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Oberlin History Timeline
1880-1899

• 1881: Moses Fleetwood Walker, then an Oberlin College student, plays for OC's baseball team. In 1884, he became the first African-American major league baseball player.
• 1882: A major fire sweeps through Oberlin's downtown district.
• 1882: The first boulder is moved by students into Tappan Square.
• 1882: The year of Oberlin's "Great Flood," a severe flash flood that caused much damage to the young town. Newspaper reports list the damage to buildings, bridges, and personal effects, with a particular (and surprising) emphasis on pianos.
• 1886: Oberlin resident and alumnus Charles Martin Hall discovers a cheap process for extracting aluminum. His process cuts the cost of aluminum production by 90%.
• 1886: The "Gibson Hose Company" wins a national hose team competition for firefighters.
• 1887: A second major fire destroys much of Oberlin's downtown district.
• 1887-1888: Construction of the Oberlin Water Works (pictured above)
• 1893: The Anti-Saloon League is founded in Oberlin.
• 1893: The Oberlin Gas and Electric Company begins operating, providing gas and electrical power to the residents of Oberlin.
• 1893: Oberlin contracts to put in sanitary and storm sewers.
• 1894: Yet another major fire destroys part of downtown Oberlin.
• 1894: All major roads in Oberlin are resurfaced in brick, replacing mud, wood, and sandstone.
• 1895: Alice Swing is elected the first woman on the Oberlin School Board. She is one of the first women in the nation to be elected to a seat on a local school board.
• 1895: The Oberlin Telephone Company is incorporated.
• 1897: The traction railway (street line or inter-urban) between Oberlin and Elyria is opened. A round-trip ticket set you back 25 cents.
• 1897: The Tank Home for Missionary Children is built to house the children of missionaries while their parents are in the field.
• 1897: A second boulder appears in Tappan Square. This one was moved by the class of 1898.
• 1898: A fourth major fire burns through part of Oberlin.
• 1898: A bond issue is approved by local voters for a Lorain County Children's Home.
• 1899: The first cars in Oberlin are sighted.