Remarkable Ohio

Counties

Below is a complete listing of all Ohio Historical Markers. To find a detailed marker listing including text, photographs, and locations, click on a county below. Our listing is updated by the markers program as new markers are installed and older markers are reported damaged or missing.

4-81 The Brumback Library

Side A: When local banker and businessman John Sanford Brumback left a large bequest to Van Wert County for the purpose of establishing a countywide library in 1897, such institutions did not yet exist, and Ohio had no legal provision for a tax-supported county library system. In response, the Ohio Legislature passed an enabling law in April 1898, marking the beginning of the county library system in the United States. Designed by Toledo architect David L. Stine and built of Bedford limestone in an eclectic Romanesque style, the Brumback Library was dedicated in 1901. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, it continues to serve as a center of knowledge for all of Van Wert County.
Side B: Same
Sponsors: Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, The Library Enrichment Foundation of the Brumback Library, and The Ohio Historical Society
Address: 215 W. Main Street, 
Van Wert, 
OH, 
45891
Latitude: 40.8697280
Longitude: -84.5851350