Local historian Thomas Boltz is a man in pain.
Adept at scanning in old photos loaned to him from private collections, he is aware that hundreds of old
photos are being taken on a regular basis to the landfill or burned as junk by people who don’t know
their incredible value.
Boltz was loaned a number of historical photos for his recently-published book, “North Baltimore and its
Neighbors,” something he is hoping to continue to receive. One of his next projects is to have a
publication on the villages of Wood County, many of which have disappeared or “are shadows.”
“If anyone has pictures out there, I’d be glad to hear from them,” he stated. One of his dreams in life
is to get photos of Denver, a Wood County village once at the corner of Liberty Hi Road and Ohio 18
which has “disappeared” under railroad tracks.
As a volunteer for the Wood County Historical Museum and the North Baltimore Area Historical Society, he
scans as many photos as possible into their archives, “especially private collections so they can be
preserved. So many times generations don’t keep pictures from the past. They pitch them.”
He cited an incident where he wondered what happened to the original photos from his book on North
Baltimore’s Great Fire of 1891. The town’s historian, Bonnie Knaggs, tracked down the man’s relatives
who told her the photos had been thrown out.
“This pains me,” said Boltz, a Perrysburg resident whose interest is southern Wood County because his
ancestors helped settle it. “If they have old photos, take them to the local historical society or
library instead of throwing them out.”
Or get hold of him. “Some people are reluctant to give them up. I’d certainly like the opportunity to
scan them,” he offered.
One thing Boltz noted is that there may be a photo of an unknown relative standing in front of some
downtown buildings. While the person may never be identified, there is terrific historical value in
looking at the buildings, identifying their architecture and the merchants, especially if a fire
destroyed them later.
Another of Boltz’s next projects is to put the photos on discs and give them to the Wood County
Historical Museum and the Center for Archival Studies at Bowling Green State University. “One of my main
concerns: Preserving them for future historians,” he stated.
People with photos can contact Boltz through the North Baltimore Area Historical Society at [email protected] or (419) 257-2266.
