Hocking County Historical and Genealogical Society and Museum
Hocking County Historical and Genealogical Society and Museum
64 North Culver Street
Logan, OH 43138
ph: 740-385-6026
hockingh
About Us
ABOUT US:
PRESIDENT’S CORNER July 2020
By Judy Maniskas
Dear Members and Friends,
To say that this year has been an unusual one for the Society is an
Understatement!
The worldwide pandemic reared its ugly head here in Hocking County in March.
We were happy to comply with Governor DeWine’s measures for safety and good
health, and therefore the Museum has been closed to visitors since
that time. Unfortunately, our expenses keep rolling in for Kevin Canan, treasurer. Our
fundraisers, the Annual Flea Market, and the Ice Cream Social events will not be held in
2020.
That is not to say the Society Members have not been busy with various housekeeping
chores in the Schempp House and the Museum Building. Thanks to Nyla Vollmer, Ann
Cramer, and Tom Collins for mowing and trimming the lawn and grounds. Sarolin and
Don Griggs are using their Master Gardner skills to keep
the flower beds weedless. Chuck Eaton keeps our Web site interesting
with the Throwback Thursday feature and his other columns. Nyla Vollmer has hit the
jackpot with our Facebook page. There has been an excellent response, with as many
as 1,000 hits for exciting photos and information. Margaret Graham, vice president, is
always ready to advise our group in moving forward. If I have forgotten anyone who has
helped in any way, I apologize, but thanks to all.
The Board of Trustees is watching with interest the local school’s decision to open later
this month. It would be difficult to sanitize our collections as a whole because most of
our artifacts are either paper or textiles. I am praying that the country will once again be
safe, and folks from afar can visit the finest, little museum in Southeastern Ohio!
Remember, for your safety, follow the rules, and wear those masks
Nils Louis Christian Kachelmacher (1860-1917)
Known as the Norwegian Count, Nils Louis Christian Kachelmacher was born in Oslo, Norway of wealthy parentage. Nils spent much of his boyhood boating and swimming along the coast of that country.
At age 21, he came to America, he became exporter of butter and cheese for the New York market. His associates were so impressed with him, they made him President of the Columbus and Hocking Coal and Iron Company, although he had no experience whatsoever in any of that type of work.
He came to Logan in 1915 (at age 55 years) as a retired President of the Columbus & Hocking Coal & Iron Co. He was an industrial genius, he had much to do with the development of the mineral resources in the Hocking Valley.
There was a parent company which under Kachelmacher bought coal production to its greatest peak in the Hocking Hill country and gave birth to the Greendale Brick Co. Plant, once the largest in the world. He was responsible for industrial growth in the Hocking Valley and expansion of the town of Logan.
As president of the Columbus and Hocking Coal & Iron Company, Kachelmacher pioneered oil fields in the New Straitsville area, and developed holdings in iron, natural gas, and coal. He also directed the construction of the Greendale Brick plant, once considered the world’s largest brick producer. He also developed the technology of ironmaking. He was also chairman of the directors of the Bessie Furnace Co., New Straitsville, Ohio.
The area of Greendale was originally known as Kachelmacher. At its peak the Greendale brick plant employed more than 200 men and was the first to use the production-line methods in brickmaking.
Today the town of Kachelmacher is forgotten. Just a few houses remain and a few decayed skeletons of what is left of the world’s largest brick plant.
He spent only two years living in Logan but considered it home. His brick two-story house still sets across from the Kachelmacher Park. When he died in 1917 and he had been excavating a lake across from his home in South Logan (at the site of the Park) and had ordered a sailboat so he could resume the pleasures of his boyhood. He had already built a swimming pool beside his home and used it daily during the summer months.
Nils was never a healthy man. During his life, he suffered from an illness caused by weakening of the walls of his esophagus. He had an operation at the Mayo Clinic to no avail and died during his second operation on July 4, 1917 in Philadelphia.
He died bequeathing 10 acres of land to be used solely as a public park.
He also established a trust to create an institution “solely to research the cure, prevention, and relief of varicose veins.”
the Kachelmacher Vein Clinic thrives as his dream lives on. He once said, “It is my belief that each person should endeavor to make the world a little better because he lived and worked in it.”
He is laid to rest in the Mausoleum across St. Rt. 93 along the hillside near the park.
Hocking County Historical and Genealogical Society and Museum
64 North Culver Street
Logan, OH 43138
ph: 740-385-6026
hockingh