March 2004 - August, 2004
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Mr. Julius F. Stone was an influential Columbus industrialist and entrepreneur who lived in Grandview Heights. His home at 1065 Westwood, which he and his family lived in until the mid-1940s, was razed to develop the current Stonegate Village homes. Mr. Stone (upper right) was the owner of Ohio Buggy Works and the Seagrave Co., turn of the century makers of Seagrave fire engines. Mr. Stone was a trustee of The Ohio State University and President of the OSU Research Foundation. He donated quite a sum of money to the University, endowing a fellowship in Biophysical research and purchasing the first OSU cyclotron. In 1925 he donated Gibralter Island in Lake Erie near Put-In-Bay to OSU to establish what would become the Franz Theodore Stone Lab, in honor of his father. He was very active in conservation issues, and organized the first Colorado River expedition for sport in 1909. He was inducted into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Hall of Fame in 1967. His Harvard educated son Julius Stone, Jr. (lower right) is credited with saving Key West, Florida from total collapse in 1935 and reestablishing it as a mecca of tourism. Another of Julius Stone's sons, George was Commander of the Ohio Wing of the Civil Air Patrol and was the pilot of the first plane to land at Don Scott Field in 1942.
This panoramic view of the commercial center of Marble Cliff is looking southeast from approximately the site of the former Highlights For Children building on RT #33. Seen to the right, along Fifth Avenue starting at the tracks, are the Marble Cliff Railroad Station and the Post Office/General Store. The Columbia Gas complex currently occupies this site. The three Price family homes are along the ridge to the right. The unidentified, distinguished young men are standing on the railroad turn-off leading to the quarry. Date unknown but after 1890. Development boomed after the extension of the street car line to the area in 1901.
The Leamy home occupied the lot on the southwest corner of Fairview and First Avenues that is currently an asphalt parking lot. The stone column in the foreground still exists. Mr. Alan Leamy was the District Manager of the Welsbach Company of Philadelphia, a maker of gas mantles. He also invented a one-stringed instrument as depicted in his circa 1911 caricature (upper left). His son, Alan H. Leamy (upper right) attended Grandview Schools and was an extremely talented, selfÐtaught artist with a forte for automobile design. He became a premiere designer of automobiles, including the Duesenberg, Cord and Packard of the late 20s and early 30s. He was the chief designer for AmericaÕs first front-wheel drive production car, the Cord L-29. At age 32 he was hired as the chief designer for the Fisher Body Works of General Motors. Tragically he died only eight days after joining General Motors. A portfolio of his magnificent Art Deco designs can be viewed on the Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Web Page at www.ghmchs.org
This home at 1080 Wyandotte Road in Grandview was built in 1901 by Mr. David Gray, a prominent Columbus businessman and President of the Clinton National Bank, for his newly married son Eugene. The architectural design was done by famous architect Frank Packard, and was originally planned to be built at 955 Urlin for Colonel George Freeman, Quartermaster of the Ohio State Arsenal (the Arsenal building is now the Cultural Arts Center near downtown). Eugene GrayÕs wife was the owner of the very exclusive high fashion womenÕs store, Mrs. Eugene GrayÕs, on Broad Street near Third in downtown Columbus. For the last more than 50 years, the house has been the home of Mrs. Virginia Palmer. The structure to the left of the house is a water tower, which was common on Grandview properties of that era. The inset shows the house from a side view.
4/21 Looking west down West 5th
Fifth Avenue near Grandview Heights is shown in a more tranquil time 70 years ago. This photo was taken looking west toward Dublin Road from Fairview Avenue. The Sinclair station on the left is gone and has been replaced with a building that currently houses a martial arts studio. The vacant lot in the left foreground will be home to Huntington Banks and PaulÕs Restaurant. Across from the Sinclair station is a Gulf filling station, next to the Harry Lewis Garage, which is advertising a car wash for 35 cents!
Between the years 1915 and 1925, the event of the year was the Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff and Upper Arlington Field Day Celebration. This annual holiday activity, held in early summer featured a parade, food, a baseball game between GH and UA, children's games, etc. Started by the leadership of First Community Church, it provided "a cement for a more binding community spirit". This photograph is representative of what became a very competitive street-based neighborhood spirit to present the best theme or float for the parade. The sign in the center identifies the marchers as "the field day farmers", but the street name or designation can't be interpreted from the photo. The elaborate costumes show the extent that the community would go to increase the energy in the celebration. This photo is taken looking south on what is now Grandview Avenue, from approximately the location of 2nd avenue. The house in the center was one of Grandview's first, and is now the Tri-Village Studio. At the time of the photo it was the home of the Salzgabers, who owned the farmland east of Grandview Avenue between Goodale and King that a good portion of eastern Grandview was established on.
The Sylvio Casparis home, a Marble Cliff landmark, is one of only three surviving structures from the original 1889 plat of Marble Cliff. Widely acclaimed by the local press of the day, it was stated that ÒThe construction of the house, which is of three stories, and the arrangement of the grounds required 10 years, as the woods in the house came from all parts of the world, and the stone from every noted quarry in the United States and Europe.Ó (Columbus Press, July 4, 1907). The home has been part of the Our Lady of Victory parish grounds since 1922. It will be razed over the next several weeks to provide additional parking as part of the parish renovation project. This photo shows the home as viewed from the west, while the inset is an earlier photo from what is the current parking lot of OLV.
