnmower,” and we wonder how far that last suggestion got him?

You do not have to pedal very far or use much gas to enjoy some great family entertainment at YOUR History and Education Center.
— Researched and compiled by Dr. John Regan

Volunteers are always welcome to help us preserve the past for the present and future at the Huntington County History and Education Center, 315 Court Street, in Huntington. Visit the Center from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and Saturdays by appointment. More information on the Center’s collection, tours, room rental, and how to become a member of the Huntington County Historical Society is available from Executive Director Barbara Rupley at (260) 356-7264 or www.huntingtonhistoricalmuseum.com

Photo: Bicycles frame the Henry Street entrance to the Huntington Bicycle Shop.

07/31/2026

The Farmer's Guide photos in 1941. It was located behind the City building, the front of the building faced Market St. They started publishing in 1889 until they merged in 1959 into the Indiana Farmer. The last building is 1st National Bank's drive-thru that was built after the Farmer's Guide was torn down. This area is currently used as parking for the City Building.

07/31/2026

Bicycle shops have long kept the community rollin’

This week’s installment is about “wheelin’ and “dealin’.” The wheelin’ is being done on just two wheels and the dealin’ refers to the shops that peddle those two wheels.

A little research found that a German inventor, Baron Karl von Drais, is regarded as the inventor of the bicycle in 1817. The thing did have only two wheels and a steering bar, but no pedals or drive chain. Its mode of propulsion was strictly two feet on the ground. There are several other claims to being the first — with the oldest being from a sketch by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1500.

The first mechanically propelled bicycle has been credited to a Scottish blacksmith in 1839. His “velocipede” was fined five shillings for a traffic offense that involved knocking over a little girl. The odd, large-front-wheel variety everyone has seen was of French design, in early 1860, and accurately described as being difficult to mount and dismount due to its high front seat. It did have wire-spoked wheels with solid rubber tires, however.

The many improvements that ensued led to touring clubs and racing on both sides of the Atlantic by 1878. The first Tour de France was held in 1903. The bicycle joined horse buggies as the two mainstays of transportation before the advent of the automobile. More than one billion bicycles had been manufactured by the early 1900s, and they remain the dominant mode of transportation in the world today. That’s hard to believe when you drive on the interstate.

Bonnie’s Bike Shop is listed as Huntington’s first recorded bicycle shop at 446 Cherry Street in 1932. Boniface Drummond was the proprietor. There most certainly were many bicycles in town at that time, but Bonnie’s was the first listing in the city directories that offered bicycle sales and service. The 1937 Directory lists Bonnie’s with Paul Drummond as owner, at the same address. The Erie Drug Store is also selling bicycles in 1937 at 833 East Market Street with J. H. Dumbauld and O. G. Burns as owners. Ray Reust, who became an iconic figure on the Huntington bicycle scene, appears in the listing for the first time, but no occupation is given for him.

By 1939, Drummond’s Cycle Shop is at 2 South Jefferson Street, which would likely be in one of the stores on Albert Johnson’s famous “buildings on the bridge.” How many remember seeing those buildings, which appeared in “Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not”? That same year, Raymond Reust, while still working at Caswell-Runyan making cedar chests, set up his first bicycle shop in a closet-sized room in the Union Laundry building on Cherry Street. In 1941, we first see Ray’s Bike Shop at 421 Cherry, with a large ad in the City Directory listing sales, service, rentals, key duplication, guaranteed tires and accessories, and “wheel goods repaired and retired.” Telephone number 370-J. It was a simpler time.

In 1959, Ray and his brother, Gene, purchased the building at 422 Poplar Street that became familiar to many boys and girls in need of bike repair or for admiring the new Schwinn Bicycles. Gene sold O’Brian Paint in the front of the store while Ray sold and repaired bikes in the back. They both were locksmiths, with Ray handling the walk-in business while Gene went out on calls.

It was not until 1983 that another bike shop made its appearance. Bikes Unlimited, owned by Rich Coles, opened for business at 1243 First Street that year. He relocated Bikes Unlimited to 1706 College in 1987.

In 1984, Barry and Dianna Cochran opened C-Team Cycling at 221 East Washington Street, and served the community at that location until 2008.

Bikes Unlimited is not listed in 1989, and Ray Reust died in 1990 after 50 years in the bike business and the town’s only Schwinn dealer, leaving only C-Team Cycling to service the town’s cycling needs. That changed in 1998 with the introduction of D and D Bike Shop in Warren, owned by George DeWeese.

From 1998 until 2008, C-Team Cycling and D and D Bike Shop serviced the community until Spokesman Cycling entered the market in 2013 at 227 South Jefferson Street. It was owned by Larry Buzzard, and he moved Spokesman Cycling to Roanoke in 2020.

