LIBRARY TALK – JUNE 12, 2023
From the desk of Alison Gibson, Director
Russellville’s turn for a postcard. This commanding building, then and probably would be still today the tallest in Russellville provided high quality grinding of wheat and corn that was harvested in the county. According to the Russellville, Ohio Sesqui-Centennial booklet there was a grist mill within the village borders before 1875 named the Russellville Grist Mill, then changed hands in 1875 and became the Conn, Wilson and Co., later to Robert Conn & Co. After 1882, the mill was managed by Samuel Conn and known as Russellville Steam Grist Mill, and was housed in this building which measured 60 x 40 feet and was four stories tall. At some point in the early 20th century, the name was changed to Phoenix Flour Mill, which unfortunately suffered total destruction by fire on June 10, 1914 and was not rebuilt. It is claimed that there were two previous flour mill buildings on the same site, both destroyed by fire. The fire was a blow to Russellville, as the mill was one of the main industries in town.
We want to thank everyone that came to the Ripley Friends of the Library book sale—it was very successful and we hope that you found treasures among the many books we had. We will be going through them and weeding, so the next sale during the River Village Christmas weekend will be mostly new titles. Thanks to the Friends that worked hard on setting up, manning the sale and then boxing up. Lots of work, but we think it is worth it.
Next Tuesday (June 13th) at 12:00 pm Raptor, Inc. will be bringing in 3 raptor ambassadors to the Ripley Library annex and will talk about the life, habitat and importance of hawks, owls and eagles. (A raptor is a bird of prey) Raptor, Inc. concentrates on rescuing and rehabilitating raptors as well as educating the public. This program is free and open to everyone.
