Putnam County’s first bank, the Ottawa Exchange Bank, opened in 1865. The bank closed after its assets failed in January 1894; the failure was attributed to a government contract that caused losses for the bank. The next month, E.B. Hathaway, the bank’s clerk, was arrested on the charge of embezzling $5000.
Cloverdale used to have its own school system, but high school classes were discontinued in 1936 and the elementary school closed after the 1958-59 school year ended.
In 1928, a group of Putnam County residents lobbied to end Sunday movie showings at theaters in Columbus Grove and Leipsic, citing a desire to protect youth. The theaters’ owners and other residents argued that if a movie was good enough to show during the rest of the week, it was good enough for Sundays.