Our most recent entry into the cycling field is former Huntington mayor and bike enthusiast Brooks Fetters, who opened the Huntington Bicycle Shop in 2022 in the lower level of the building it shares with Whimsy, at 45 Etna Avenue.

In 1981, our own Ray Reust was asked by the Marion Chronicle-Tribune if he thought more people would start riding bicycles as gas went over $1 a gallon. Ray, who recalled the 1930s and gas that wouldn’t sell for 12 cents a gallon, said, “People will stay home and do some walking, but adults probably will not start riding bikes for more than a week or two. When the novelty wears off, they will hang it on a nail in the garage … and that is where it will stay.”

Reust recalled World War II, when just about everything was rationed. Keys were scarce and so were locksmiths, so he learned to make keys and repair locks. Reust explained that if “a guy had a job he couldn’t handle. He’d call us. We’d do it; we had to eat.” Reust serviced most commercial vaults in town, including assignments at city hall, the Courthouse, banks, jewelry stores, and many area homes.

Reust predicted that cost-conscious people would cut back on non-essential driving. “Instead of running up to the lakes every weekend, they’re going to do their picnicking in their backyards.” Some other answers to that question the paper received were: “I’m going to stay home and meet my neighbors.” “My wife will think of something.” “Paint the garage.” “Sell my camper.” And “Teach my wife to use the lawnmower,” and we wonder how far that last suggestion got him?

You do not have to pedal very far or use much gas to enjoy some great family entertainment at YOUR History and Education Center.
— Researched and compiled by Dr. John Regan

Volunteers are always welcome to help us preserve the past for the present and future at the Huntington County History and Education Center, 315 Court Street, in Huntington. Visit the Center from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and Saturdays by appointment. More information on the Center’s collection, tours, room rental, and how to become a member of the Huntington County Historical Society is available from Executive Director Barbara Rupley at (260) 356-7264 or www.huntingtonhistoricalmuseum.com

Photo:: Bicycles frame the Henry Street entrance to the Huntington Bicycle Shop.

07/30/2026

Huntington County Historical Society is seeking a part-time Museum Director. Successful applicant will be self-motivated, computer literate, with good people skills and organizational skills. Apply in person between 10am and 4pm, W-F at 315 Court St. No phone calls please.

Send a message to learn more

07/29/2026

At 7 pm on Wednesday, July 29, Jean Gernand will talk about the Civil War and its impact on Huntington at the Museum.

07/28/2026

Popular City Park’s Story Began Overseas

If you like a love story, you are going to love this story about Hier’s Park. Believe it or not, this love tale is actually part of the story about how Hier’s Park came to be. It all started when our two future lovers decided — or, rather, their families decided — to come to this new land of opportunity, called America, from Germany in 1824.

According to a 1928 account in The Huntington Press, “When a little boy, named Jacob Gottlieb Hier, met a little girl, named Catherine Trick, on a sailing vessel, crossing the Atlantic, a childish love began …”

It was 1824 when Jacob’s parents left Germany to sail to this new republic across the ocean. A family named Trick, bound to the same republic, was on the same ship. On the long voyage, the boy and girl became acquainted and by happenstance, both families settled in the same place: Preble County, Ohio.

Ten years later, that childhood friendship became mature love, and the two were married in Ohio. Jacob brought his new bride, Catherine, to Huntington County in 1850 to find a new home. A few years later, in 1857, Jacob paid $16 an acre for a 100-acre farm at what is now the south part of Huntington — and part of the park.

There were seven children born to this pioneer couple, one of whom, Mrs. Eva Gardner, was still living in a home with her daughter, Mrs. Harmon Herzog, in 1928, on part of the land her father bought as a young man for his bride.

Jacob Hier was noted as being instrumental in bringing the first United Brethren church to Huntington County. He was also active in public affairs, especially politics, as a Democrat.

Two years after Catherine died in 1877, Jacob married Mrs. Catherine Slusser, of Warren Township. When she died in 1888, he married for the third time, to a Mrs. C**n, in 1890. The Daily Democrat of that year reported the couple was quietly married by Reverend I. S. Cleaver at his residence. “The affair was kept a secret, and the truth only leaked out today by mere chance,” according to The Democrat, which extended congratulations. Jacob was 72 years old when he died in 1895 and was survived by his third wife and three of his children by his first wife.

Newspaper accounts recorded the Hier family twice being the victim of thieves. The first theft occurred in 1879 while the family was away, and thieves took $220 from a bureau drawer, a portion of that being gold. It was described as a bold, daylight robbery since the home was on a public highway.

