The Bowling Green Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) celebrated the dedication of their new historical plaques with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday.

Due to inclement weather, the ceremony took place at the City Administration Building.

The historical plaques are a result of the hard work of those involved with the HPC.

“Once we got the grant, we had to decide how many signs we could afford. At first, we thought it would be 14 but we were able to make 16 signs,” said Geoff Howes, HPC secretary. “We then had to decide where the best places in town were to put the signs. We knew we wanted to concentrate on Main Street because it has been designated as a historic district by the Department of Interior and is on the National Register of Historic Places.”

Historical signage was added in downtown Bowling Green on July 18, after a year of work by a committee who designed the sign topics and researched the historical information.

The signage project was made possible in part by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Interior and National Park Serve, administered by the State Historical Preservation Office of the Ohio History Connection. The city became eligible for the grant after being recognized as a certified local government on June 16, 2021.

“Most of the signs are on Main Street. We each volunteered for different themes, with me focusing on the schools and churches,” Howes said. “We had to use all different kinds of sources when researching the information. We have learned a lot along the way.”

Walter and Marsha (Coover) Bloxsom visited Bowling Green for the first time this week. Marsha is a descendant of the Gaghan family, who built the building on the southwest corner of Main Street and Wooster Street back in 1888.

The couple live in Lexington, Kentucky.

“I did not know that the building was still here. I called the historical society for my personal genealogy research. On that call, I learned more about the building and found out about the historical signage project. We decided then that we would show up to Bowling Green for the dedication ceremony,” Bloxsom said. “It’s a surreal experience. You just don’t realize what your DNA is until you’re kind of confronted with it. This community gave a gift that will last for years to come. It is quite remarkable in today’s time that people are looking at the future by connecting it with the past. A lot of forward thinking.”

There are a total of 16 historical plaques:

• Historic Main Street

• Historic Schools

• Boom Town

• Serving the Citizens of Bowling Green

• Entertainment for the Decades

• A Legacy of Public Services

• Commerce and Finance in Old BG

• Historic Churches

• The Changing Face of North Main

• Four Corners

• The Changing Face of South Main

• Wood County Courthouse and Jail

• Court Street Connections

• Varnished Gathering Places

• Echoes of the Past: Prospect and Wooster

• Bowling Green’s Interurban and Rail Lines