This beautiful home on Fifth Avenue at Roxbury in Marble Cliff has been an office building for the past several decades. It was originally built by William K. Lanman, president of the Columbus Bolt Company and his wife Harriet Sharp Lanman. Mr Lanman, who died in 1938 had 3 sons and a daughter, including Colonel W.K. Lanman who was executive officer of the legendary World War II "Flying Boxcar" SCAT squadron, and Dr. Jonathan T. Lanman who was a famous collector of oriental maps. Both sons donated extensively to Yale University. The home was owned for a short time by E.W. Ingram, when he relocated the headquarters of White Castle to Columbus.
One of the keys to the development of the Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff and Arlington communities was the completion of the trolley line from downtown to the Tri-Village area. An ad in a local development brochure indicated that the trolley could make the trip from downtown, up what is now Goodale Blvd, up the Broadview Hill, west on First Avenue, and north on Arlington to Fifth Avenue in just 15 minutes. This photo is from a 1908 postcard of a trolley motorman, identified only as "Will".
This house is referred to in several historical references as the Inn at Arlington, or Arlington Inn. It was located in Marble Cliff, and is speculated to have been razed for the construction of the Samuel Bush residence, which is now St. Raphael's Home for the Aged on Roxbury near Cardigan. References indicate that it was the meeting place for the Arlington Riding and Golf Club before the establishment of their Arlington (Aladdin) Country Club. One rumor has it that the building was originally moved to its Marble Cliff location and reassembled after being built for an exposition. As mentioned on the Historical Society web site, the Lindenberg family bible cited that Charles Lindenberg (owner of the old Governor's Mansion and owner of the Columbus Brass Company and the Columbus Piano Company) rented the Inn during the summer of 1903.
Gutches Grandview Market was one of many neighborhood grocery stores located around Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff. It was located at the corner of First Avenue and Oakland in the former Celeste Realty building, which was recently razed to build condominiums. The building later housed Gaudieri's Cleaners and Tailor Shop, and for a short time housed the Grandview Public Library. This early photo shows Mr. Gutches in his delivery car, and a sign in the window advertising Furnas Ice Cream. The Furnas Ice Cream Co. was started in Indiana, and later partnered with Velvet and the Borden Co.
The TAT Villa restaurant opened in 1933 at 1692 West Fifth in Grandview, at the location currently occupied by the Sherwin-Williams Paint store. The restaurant was housed in the home of its founders, the Presutti family, and was later called Presutti's Villa (inset) under the ownership of Salvatore and Rosina Presutti's son Alfred (Rocco). Salvatore and his brother Emmitt started in the restaurant business in a Flytown restaurant called TAT (1928) at 409 West Goodale, and also owned the First & Last Chance Saloon just down the street on Goodale, which they opened in 1914. After a fire in the kitchen of the restaurant, Presutti's Villa closed in 1981. It opened for a brief time as JoAnn's Chili Bordello, and as a Thai barbeque style eatery before the building was razed.
An aerial view (looking south) from the early 1950s shows the Grandview Heights Schools complex. At the top is the Edison/Middle School building, which was built in 1911 (the current Middle School portion (the west side) was added in 1930). This photo does not have either Edison south addition, which were completed in 1957 and 1971, or the multi-purpose addition (1995). The High School was built in 1923, and this photo does not show the gymnasium or the industrial arts additions (also 1957 and 1971). The Stadium was a WPA project that was completed in 1938. This photo shows the tennis courts at the south end of the field on Third Avenue, but no track around the field. Note the houses located on the football field property at the north end of the field, and the commercial auto shop to the east of the Grandview Library at the top-center of the photo.
This 1923 photo shows the Red Crown Gasoline station, located near First Avenue and Oakland. The site is adjacent to what is now a coin laundry and specialty market. The building behind the station was the home of the Grandview Methodist Church, which was built in 1915 and occupied by the congregation until 1951, when Trinity United Methodist Church was built at Fifth Avenue and Cambridge Boulevard.
The Grandview Heights High School is shown during construction, which was completed in 1923. This view, looking southwest toward Oakland Avenue, shows the large beam being raised for the gymnasium, which is now the auditorium. This beam frames the houses across the street at 1323 and 1327 Oakland. Most of the early houses along this street on this block were built between 1900 and 1915. The High School was built by the famous contractor and Columbus developer L.L. LeVeque.
This stately home was the residence of John E. Price, one of the founders of what is now Marble Cliff. His father was Columbus businessman Timothy J. Price, who built a summer home for himself, and residences for his daughter Mary Jane and his son John on adjacent lots near Fifth Avenue and Roxbury. In 1889 John Price and his brother-in-law Charles Griswold purchased the entire ridge above the Scioto River from Fifth Avenue to the Country Club near First Avenue, and with T. J. Price developed it into what was then called Arlington Place, which later became Marble Cliff. The view of the home is looking southeast from the railroad tracks at the bottom of the hill on Fifth at what is now the entrance to First Community Village. Records indicate that the house was destroyed in about 1914 and local lore indicates that it burned. The elder Price's home was moved to the corner of Arlington and Cardigan.
