The Piqua Tourism Council, in cooperation with the Local History department of the Piqua Public Library and Mainstreet Piqua have teamed up to offer four different walking tours of Piqua to occur this spring and fall.
The first tour will be on Saturday, April 21, beginning at 10:30AM in front of the Schmidlapp Building, 509 North Main Street. The first tour is the series is 'The Architecture of J. W. Yost.' Yost was the architect for the Miami County Courthouse in Troy and went on to make a major impact on Piqua's architecture. Yost buildings include the Schmidlapp Library, the Presbyterian Church, the Library and North Street School. Yost's unique style will be explained during this community tour. The tour will include lots of walking along city streets and sidewalks.
The second tour in the series will be the Piqua Caldwell District Stained Glass tour. The tour will take place on Saturday, May 19, beginning at 10:30 AM in front of the Piqua Public Library. The Piqua Caldwell District contains features stunning homes and buildings with stained glass windows that set them apart. They include the Masonic Lodge, the Presbyterian Church, Greene Street Church, Congregational Church, St. Mary's Church and St. Paul's Church. This tour will trace the history and methods of construction of stained glass in the Piqua community. The tour will contain lots of walking and not all of the buildings are handicapped accessible.
The first fall tour is entitled The Unknown Library Tour and will occur on Saturday, September 22, beginning at 10:30 AM in front of the Library. The Piqua Public Library is celebrating ten years in their new home in the Fort Piqua Plaza building. The tour will include none public spaces in the basement and third floors. Participants on this tour will learn about the building's interior architecture, its ghosts and its over 100 years of use. The structure is handicapped accessible.
The final tour of the year, The Fine Art of Dying III, will be on Saturday, October 20 at 10:30 AM in front of the Forest Hill Cemetery office off of SR 66. Headstones, footstones and monuments have unique symbols and styles that reflect their age and the societal norms of their eras. Many of the monuments were built in a grand style while others are more modest and present a feeling of private grief. The tour will include lots of walking over uneven grass surfaces.
Each tour in the series will last approximately two hours. Tickets are available for the tours at $5.00 each. Tickets may be purchased at the Mainstreet Piqua office at 326 North Main. A 2018 walking tour brochure is also available from the Mainstreet Piqua office. The tours will be led by Piqua historian Jim Oda. This project is sponsored by the Piqua Tourism Council with additional assistance from Mainstreet Piqua and the Piqua Public Library. Call Mainstreet Piqua at 773-9355 for additional information.