HISTORIC REFLECTION … The Village of Blakeslee was incorporated. On November 8, 1880, John Boman had the village of Blakeslee surveyed where the proposed Detroit, Butler & St. Louis (later known as the Wabash and today as Norfolk Southern) Railroad crossed his Florence Township farm. The new town grew, and on September 3, 1894, a petition signed by 51 Blakeslee residents was presented to the Williams County Commissioners requesting incorporation of the village. The commissioners granted the request on November 7, 1894, allowing Blakeslee citizens to create a village government, levy taxes and enact village ordinances. This circa 1910 photograph from the Kevin Maynard collection shows the west side of Blakeslee’s Washington Street (Ohio Route 34) looking north toward the railroad.