The Ohio Genealogical Society dedicated its new 19,000-square-foot family history research library in Bellville, Ohio with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, July 23rd.
About 120 family historians from around Ohio came to Bellville for the dedication.
A highlight was the cutting of the ribbon by Samuel D. Isaly of Mansfield’s Isaly Dairy family. The new library bears his name.
Founded in 1959 in Mansfield by a group of physicians and others interested in family history, OGS has been at five previous locations, the last on South Main Street. The newly constructed building at 611 State Route 97 West in Bellville, just east of the I-71/SR-97 interchange, is the Society’s first facility wholly designed for a library and manuscript archives. James and Marjorie Gorman donated the seven-acre site.
Tours of the facility were conducted by guides able to explain the particular features of each room.
Funded partially through an Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission grant, a Richland Foundation matching gift, and a Rural Development loan from the United States Department of Agriculture, the vast majority of funding for the 2.5 million dollar project came from hundreds of individual donors over several years. Officials are quick to invite additional contributions to OGS, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, for its endowment.
Newly-elected OGS President, Sunda Anderson Peters, of Mansfield led the dedication ceremony.
OGS may be reached at a new phone number, 419-886-1903. A full schedule and construction photographs may be found on the group’s web site – www.ogs.org
