DELHI TOWNSHIP — Fall is a nice time to take a tour of “The Floral Paradise of America.” The mums are abloom.

        To help you cruise the community, the Delhi Township Historical Society has just the tool. Arm yourself with the group's award-winning driving tour of the township, where visitors will find a kaleidoscope of color in no fewer than 11 greenhouses.

At Selhorst greenhouse, owner Stephen Selhorst (seated) greets visitors Doris Zeiser and Tony Brunsman, volunteers with the Delhi Historical Society. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        The township's motto, “The Floral Paradise of America,” dates to its founding in the early 1900s. “At one time, there were about 100 greenhouses and growers in the township,” said Tony Brunsman, the historical society's volunteer marketing and development director.

        That history is abundantly apparent today and illustrated in the driving tour the society put together last year. The group, with about 275 members, used a $5,000 township grant aimed at developing tourism, said Doris Zeiser, society resource development director.

        The publication will receive the Ohio Historical Society's Educational Commendation Award at its annual meeting Nov. 4 in Columbus.

LEARN MORE

For additional information about the Delhi Township Historical Society, write, 468 Anderson Ferry Road, 45238; call, 451-4313; or consult the society's Web site, www.delhihistoricalsociety.org. Museum hours are noon-3 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

        The 16-page pamphlet directs visitors on a 20-mile, 45-stop tour. It begins at the historical society museum in an 1860s Victorian farmhouse at 468 Anderson Ferry Road, and stops at historic buildings, cemeteries, greenhouses, churches, schools and other sites of township interest. Driving time is 60 to 90 minutes.

        The tour text was written by museum director Sue Ann Painter, and designed and produced by Mr. Brunsman's company, PSA Consulting in Clifton. Copies are available at the Delhi Branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and at the museum.

        “German immigrants developed a lot of the early community. They planted vineyards and vegetables and fruits and flowers,” Mr. Brunsman said.

        “The growers had a lot of knowledge back in the early 1900s. A lot of it is still developed here today. They were innovators in various types of gardening and growing and were instrumental in using glass houses for growing. They developed various types of flowers,” said Mr. Brunsman.

        “A lot of the early growers were truck farmers who would grow flowers, fruits and vegetables on their land out here and (truck) them to Findlay Market” in Over-the-Rhine, he said.

        Greenhouses range from the sprawling Delhi Garden Center to family-owned enterprises such Selhorst's, Friedhoff's, Witterstaetter Sons', Steinbach's and Robben's.

        Visitors also pass by the Williams/Schroer House, circa 1838, on Anderson Ferry Road, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

        Other stops include: the Anderson Ferry, which began operating in 1817; Myers Schoolhouse, built in 1891; the College of Mount St. Joseph and the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity; Shiloh Methodist Church (1831); New St. Joseph Cemetery, and the 1792 Springhouse on Delhi Pike, now being restored.

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