Out of the Clock Tower

Hello and welcome to the Greene County Archives' blog, "Out of the Clock Tower". Please join us as we share information on archival issues, news, special events, and highlights from our collection.

Before the archives program began in Greene County in 1996, permanent records were stored in every conceivable space, in basements, garages, and closets. Usually they were in boxes of various shapes and sizes, although seldom adequately labeled, but occasionally they were just in loose piles of books and papers. Most notable were the old records stuffed into the clock tower of the County Courthouse, where they shared their home with pigeon droppings.

Now, there is a clean, environmentally controlled, well appointed location for the county archives, where our historical records are housed in standard sized boxes on steel shelves. We have taken note of their journey in the name for our blog.

View All Posts

Apr 07

Greene County VIP - Sol Arnovitz

Posted on April 7, 2022 at 10:05 AM by Melissa Dalton

Our next Greene County VIP was a prominent Xenia business owner and civic leader, Sol Arnovitz. Does anyone remember shopping at Sol's in downtown Xenia? Have you ever fished at Sol Arnovitz Park in Xenia? (See Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 Sol Arnovitz Park (JPG)

Fig. 1 View of Sol Arnovitz Park photo via https://www.theoutbound.com

Solomon Arnovitz was born in Poland in 1906. He immigrated to the United States and married Sara Lee Engilman on March 18, 1931 (See Fig. 2). The couple settled on King Street in the City of Xenia and had two children, Beverly and Theodore. Sol owned and operated the retail clothing operation, Sol’s Store at 29 East Main Street in downtown Xenia. A successful businessman, Sol also operated the real estate holding companies, Mercury Realty, Inc. and later Solar, Inc. He owned several properties throughout Xenia. Furthermore, Arnovitz was the founder and director of the Fairborn Farmers and Merchants Bank for several years.

Fig. 2 Sol and Sara Marriage Record (JPG)

Fig. 2 Sol and Sara Arnovitz's 1931 marriage record via Greene County Records Center and Archives

Arnovitz was an instrumental civic leader, serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the Xenia/ Greene County YMCA. He also helped launch the Greene County Joint Vocational School District. Sol and his wife Sara, donated twenty-five acres of land for the Joint Vocational School. Besides his business commitments, Solomon Arnovitz was a member of several organizations including, Eshcol Lodge 55; B’nai B’rith (Jewish Service Organization) of Dayton; Xenia Elks Lodge; Fraternal Order of Police Associates; Xenia’s Rotary Club; and several masonic groups.

On May 18, 1967, Solomon Arnovitz died from a heart attack leaving his beloved wife and children. He is buried at Beth Abraham Cemetery in Montgomery County, Ohio (Fig. 3). As the Greene County Records Center and Archives, we hold and preserve estate records - including Sol Arnovitz's. Below we have included some features from his estate record.

Fig. 3 Arnovitz Gravemarker (JPG)