Historical Happenings in and around Piqua during the month of March.
March 01—The city stopped putting up weather sign flags in front of the City Hall in 1889. The city’s weather predictions were not known for their accuracy.
March 02—Local textile workers held a meeting in 1934 in the new Labor temple on the top floor of the Mickler Building on Main Street.
March 03—The city council met for the first time in 1845 in the new Town Hall on Main Street east of the Public Square.
March 04—A mass meeting was held in 1914 sponsored by the Miami County Anti-Reservoir Committee to protest flood protection measures.
March 05—In 1851, The Dayton and Michigan Railroad Company was chartered. This was the first north-south rail route to pass Piqua.
March 06—The Miami County Anti-Saloon league was organized in 1903 to promote prohibition in the county.
March 07—During the Great Depression (1934) local union activity in the city was very strong. The Meat Cutters and Packing House Workers, Local No. 133 called a strike against the Val Decker Meat Packing Company on East Ash Street.
March 08—In 1845, the Presbyterians dedicated a new brick church on the southeast corner of Ash and Wayne Streets.
March 09—The Piqua Board of Trade (a predecessor of the Chamber of Commerce) was organized in 1876.
March 10—In 1908, local musician W. E. Simpkinson conducted the Piqua Symphony Orchestra in a concert held at the May’s Opera House on North Wayne Street.
March 11—In 1908, the U.S. Army awarded a contract to the Wood Shovel and Tool Company to make 85,000 entrenching shovels. The company kept making the entrenching shovels through both World War I and World War II.
March 12—The 1897 “Commerce” was advertised as the best ten-cent cigar manufactured in Piqua.
March 13—The Aerovent Fan Company was established in Piqua in 1932.
March 14—The first issue of the Western Courier and Piqua Enquirer hit the streets in 1835.
March 15—The City Council in 1886 passed an ordinance prohibiting excessively speedy horses.
March 16—It was announced that the first state sponsored liquor store for Miami County in 1934 would be located in Piqua at 122 W. Ash Street.
March 17—Four years after national Prohibition came into effect in 1920; the city passed an ordinance prohibiting liquor in all forms within the city limits.
March 18—Civil War General Lew Wallace, the author of the nationally known book Ben Hur, spoke in 1887 at the Methodist Episcopal Church on the southeast corner of Wayne and Greene Streets.
March 19—The Ohio State Legislature passed an act in 1850 to incorporate Piqua as a city.
March 20—Future Indian Agent John Johnston was appointed as a clerk in 1801 in the U.S. War Department.
March 21—The Great Miami River reached a height of 14.7 feet in 1927, the highest since the 1913 flood. This proved to the local population that the Miami Conservancy Flood Protection Project actually worked.
March 22--In 1919, the Young Women’s Christian Association of Piqua, Ohio was incorporated.
March 23—The Cincinnati Courthouse Riots of 1884 resulted in the call-up of Piqua’s own Company F, Third Regiment of the Ohio National Guard.
March 24—The Piqua Milling Company on Main Street was established in 1884.
March 25—The Great Miami River overflowed its banks in 1913 causing the worst flood to ever hit the city.
March 26—Colonel John Johnston was brought out of retirement in 1881 at the request of the United States Indian Commissioner to negotiate the removal of the Wyandots from Ohio.
March 27—The first YMCA was established in 1877 but it only lasted until 1881.
March 28—Piqua National Gas and Oil Company was drilling their first well on the top of the East Main Street hill in Shawnee, in 1886.
March 29—In 1868, the nationally acclaimed orator and civil rights advocate, Frederick Douglas, stopped at the City Hotel on Main Street.
March 30—The Wikoff Centennial Guards, Company F, Third Regiment was organized in 1876.
March 31—The Hotel Favorite Dining Room in 1931 advertised an Easter Sunday meal for seventy-five cents complete with music by Francis Etter.
March 02—Local textile workers held a meeting in 1934 in the new Labor temple on the top floor of the Mickler Building on Main Street.
March 03—The city council met for the first time in 1845 in the new Town Hall on Main Street east of the Public Square.
March 04—A mass meeting was held in 1914 sponsored by the Miami County Anti-Reservoir Committee to protest flood protection measures.
March 05—In 1851, The Dayton and Michigan Railroad Company was chartered. This was the first north-south rail route to pass Piqua.
March 06—The Miami County Anti-Saloon league was organized in 1903 to promote prohibition in the county.
March 07—During the Great Depression (1934) local union activity in the city was very strong. The Meat Cutters and Packing House Workers, Local No. 133 called a strike against the Val Decker Meat Packing Company on East Ash Street.
March 08—In 1845, the Presbyterians dedicated a new brick church on the southeast corner of Ash and Wayne Streets.
March 09—The Piqua Board of Trade (a predecessor of the Chamber of Commerce) was organized in 1876.
March 10—In 1908, local musician W. E. Simpkinson conducted the Piqua Symphony Orchestra in a concert held at the May’s Opera House on North Wayne Street.
March 11—In 1908, the U.S. Army awarded a contract to the Wood Shovel and Tool Company to make 85,000 entrenching shovels. The company kept making the entrenching shovels through both World War I and World War II.
March 12—The 1897 “Commerce” was advertised as the best ten-cent cigar manufactured in Piqua.
March 13—The Aerovent Fan Company was established in Piqua in 1932.
March 14—The first issue of the Western Courier and Piqua Enquirer hit the streets in 1835.
March 15—The City Council in 1886 passed an ordinance prohibiting excessively speedy horses.
March 16—It was announced that the first state sponsored liquor store for Miami County in 1934 would be located in Piqua at 122 W. Ash Street.
March 17—Four years after national Prohibition came into effect in 1920; the city passed an ordinance prohibiting liquor in all forms within the city limits.
March 18—Civil War General Lew Wallace, the author of the nationally known book Ben Hur, spoke in 1887 at the Methodist Episcopal Church on the southeast corner of Wayne and Greene Streets.
March 19—The Ohio State Legislature passed an act in 1850 to incorporate Piqua as a city.
March 20—Future Indian Agent John Johnston was appointed as a clerk in 1801 in the U.S. War Department.
March 21—The Great Miami River reached a height of 14.7 feet in 1927, the highest since the 1913 flood. This proved to the local population that the Miami Conservancy Flood Protection Project actually worked.
March 22--In 1919, the Young Women’s Christian Association of Piqua, Ohio was incorporated.
March 23—The Cincinnati Courthouse Riots of 1884 resulted in the call-up of Piqua’s own Company F, Third Regiment of the Ohio National Guard.
March 24—The Piqua Milling Company on Main Street was established in 1884.
March 25—The Great Miami River overflowed its banks in 1913 causing the worst flood to ever hit the city.
March 26—Colonel John Johnston was brought out of retirement in 1881 at the request of the United States Indian Commissioner to negotiate the removal of the Wyandots from Ohio.
March 27—The first YMCA was established in 1877 but it only lasted until 1881.
March 28—Piqua National Gas and Oil Company was drilling their first well on the top of the East Main Street hill in Shawnee, in 1886.
March 29—In 1868, the nationally acclaimed orator and civil rights advocate, Frederick Douglas, stopped at the City Hotel on Main Street.
March 30—The Wikoff Centennial Guards, Company F, Third Regiment was organized in 1876.
March 31—The Hotel Favorite Dining Room in 1931 advertised an Easter Sunday meal for seventy-five cents complete with music by Francis Etter.