Jacob Galle, a Grove City and Harrisburg saloon keeper, was born in a log cabin in 1866 on Johnson Road. His son, Otto Everett Galle, born in 1895 at Harrisburg, grew up to be a popular grocer and butcher in Grove City. As a youngster, he attended Little Pennsylvania School (Darbydale) and completed the eighth grade at Harrisburg’s Green Hill School. Otto was first exposed to his butcher trade at the age of 12 working for an uncle, Louie Remo. When Galle was 20, he purchased the meat business operated by Henry Witterman and advertised his business in the Grove City Times newspaper. When customers didn’t have cash, he would barter for eggs, butter and lard. In an interview in 1981, Otto said he often butchered beef and hogs after midnight because flies were not as troublesome and the meat was temporarily stored in a well. Meat was packed in salt, hung in a smoke house to dry before being sold. Picture is the Jacob Galle Saloon in Grove City around 1910.

One member of the Grant family we don’t hear much about is Robert Davis Grant, (1847-1910) the eighth child of Hugh Grant Jr. and Leah Diemer Grant. Before the Civil War, he was a plasterer by trade but worked only a short time at his vocation. After returning from the war, he embarked in the grocery and dry goods business in which he remained until about 1910. He was the town's postmaster for 11 years and served 12 years on the school board. He stood just over five feet but weighed more than 350 pounds. His success was attributed to his ability to plan wisely and to execute with energy. Robert was a member of the Grove City Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.

Stanley Allen Meyer of Grove City received international acclaim for his invention of a water fuel cell that would operate a motor vehicle without the use of gasoline. The basic principle in Meyer’s fuel cell was that it allowed electricity to pass through water producing hydrogen and oxygen. He converted a dune buggy into a vehicle that he claimed used water instead of gasoline as the fuel. Meyer said 22 gallons of water would power the vehicle from Ohio to California. Meyer’s claims were never accepted by the mainstream scientific community and efforts to test his theory never occurred. Meyer had investors in his theory who filed suit in 1997 and Meyer was ordered to repay the $25,000 they had invested. Many still believe today he was murdered because of his water fuel cell invention. He died suddenly in 1998 after dining at a local restaurant with two foreigners. A Grove City police investigation found nothing suspicious and accepted the natural cause of death ruling by the Franklin County Coroner.

Richard G. Clark, a former Grove City attorney was a story teller and one of his best was about a “trespassing privy” that straddled a property line west of the railroad tracks in the Beulah Addition. Described as ramshackle, unpainted and almost falling down, the outdoor toilet was not only unsanitary, it caused offensive odors throughout the neighborhood. Town officials and two attorneys met at the property and were told by the neighbor lodging the complaint that a survey of the two lots showed the outhouse was sitting squarely on the property line and the next-door neighbor wanted immediate corrective action. While discussing the matter, one attorney stepped backwards sinking both shoes into the overflow from the outhouse causing considerable laughter. The mayor promptly said they would reassemble at the municipal building giving the out-of-town attorney time to compose himself.

Most of us today when we want an ice cube, we venture to the refrigerator but there was a time in Grove City when that wasn’t possible. Ice was delivered door-to-door in large blocks on a horse drawn wagon then placed in an icebox; there were no ice cubes. In the early years, Grove City had numerous ponds that froze over during the winter months where ice could be harvested. One of the popular spots was a clay bed pond at the old tile factory once located behind the Lutheran church on Columbus Street. There was another pond near the former Grove City Farmers Exchange building on Broadway where ice blocks could also be harvested. The scene pictured is a pond behind the church, the same place where two 12-foot tusks and the skull of a Mastodon was discovered around 1899.