Fort Recovery Historic Building Plaques
Scroll down for information on 39 historic buildings in Fort Recovery. The Historic Building Plaque project is a joint effort by Project Recovery and the Fort Recovery Historical Society. After having plaques on 3 buildings for a number of years, a total of 39 plaques were created and placed on historic buildings in 2025.
The QR codes on the plaques and "More Building History" documents were created by Cora Pearson, as part of her 2026 Girl Scout Gold Award "History In the Making”.
Content for both the plaques and the "More Building History" is from Fort Recovery Businesses Then Now: 225 Years of Adventure! by Helen LeFevre (2016).
Web site design and building photos by Christine Thompson (2026), on behalf of the Fort Recovery Historical Society.
100 East Boundary Street, 1928
Plaque Text: This building was built in 1928 by Wilbur Snyder as the Snyder Service Station. Wilbur and son Dale ran this station for many years, with a radio repair shop in the back. Ben Schuh set up a barbershop in the back of the gas station in the 1960's. Lowell Zimmerman LP Gas also used this location. This property was purchased by the Fort Recovery Historical Society in 1997. Project Recovery restored it back into the look of the 1928 Shell Station, providing a Visitor Center and restrooms for tourists.
101 South Wayne Street, circa 1858 / 1939
Plaque Text: John Cring built a 2-story building circa 1858 for his drug store followed by doctors’ offices, druggists, a gas office, then many grocery stores, including Anthony Brothers. In 1928, the Business and Professional Women’s Club established a Reading Room, the town’s first library.
In 1939 the original building was razed and a one-story building housed Frank’s undertaking and furniture making business. Pool rooms followed until 1972, then a laundromat until1980.In 1984, Tom and Tess Kaup remodeled the building and operated Forget Me Not Florist for almost 40 years, followed by Be You Floral and Apparel.
105-107 North Wayne Street, circa 1870
Plaque Text: Known as the Berkheimer Building, two businesses were here. In 1906 the two businesses were The Porterfield-McDaniel Bank, later known as Fort Recovery Banking Co., and the Meinerding Hardware. The two-story building was destroyed by an explosion when a gun discharged into a box of dynamite in the hardware store. Five people were killed and the back of the building completely destroyed. Almost every window in town was broken. After the explosion, the bank rebuilt the building and operated on the south side until they moved down the street in 1922.
Numerous businesses called the south side home including Amy Bower's Dinner Bell and Cattell's Restaurant. Fort Recovery Radio began their operations here. At one time, the telephone exchange was located on the second floor. Later a fire in an upstairs apartment destroyed the second story. The north side remained a hardware store. In 1935 it became a restaurant/tavern operated by various owners. In 1998 it became Thienman's Bar & Grill and later Brick Street Tavern.
1 Fort Site Street, 1938
Plaque Text: The Fort Recovery library was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938, on a site adjacent to the original fort replica. This project was completed through the combined efforts of the Fort Recovery Welfare Association and the Fort Recovery Business and Professional Women’s Club. The library occupied the first floor with a second floor museum displaying battle artifacts.
In 1968, the Ohio Historical Society (now Ohio History Connection) purchased and renovated the building, establishing Fort Recovery Museum which provides interpretation, exhibits, and artifacts from St. Clair’s Defeat and the Battle of Fort Recovery.
