Choosing the top story of the year for the past 100 years is a formidable task. During nearly two months of research (scanning the front pages of every local newspaper edition since 1899) the following list resulted, my choices, of the top stories of the year.

There were some years when there was no clear-cut top story and other years when I had to decide from among as many as five or six top stories. In some cases, I have listed co-winner or a second or third choice.

Some may differ with individual year selections, but I think all agree that the selections presented here cover the most important local events of the past 10 decades.

In the early days, fires and explosions were rather commonplace and Fostoria experienced many of them.

Many of the buildings in the early part of the century were of wood construction, there were no sprinkler systems and the local fire department, in the early years, consisted of volunteers with horse-drawn equipment.