A Very Special Offer from the Barberton Historical Society

This year marks the beginning of the Centennial celebration of O. C. Barber’s Anna Dean Farm. To celebrate this event we are issuing a new hard bound photo history book on the building of the Anna Dean Farm. “Construction of O. C. Barber’s Anna Dean Farm,” covers the construction of the legendary Barber Mansion and the Barber barns. The book contains over 100 unpublished photos from our archives. The book will be hardbound with a color dust jacket. Printed in a very limited quantity, like almost all of our publications, we expect this new book to sell out in a matter of weeks.

Please consider the following special offer. The book retails for $21.95 but for a total donation of $49.95 we will be happy to print the names of your loved ones (up to 5 names) on the dedication page of this fantastic new book. We will then mail you a signed and numbered copy of the book as soon as it is printed along with a tax deductible receipt for $30, (the value of your donation to the Barberton Historical Society). This is a great way to remember some special people in your life while helping to preserve Barberton’s history. Why not surprise a family member this Christmas with their own dedication in this brand new book? This is a great way to commemorate your grand parents, children, grandchildren, an aunt or an uncle, or even yourself.

The deadline to sign up for this special dedication offer is July 22, 2009, so please hurry. Just click here  to order the book dedication offer via credit card just follow the simple instructions. Book publication date is November 1, 2009, to arrive in plenty of time for Christmas.

Centennial Anna Dean Farm Walking Tour was a Great Success!

On Sunday May 17, 2009 the Barberton Historical Society hosted our 19th Annual Walking Tour of O. C. Barber's Anna Dean Farm. The year 2009 marks the beginning of the Centennial of the Anna Dean Farm. The Farm was built over a period of four years from 1909 into 1913. The historical society is planning something new for the tour each year.  If you would like to view some of our photos of the tour please CLICK HERE.

Historical Society to Buy and Preserve the O. C. Barber Wishing Well

On Easter Monday in 1909, the world famous industrialist and Barberton’s founder, Ohio C. Barber, began the construction of the Barber Mansion with it’s surrounding 40-acre park. To landscape the expansive park grounds, Mr. Barber hired the famous landscape architect O. C. Simonds of Chicago.

Simonds was the founder of the “middle western movement” of landscape design and was the only Midwesterner among the 11 charter members of the American Society of Landscape Architects. It was Simonds’ design of the Barber Mansion’s landscaping that led to the creation of the stone Wishing Well, or the Old Oaken Bucket, as it was called in Barber’s day.

The Wishing Well sat on the gravel path directly due north of the Barber Mansion and was a well-visited beauty spot on the Anna Dean Farm. It was also Mr. Barber's favorite place to sit and reflect.

The Barber Mansion was demolished in 1965 and today all but two acres of the 40-acre Barber Park have been developed into home sites. One acre contains the O. C. Barber Wishing Well.

The Barberton Historical Society was recently honored by a grant of $22,500 from the Barberton Community Foundation to help us purchase and preserve the Barber Wishing Well. To commemorate the Centennial of the Anna Dean Farm in 2009, the historical society wants to purchase the O. C. Barber Wishing Well property to preserve not only the well but also the many large trees planted by the Wishing Well which were planted by Mr. Barber. Even the daffodils planted by O. C. Barber in 1910 still bloom near the wishing well. To accomplish this project we have to raise a matching amount of $22,500.

It was a sad day in 1965 when the Barber Mansion was destroyed. Help us commemorate the Mansion, which would have been 100 years old in 2010. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Barberton Historical Society’s Wishing Well endowment fund at the Barberton Community Foundation. Donations can be mailed directly to this fund. Please send your contributions to the Wishing Well Fund at the Barberton Community Foundation, 460 West Paige Ave, Barberton Ohio 44203. Donations can also be made via credit card by clicking on the button below.

All contributions to the Barberton Historical Society are deductible from your Federal taxes.

Now Available
"America's Match King - Ohio Columbus Barber"
by W. F. Fleming

O. C. Barber was one of the most powerful U. S. industrialists of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. He is most often remembered in Barberton, as our town founder and as the builder of the Anna Dean Farm. His life and his times are masterfully captured in the premier book, "America's Match King - Ohio Columbus Barber" by noted Barberton High School teacher William Fleming.

In honor of Ohio C. Barber, on the eve of the 100th Anniversary of his founding of the Anna Dean Farm, and in honor of William Fleming, who passed away this year, the Barberton Historical Society is proud to announce the great book "America's Match King - Ohio Columbus Barber" by William Fleming.

Only 1000 copies of this 312 page complete master work are to be printed. This beautiful, new large format, glossy, hardbound book will be easy to read, richly illustrated, and is presale priced at ONLY $24.95. If any copies remain unsold after our presale, they will retail for $40.00.

Postage is only $5.00 per order, but you can save the postage if you want to pickup your book in Barberton. Order your copies NOW for only $24.95 each, by sending your check to O. C. Barber Biography c/o of the Barberton Historical Society, P. O. Box 666, Barberton Ohio, 44203 or you may pre-purchase on line and pay via credit card at www.annadeanfarm.com.

Copies of our DVD program "Anna Dean Farm - A Centennial Remembrance" are $19.95 each or you may order the book and DVD together for only $39.95. All proceeds from the sales of our materials go to help restore the O. C. Barber Barns in Barberton Ohio.

DVD NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE BARBERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

"Anna Dean Farm - Centennial Remembrance" - Now available on DVD.
This DVD presentation is actually 3 separate films on the Anna Dean Farm, the estate of Barberton's town founder Ohio C. Barber. Explore the legendary and sumptuous Barber Mansion in all its glory. Only $19.95 plus $2.00 postage per order.

Proceeds from the sale of this DVD will help save and preserve the O. C. Barber Wishing Well. Order on line by visiting our gift shop on the tool bar at the bottom of this page or to order via mail send a check or money order to Barberton Historical Society, P. O. Box 666, Barberton, Ohio 44203.

"The Anna Dean Farm can give you what you need, all that you desire, and more than you deserve."
-Ohio C. Barber 1915-

Annadeanfarm.com is the website of the Barberton Historical Society and we will attempt to show you Ohio C. Barber's Anna Dean Farm. The view of this website is to show the Anna Dean Farm as it would look in 1915. Unfortunately today, only 8 of the original 35 Anna Dean Farm buildings survive. The Barberton Historical Society owns five of the remaining eight Anna Dean Farm buildings, which we are currently restoring. Please visit all of the buildings on the Anna Dean Farm, but why not start with the Mansion of O. C. Barber, which upon its completion in 1910, was considered to be the finest mansion between New York and Chicago. The first thing you will encounter on the site are the floor plans of the Mansion. To take a virtual tour of the Mansion you will only need to click on the individual room.

The Barberton Historical Society is a non profit 501(c) 3 organization, so all of your donations are tax deductible. If you would like to help us our please visit our gift shop, or click on our DONATIONS button below which contains information on how you can make a tax deductible donation to help preserve the remaining Anna Dean Farm buildings.

In the meantime to contact us to ask us any questions, you can reach us via e-mail at Barbertonhistsoc@aol.com or call us directly at 330-830-1444. We have over 3000 individual photos of the Anna Dean Farm and Barberton Ohio. However we are always looking for more. Please keep us in mind for any old photos of Barberton.