Archbold Buckeye turns 100

10/7/2005

WHEN the village of Archbold holds its "C'mon Back" festival this weekend to mark completion of a three-year downtown renewal project, one local business as integral as any to the bustling Fulton County community will be proudly observing its own milestone.

That would be the Archbold Buckeye, the twice-a-week newspaper published by the Taylor family since 1905, making it the purveyor of local news for a long and prosperous 100 years.

The paper's office has stood at 207 North Defiance St. since 1933, coincidentally the year the current publisher, Ross Taylor, was born. On Sunday afternoon, from 1:30 to

4:30, Mr. Taylor and the staff, which includes his wife, Sharon, and children Brent and Jania, will hold an open house at the office to mark the centennial.

Newspapering used to be a common family business and, although there are relatively few family-owned newspapers left now, the Taylors have persevered to bring their readers an award-winning window on the world, starting with Fulton County.

The Buckeye was founded by Ross Taylor's grandfather, William O. Taylor. Its first issue, on July 28, 1905, carried a bold headline, "Arm Broken," over a story about a Pettisville woman, identified only as "Mrs. Strumbarger," who was seriously hurt in the crash of a runaway buggy after the horse was spooked. "There are hopes of her recovery," the story concluded.

News that really counted to local folks has, of course, been the Buckeye's staple. After W.O. Taylor died in 1945, the publisher's post was handed to his wife, Magdalena Rupp Taylor, from whom it was passed in 1955 to their children, Orrin R. Taylor, Valetta Taylor Parlette, and Vincent W. Taylor.

In the best family tradition, Orrin Taylor was associated with the paper for 87 years before he died in 1992. His son, Ross, became publisher in 1978.

With its food and furniture industries, Archbold has always been uncommonly prosperous. Indeed, Delbert Latta, the former northwest Ohio congressman, used to say that the village of 4,290 had more millionaires per capita than any place in the country.

Carefully tending a difficult trade, the Buckeye has had a strong hand and voice in this record of prosperity. We join all of northwest Ohio in recognizing the Taylor family's centennial in newspaper journalism.