PERRYSBURG, OH (WTOL) - If you're a local history buff, you'll want to get a copy of Perrysburg's official bicentennial book "Perrysburg Village Voices: Hometown Stories of the Past."
The book was written by Richard Baranowski, head of the local history department at The Way Library.
Baranowksi compiled 50 stories from 50 people about the city named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
"For one thing, it was planned out by the U.S. government and laid out by the Army Corps of Engineers" said Baranowski.
That's because the government was afraid Europe was going to come back four years after the War of 1812 ended and try to take over the west again.
"The government was anxious to settle Perrysburg because it was the last place that could be reached by water," he said.
German immigr ants settled in Perrysburg to farm.
They never moved or traveled around, finding spouses on farms or at churches.
"And a lot of times people had large families. There were many occasions where brothers and sisters married - brothers from other families - so there were lot of double first cousins walking around Perrysburg" laughs Baranowski.
Perrysburg was slow to grow after people moved to Toledo for factory jobs and because of a deadly cholera epidemic in the late 1800's.
How did it become the city it is today?
It wasn't until after World War II that the population returned.
"They worked in Toledo, LOF, auto factories but they came back to Perrysburg to live. That's why Perrysburg grew. Not for business, but to live here."
Just another tidbit about Perrysburg you'll learn in Richard Baranowski's book.
Funding for it came from The Way Library, City of Perrysburg and Daughters of the American Revolution.
Cost is $25 and it will be sold at The Way Library.