Adrienne Frame Howell was the wife of Alfred Howell, and lived at 1100 Broadview in Grandview Hts. on an estate that included several Howell families, including Alfred and Adrienne, Frank Byers Howell, Frank, Jr., Ed Howell, and Frank B. Howell's daughter Louise Nesbitt. The property between the two houses, on which Adrienne Howell is shown gardening with her hand plow, was later developed into Broadview Terrace in 1957 by developer Anthony Amicon. This photo dates to about 1913.
The Arlington Golf and Riding Club clubhouse was designed by prolific architect Frank Packard and was built in 1895 on the site currently occupied by the Aladdin Woods housing development on Arlington Avenue north of First. The golf course was later bought and renamed the Aladdin Country Club. The first fairway crossed the tracks from the clubhouse toward what is now Riverside Drive. The second hole was down the hill and across the road. The eighth green was east of the road and the railroad tracks near the Frank Lindenberg home (the home in Tarpy Park, owned until recently by the Tarpys). The inset shows the clubhouse with a roof over the outdoor porch overlooking the railroad and the golf course.
The Harding School was constructed on a site on Fairview Avenue just north of First Avenue in 1895, replacing the original Walcutt School located near Grandview Avenue and Dublin Road. The new building originally had two rooms on the south side, and was expanded to four rooms sandwiching the tall central tower in 1898. After the construction of what is now Edison School in 1911, it was used as Grandview High School until the current high school building was built in 1923 (the first high school class graduated in 1916.) The tower contained a large brass bell, which was melted and used in the war effort after the building was razed in 1930. The entire building was sold as scrap for $300. The Kindergarten Annex now sits on the site of the Harding School.
The Grandview women's band prepares to march in the Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff and Upper Arlington Field Days parade, circa 1921. The band was one of many groups in the parade, which also featured neighborhood floats, children, animals, and Mayor John Ryder of Grandview. The parade attendees were always interested in what attire Mayor Ryder would be dressed in, as he often dressed in costume and rode his horse along the parade route. Later all attendees could join the Field Days Queen, the winner of the prettiest baby contest, and the GH-UA baseball game winners at a supper hosted by the Community Church (now First Community) and Trinity Methodist Church.
8/11 Col. George Freeman House
Col. George D. Freeman (inset) was one of Grandview's esteemed turn-of-the-century residents, and was well known throughout Columbus as a businessman and military officer. Born in 1842 he worked in dry-goods and furniture before starting the George Freeman Mantel Co. in 1890. He later served as the Quartermaster of the Ohio State Arsenal. His home (1904), shown here, is on the northwest corner of Goodale Blvd. and Urlin Ave. and was called "Spring Oaks" by he and his wife Julia Ann. After his death, his daughter Julia (Tynan) lived in the house. His son Harry Freeman lived just north of him at 1051 Urlin, which was on this year's Historical Society tour.
The Wyandotte Market, on the Northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Wyandotte Road, was formerly the Herrick and Reed Grocery. Partner Hobart Herrick sold his interest to William Reed in 1916, the year this photo was taken. (The store is now the Stewart Wine Store.) In 1919, William Reed (inset) was commissioned as the Deputy Marshal of Grandview. He served as Grandview's Chief of Police and was appointed as a Franklin County Deputy Sheriff in 1931.
This French-style mansion, located at 1599 Roxbury Road was built between 1908 and 1912 by influential Marble Cliff resident and Columbus businessman Butler Sheldon, son of Robert Sheldon (inset), founder of Sheldon Dry Goods. Butler Sheldon's sister, Flora, was the senior President Bush's paternal grandmother, who lived nearby at 1550 Roxbury. The 25 room home had a 3 story garage built into the side of the hill that it sat on. The first floor was for horses, the second floor for automobiles, and the third was the gardener's apartment. A ballroom in the attic of the house was surrounded by four bedrooms and a bath. It also had a putting green, tennis court, and its own railroad siding for the delivery of coal for heating. In 1917 it was sold to the Wallick family, owners of the Deshler Hotel at Broad and High, and in 1928 it was subdivided into 4 luxury apartments of six and seven rooms each, and second floors were added to the two matching porch wings, seen here in the foreground of the photo. It is currently hidden from view by the more recent Roxbury Arms Apartments developed fronting Roxbury Road.
This photo is taken looking southwest across what was a gravel Fifth Avenue, near Broadview Avenue. It shows the four room Broadview School (Fifth Avenue School) that was located on the site now occupied by Starbuck's Coffee and the neighboring building. The school was one of several in the district in the early 1900s. For example, for the 1917/1918 school year, grades one through three were located here, grades four through eight were in the elementary on Fairview (now called Edison School), and the high school classes were in the Harding School, which was located on the site of the current Kindergarten Annex. In addition to these students, Miss Mary Boyer privately schooled thirteen children from the district. Miss Boyer would later become one of Arlington's first elementary school teachers.