Historian Ann Lotshaw
Ann Lotshaw
A Watervillian since 1961, Ann Lotshaw and her late husband Elmer have long appreciated older houses. They remodeled a 1890s Victorian home in their former hometown, St. Louis, Missouri. Ann has channeled that love of early architecture into a research project on the early homes of Waterville. The end result of this project has been two beautifully illustrated books detailing the characteristics and ownership of a number of Watervile’s historic homes. Ann’s talent as a photographer is evident in the full color photographs that grace the cover and most of the pages in these volumes. The first volume is focused on the existing old homes in the original plat of the village along the river and is titled “Old Homes of Old Town Waterville.” The second titled “Old Homes of West Old Town Waterville” follows the westward expansion of the village. These volumes were donated to the Waterville Historical Society to produce and sell.
Ann credits the late Midge Campbell’s research on Waterville homes which is available in the Toledo-Lucas County Library, Bud and Jean Ziegler’s research for the 1903 Waterville diorama in the Wakeman building, Pat Ligabel’s “Historic Buildings in Waterville” and the work of Estella Wreede’s seventh grade class of 1956 which produced the booklet “The Waterville Story” as major sources of information for her books. She is also grateful to those home owners who were willing to share the history of their homes for public record. Her research files were placed in the Wakeman Archives and are available to the public. These books are now “out of print” due the expense of reproducing the many color photographs but copies may be viewed at the Wakeman Archives.
Ann has long been active in the society, volunteering in the Archives, serving as Secretary for five years in the late 1990s and as President from 2005-2010. She taught English and Ohio History at Fallen Timbers Junior High School and later taught seventh grade at the Anthony Wayne Middle School. Ann continues to live in Waterville and remain active with the Waterville Historical Society. She is presently serving on a committee planning a Waterville homes tour for 2017.