TURN OF THE CENTURY HOTEL!

Relics of the Past, Memories for the Future

Mission & Vision

Timeline

Fires

Who

Photos

HOW THE

HISTORICAL SOCIETY BEGAN!

Many years prior to 2019, Pamela Ashoff Roberts and Debbie Corliss Prichard started talking about the importance of having a Historical Society at Canadohta Lake. But then, sometime during 2019, they got a lot more serious!

The first official meeting was held at the Fisherman’s Tavern on October 19, 2019. They brainstormed, visited other societies, and developed a plan to launch The Lake Canadohta Historical Society.

The Lake Canadohta Historical Society was officially incepted as a 501c3 on July 20, 2020.

Since then, many cherished relics, artifacts, articles, and photos have been shared, reminisced, & collected.

Community interest & involvement began to grow which then led to the formation of the Lake Canadohta Historical Society Board.

A Peek Inside...

Our Community Action

CELEBRATING BEN RUGGLES!

Image

Ben Ruggles Saved Canadohta Lake from Becoming a Private Lake

In the early 1900’s, a group of 40 men who called

themselves the Canadohta Club, made millions in the

oil business in Titusville.
They bought all the land around Canadohta Lake

hoping to make it a privately-owned lake for their club.

There was one parcel owned by Ben Ruggles and a few of his partners that they could not buy. Ben and his partners kept this parcel in an effort to keep the lake from going private.

The Ruggles parcel gave the public access to the lake

without going over the club property.

Ruggles was arrested several times on the lake by an armed patrol that was hired by the club to keep out trespassers.

The club built a small dam where Oil Creek flows from the
lake and claimed that Canadohta was man-made.

Local residents bombed the dam and peppered the patrol boats with buckshot. Ruggles was arrested again and when the case went to court, he convinced the Crawford County Court Judges that the lake had been there long before the club built the dam.

His proof was producing the photograph (above) of the steamboat that had been taken many years before the club came into existence.

In 1923 the judge ordered that the lake be

“Held in Trust by the Commonwealth For the People

and Cannot be Closed.”

~Thank you Mr. Ben Ruggles!

 

VISITING SPEAKERS & PRESENTATIONS

The Old Hotel, George Eisentrout

Canadohta Roller Rink, Rick & Andy Mason

Lincolnville History, Dale Burgess & Gayle Amonn

The Raiders Storytellers, Gilbert Scouten, Jerry Williams

Cemeteries & Founders, Baxter Wellmon

Indigenous People, Leon Sam Briggs

Camp Athodonac, Bruce & Carol Mixer, Dr. Rob Martsolf

BURIAL GROUNDS PRESERVATION

Cleaning headstones in Bloomfield Burial Grounds

New Signage

FUNDRAISING

New Home

Afghan Raffle, Karen Ricke

'Canadohta Lake Breezes Forever' Dodie Randa, Local Author

1952 Framed Map of Canadohta Lake

Canadohta Bench, Bill Steuernagel

Crawford Gives Participant

COLLECTING ARTIFACTS

Museum Pieces

Digitizing Historical Documents

Lake Canadohta Historical Society

Meet Your Board

Ann Bergheim
Debbie Corliss Prichard

Judy Amon
Mitzi Beckwith
Pam Ashoff Roberts
Richard Shaw
Missing from photo:

Kym Ashoff Miller and
Molly Miller Shreve

JOHN DOE

JOHN DOE

Get In Touch

New York, NY, USA