The second theft occurred in 1894 when some miscreant took Jacob’s horse and buggy while he and his family were attending services at the United Brethren church. It was not known for what purpose the rig was used but the horse was wet when the rig was recovered by officers. The officers were asking for reports of anyone seeing a speeding horse and rig.

Efforts by the city to make a park out of Jacob’s original farm were begun in 1919. At that time, it was part of the Chester Brown estate, and the city was paying $250 an acre for 15 acres. The City Council retrenched the park appropriation of $5,500 to $1,800 and filed a petition with the state tax board for permission to issue $3,850 in bonds, at 5% interest, to cover the extra cost to purchase the Hier woods on Taylor Street for use as a park.

In 1975 Jacob Hier’s great-grandson, Delbert V. Hier, wrote a letter to the editor of the Huntington Herald-Press asking for the city to change the name on park signs to correctly name it “Hier Park” and not “Heirs Park.”

Someone in the city administration very astutely made the correction without costing the city a lot of money replacing signs by simply adding an apostrophe, making the signs read Hier’s Park, and that is how they read today. Apparently, that satisfied Delbert, because there is no record of any more correspondence from him on the matter.

His letter to the editor also cited court records indicating that one of Jacob’s descendants deeded some 40 acres for a park to the city prior to 1919. The city subsequently annexed the rest of the land in 1928.

It is hard to live in Huntington and not find yourself at Hier’s Park, enjoying some of the great activities that take place there. Foremost of these are the annual 4-H Fair, sponsored by the Purdue Extension Office, and the fall Forks of the Wabash Pioneer Festival, aided by Psi Iota Xi Sorority. This year’s 4-H Fair is held this week, and the Pioneer Festival is on September 26-27. The city currently leases Hier’s Park to the 4-H Board of Trustees while still sharing some responsibilities.

In 1975, Luke Scheer, Jean Gernand, Mary Margaret Kelsey, and Jim Kline formed a Junior Historical Society at Huntington North High School. From their discussions with interested students, Jean Gernand suggested that a festival similar to the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne be started here. From that acorn, quite a tree has grown!

We do not know if any love stories have been born in the park, but it certainly has had a warm spot in the heart of all Huntingtonians who visit the fairgrounds, thanks to Jacob Hier and his progeny.

Want more love stories? There is one for you to imagine behind every exhibit at YOUR History and Education Center.
— Researched and compiled by Dr. John Regan

Volunteers are always welcome to help us preserve the past for the present and future at the Huntington County History and Education Center, 315 Court Street, in Huntington. Visit the Center from 10 a.m.-to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and Saturdays by appointment. More information on the Center’s collection, tours, room rental, and how to become a member of the Huntington County Historical Society is available from Executive Director Barbara Rupley at (260) 356-7264 or www.huntingtonhistoricalmuseum.com

Photo: The sign at the Briant Street entrance to Hier’s Park. The “games” refer to a softball field and other recreational facilities throughout the park.

07/16/2026

I went to Whitley County this morning and caught up with the Big Boy No. 4014 heading back west.

07/15/2026

Business Innovation / For Decades, Making What the World Wants to Buy.

History often happens so subtly it is not noticed until well after it unfolds. Huntington County’s “Industrial Revolution” is a case in point. Not long ago, Huntington was considered by many to have been a “railroad town,” by virtue of the presence of the Erie Lackawanna and the many local families it supported.

But who recalls the existence of The Shoe Factory at Joe Street and Salamonie Avenue? How about the Huntington News on Warren Street? The Farmer’s Guide? The U. B. Publishing House? Tivoli Theater? Western Rock Wool? HK Porter? and Andrews-made Kitchen Maid — and vice versa.

There once was Majestic Corp., with 435 employees. Utah Radio became Pyle Industries, which became Pyle Driver speakers, led by Frank Pyle Jr. and family, with 300 employees.

Add the Schacht Rubber Company, started in 1910 by William F. Schacht and its nationally known Daisy products, with 350 employees. It was still going strong into the 1960s. Bircraft employed 50, Wabash Magnetics — led by Doug Howenstein — had 500 employees, while Utrad employed 900 more. Today, only vestiges remain. Add to those Locke Steel Chain, Orton Crane, Friction Materials, and Paul Hunckler’s “Pik-a-Nut.”

Retail was not immune. K-Mart appeared, then disappeared. JC Penney and Target moved on. The American institution, Sears Roebuck, did not adjust. Auto dealerships vaporized. We even lost the iconic Erie Department Store.

We had a very popular Cambridge Inn Cafeteria, the Show Lounge watering hole, Wissel’s and Marx Clothier, Gass’s Ladies Shop, several shoe stores, a blacksmith, and a locksmith who also sold and repaired bicycles.

Thank goodness the breaded tenderloin and homemade pie survived at Nick’s Kitchen!

