Canfield Historical Society to host fundraising event

The non-profit Canfield Historical Society, in keeping with its mission to preserve the historic Mahoning Dispatch Building (now utilized as the Mahoning Dispatch Museum on the Green), has launched a fundraising campaign to restore the fa ßade of the 1865 structure.

The first fundraising event will be hosted June 25 from 2-6 p.m. at the Mahoning Dispatch museum. The event, titled “Fowler Ford” Open House, is in remembrance of Ralph Fowler. Fowler owned one of the first Ford dealerships in Canfield and was third generation publisher of the Mahoning Dispatch newspaper.

The event will offer tours of the historic newspaper business, which was established in 1877 as the area’s weekly newspaper and was in operation for 91 years. It was owned by three generations of the Fowler family. The interior of the building has remained virtually untouched. The four historic machines still on site include a Linotype, a Heidelberg Windmill, a Platen Press and the newspaper’s oldest press, a Campbell Flat Bed.

A special offering at this open house will feature a display of six decades of automobile advertising from the Mahoning Dispatch newspaper: 1910 through the 1960s. Classic and antique car owners are invited to bring a car to show and receive free admission to the museum. A $5 donation will be asked from visitors to help in the restoration efforts.

The Mahoning Dispatch Museum on the Green is located at 21 S. Broad St. The event is open and appropriate for all ages. If you need additional information, call the Canfield Historical Society at 330-533-3458. The fundraising efforts will continue in the fall with a Memory Walk, “Canfield through the Years.” This living history walk is slated for Sept. 24 and Oct. 8.