Did You Know?

The Willey Safe-T Envelope, manufactured here in Question Mark, was the first envelope specifically-designed for secret communication and was used extensively by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

You love Mr. Freeze-E Ice Cream, but did you know it started right here in Question Mark? It did! The ice cream store you know and love originally started as a frozen meat processing plant before moving to delicious desserts!

Our mayor, Elizabeth Zisk, is the longest-serving public official in Question Mark history! She was elected in 1998 after a tragic accident took her husband, but don’t worry, this story had a happy ending for all of us in Question Mark! Thanks Mayor Zisk!

The stunning waterfall deep in the forest was only a rumor in Question Mark until 1938, when enterprising youngster Samuel P. Lindholm disappeared into the woods and, three years later, emerged with dysentery and a detailed map to The Falls.

The Question Mark Police force was given a Governor’s Award for the lowest crime rate for a town of its size for the years 2015-2022, with only three unsolved case still pending.

Tanned hides from the now-defunct Ames Tannery were used to create a pair of stunning gloves for Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson on the occasion of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1963 inauguration.

The slow-moving February blizzard of 2019 claimed more lives than any other local natural disaster.

Town founder, Reginald Willey, dreamed of creating his own language for the town of Question Mark, combining English, French, and Latin into what he called Americanesque. He published an encyclopedia and later a town history in this fascinating language, both of which are on display at the town library!

The longest bowling competition on record was held at the Question Mark Lanes on April 5, 1973 between “Big” Jim Heyward and “Little” Jim Reynolds. The contest lasted eighty-one games with “Little” Jim winning by a single pin.

The University of Ohio experimental crop station is responsible for the largest known pumpkin, weighing in at approximately 28,019 pounds, according to a 2022 Guinness World Record.

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Once a year, Question Mark citizens gather at British Soldier Field to await the return of the English regiment that disappeared here in 1757 and also to enjoy a festive BBQ together. That old regiment has never come back (yet!), but a good time is had by all.

The Question Mark Town Hall was built in 1908 and rebuilt in both 1921 and 1934, after a fire decimated the building twice. Thankfully, there were very few deaths and, after the second fire, the Question Mark Fire Department was founded.

The Williamson farm was briefly the site of an FBI stakeout in 1933 when it was believed one of the Lindburgh Baby's kidnappers was hiding in an outbuilding. It was later reported as a false alarm, as nobody was ever found.

In 1853, only two years after Reginald Willey helped found Question Mark, the commemorative silver key to the town went missing and has never been recovered.

Archaeological evidence suggests the Adena and Hopewell people occupied this area as early as 1000 BC. Their technologically-advanced earthworks can be found throughout the region, including one burial mound located deep in the woods known as 'the infinite circle.'

Question Park was opened in 1956 by the Tower family, original owners of Mr. Freeze-E Ice Cream! Question Park was also the first amusement park in Ohio to be cited for multiple violations by the Ohio Department of Health and Safety after the Big Dipper left fourteen people hospitalized.

The Question Mark Fire Department was founded in 1934 after a fire decimated the newly-rebuilt town hall. The Fire Department was all-volunteer until 1950 when the Aspen Fancy Hat factory burned to the ground, leaving a single singed hat, which is on display at the library.

Bingo is played every Tuesday at 7pm at Veterans Hall. Gabrielle Winstead had the longest winning Bingo streak from March to May 1996 when she won one hundred consecutive Bingo games. Some of Mrs. Winstead’s winnings went to fund the statue at British Soldier Field.

Before his death in 1896, town founder Reginald Willey was obsessed with writing a musical composition capturing the varied history and unique spirit of the town of Question Mark, entitled 'Question Mark, Oh Question Mark,' which unfortunately was unfinished at the time of his passing.

The first Question Mark Town School opened in 1857 in the storage room of the Willey Envelope Factory with a class of twelve students of various ages and subjects such as punctuation, glue-mixing, and field dressing.

The Paper Airplane Race, hosted by Willey Envelope Factory, has been a town tradition since 1895, one year after Labor Day was first established in the United States. To this day, there has only been fatality.

In addition to being a poet, manufacturer, punctuation enthusiast, and town founder, Reginald Willey also harbored a keen interest in geology and was one of the first cartographers to map the Question Mark Woods.

After discovering the Question Mark Falls in 1941, Samuel Lindholm uncovered a number of other historical artifacts and landmarks including a French missionary’s Bible and a miraculously-preserved hand belonging to a French colonist.

The British Museum of Wigs and Finery was one of the town’s first museums. Established in 1863, by Reginald Willey’s wife, Virginia Willey, the museum and all of its artifacts went missing after a once-in-a-century flood in 1890.

Operating for more than 150 years, the Greenberg Yarn Factory first opened in 1862, providing critical materials for the uniforms of Union Soldiers during the Civil War. In the 1920s, they used radium to produce a sensational one-of-a-kind thread—StarLite—that gave off its own glow.

The Question Mark Town Council is the legislative body of our town government. In 1979, the Town Council removed Mayor Francis Vreelander from office and threw the entire town into seven months of chaos before the eventual election of Mayor Anson Ames.

The Ames Rifle factory burned to the ground on October 23, 1866, one year after the end of the Civil War. Ninety-nine employees, all children, died in the blaze. Unfortunately, the Ames Rifle factory fire was only the first of many tragedies involving industrialized labor in town.

The first town celebration of Halloween in Question Mark was in 1923 with the arrival of several immigrant families from Ireland. Favorite pranks that year included unhinging fence posts and loosening cart wheels. Unfortunately, three people lost their lives.

Question Mark’s first local election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1852, with a sweeping victory by the Whig Party over the local Ohio Anti-Masonic Party. Unfortunately, three people were killed during the festivities that followed.

Before the founding of Question Mark in 1851, English colonists settled in the nearby Question Mark woods, building small log cabins, a trading post, a post office, and the town well, which colonists often claimed appeared and disappeared quite frequently.

A celebration of town founder Reginald Willey occurs every February 29th and features speeches, a children’s parade, and a recitation of Willey’s final poem by an Ohioan celebrity. Past speakers have included Steven Spielberg, Woody Harrelson, and Robert Pollard.

The Question Mark Car Wash has been voted Question Mark’s #2 car wash and #1 most-historically-relevant car wash for seventeen years in a row!