Model Engineering and Manufacturing, Inc., at East Park Drive and Warren Street, deserves special mention as one of the city’s largest employers and what it significantly left behind. It was incorporated in 1946 by George Emmert Manis, H.M.K. Steele, and R. F. Riley. Joseph H. Lesh would eventually join the company as attorney and chairman of its board of directors. At one point, Model Engineering had five plants scattered around Huntington, and employed 900 people.

The company was renamed MEMCOR, Inc., in 1965, in line with the company’s American Stock Exchange symbol, MEM. It also had a plant in Boyne City, Mich., and Montek research and development facilities in Salt Lake City. At that time, the firm announced back-orders of more than $25 million.

Most of the company’s “eggs were in one basket “ — military contracts. It made field radios and precision electronic “multimeters,” which were test instruments used to assess voltage, current, and resistance for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. It also made military radios for South Korea.

The company’s Tru-Ohm division did not have military contracts and manufactured wire-wound resisters used in virtually all electrical systems. It occupied three scattered locations in Huntington before the new manager of the division, Maurice F. Smith, placed them under one roof. Smith led the construction, in 1963 of the large manufacturing facility located at U.S.-24 and 1312 Flaxmill Road, known as the Components Operation. That building today is owned by Innovative Packaging, and also is home to a reconstituted and much smaller Memcor, as well as a few other businesses.

The building of that factory at that location became a subject of considerable conversation because the land was zoned residential and not industrial. Apartments were planned as a buffer to U.S.-24, with single-family dwellings nearby developed by Worthman Homes of Fort Wayne, among others.

MEMCOR became part of LTV Electrosystems, Inc., in 1967, with a reported backlog of $35 million orders. But by 1982, people were being laid off because they lost an Army contract.

In 1986, Paul Harris and two other employees purchased the Components Operation, which made resistors for E-Systems, Inc., creating Memcor-Truohm. That company lost 190 employees when it was sold in 1996 to Ohmite, of Skokie, Ill., another resistor manufacturer. Maurice F. Smith would later found Huntington Electric, Inc., at 550 Condit Street, which manufactured wire-wound resistors. It was eventually purchased by James Shields, Robert Hoffman, and Jeff Harris. In 2015, the building was sold to J. O. Wolf Tool & Die.

Huntington’s government and business leaders realized the effect on our community of losing all this industry. In response they formed the River Forks Development Committee, which eventually led to the Riverfork Industrial Park, west of the city along Ind.-9&37.

The County Commissioners also funded the new office of Lime City Economic Development as a catalyst for economic development. It was very successfully headed by Mark Wickersham until his recent retirement.

Today, a Canadian firm, Onward Manufacturing, occupies the Majestic building, with 85 employees produce outdoor grills. Additionally, the city’s eastside petroleum tanks keep expanding, and Good Humor-Breyer’s successor, Echo Lake, is now breaking two million eggs a day to produce yogurt.

At Riverfork Park there is so much development that an additional industrial park was needed on the west side of the highway in 2024 to accommodate the expansion of Bendix and the new $110 million, 350,000-square-foot Teijin Automotive Technologies facility. A South Korean company, Hanjung America, has also committed to building its first U.S.-based plant here on 133 acres at Riverfork West for energy storage systems, creating 440 good-paying positions. The companies’ recent investments here speak volumes about their anticipated future — and Huntington’s!

There are about 2,000 people employed in the industrial parks by industries that also include Borchers Sheet Metal, Huntington Sheet Metal, Holman (Auto Truck Group), the Huntington County Soil and Water Conservation District Office, Incipio Devices, Indiana Box, LKQ-(Transwheel and TransMetco), and Metal Source (recycling).

Subtly and surely, what has unfolded before us is a true “Industrial Revolution” in our community!

Be sure to see more about these advancements at YOUR History and Education Center.
— Researched and compiled by Dr. John Regan

Volunteers are always welcome to help us preserve the part for the present and future at the Huntington County History and Education Center, 315 Court Street, in Huntington. Visit the Center from 10-a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and Saturdays by appointment. More information on the Center’s collection, tours, room rental, and how to become a member of the Huntington County Historical Society is available from Executive Director Barbara Rupley at (260) 356-7264 or www.huntingtonhistoricalmuseum.com

The former MEMCOR corporate offices, at 41 E. Park Drive, was built in 1924 as Our Sunday Visitor. The building now contains the Park Lofts at Huntington apartments.

07/10/2026

We will be opening tomorrow July 10th at 12:30, I have a family funeral in the morning. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

07/06/2026

On Wednesday, July 29, at 7 pm, Jean Gernand will talk about the Civil War and its impact on Huntington. But for reference, this is an informative post about the Civil War and Indiana. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HR7TR57mg/