For centuries Indian tribes buried their dead and associated artifacts in large above ground sites, known as "mounds." Two of these mounds were located close to Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff - the Shrum Mound on McKinley near Trabue Road, and the Toepfner Mound. This 30 feet high, 165 feet in diameter mound was located near the intersection of Grandview Avenue and Dublin Road, and was the burial site of the Adena Indians. Radiocarbon dating has set the date of the establishment of the mound at 410 BC, and the artifacts have been associated with the early to middle woodland period of archaeology, representing over 85 burials in an estimated 600 year timeframe. The Mound was on the property of landowner W.A. Anderson, who sold it to W.A. Pope in 1888. The land was purchased in 1946 by Studebaker dealer Joseph Toepfner, who attempted to bulldoze the site for a truck repair shop. His attempts were blocked for 7 years by local residents until 1953, when the Ohio Historical Society agreed to excavate it. Dr. Ray Baby supervised the dig, and built a temporary structure over the excavation to keep the weather out.
Settlers moved west across America to our community. Lucas Sullivant surveyed the land and claimed it. He sold the lots to various people who established Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff area. This area is approximately two miles square and 1150 acres.
Ohio celebrates statehood on March 1st, the date in 1803 when the Ohio General Assembly met for the first time. In reality, Ohio became a state on February 19, 1803, when President Thomas Jefferson endorsed the decision of the United States Congress to grant Ohio statehood.
In 1832 the Franklin County Commissioners purchased 105 acres and built the first county poorhouse. The location is now known as Grandview Terrace and is located near the corner of Grandview and Goodale Avenues. Sick and infirm people lived here. It was often inaccessible due to periods of high water.
In 1844, Daniel Thomas arrived in the area and discovered an existing log cabin between the Olentangy River and what is now Northwest Boulevard. Thomas lived in the cabin for fifteen years while farming the area between Goodale Boulevard and 3rd Avenue, vacating it after he built a large farmhouse and barn nearby. The original Thomas home at 789 Northwest Boulevard was razed in the mid-1990s to build The Grand View of Columbus Condominiums.
The Pennsylvania railroad (known in the area as the Columbus, Chicago, Indianapolis Central Railroad) had a flag stop depot on Grandview Avenue. In this photograph, a locomotive of the Pennsylvania railroad travels north at the western edge of Marble Cliff. This railroad also transported circus animals for the Sells Circus.
As reported in the Columbus Dispatch, the quarry was owned by J. E. Price. He raised the wages to $1.50 a day and offered free housing for each of the 29 workers. Eighty railroad cars per week were loaded at the quarry.
Arlington Place was founded by Timothy J. Price, a Columbus businessman. Houses were built for each family member on the ridge overlooking the railway and Scioto River. His daughter, Mary Jane Price Griswold, donated land for Marble Cliff and in 1926 gave $400,000 to build the downtown YWCA in memory of her husband.
In 1890, George and his wife, Alice, finished building their home at what is now 1600 Goodale Blvd., the site of the present day Summit Chase. It is rumored that the city was named Grandview after Mrs. Urlin climbed to the tower, looked over the area and exclaimed, "What a grand view!" and the city was named for it.
Sylvio Casparis built his first home at 1539 Roxbury. He was the founder of Casparis Stone Company. Later he built a castle and other buildings on Arlington Ave. His first home burned to the ground and was replaced by a substantial all-stone residence. It eventually became the parish office for Our Lady of Victory Church and was torn down in 2004.
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 former Kindergarten Annex now sits on the site of the Harding School.
Arnold's Grocery Store opened at the corner of First and Oakland Avenues in 1895. In 1904, the store was bought by Mr. Collins and became a general store known as Hinterscheid's in 1906. Arnold's was the location for the first election in Grandview in the 1890's.
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 bike in front is a Lindsay Roadster which was made in Indiana. The girls are wearing clothes that were typical of the times. The dresses had tabs attached at the bottom so that the skirts could be tied around the calf to form "bloomers" to keep it out of the spokes.
This stagecoach carried passengers on Fifth Avenue. There was a toll booth at Kenny Road. Since there was no bridge across the Olentangy River, the horses pulled the stagecoach across the water.
In 1901, the entire area between the two rivers, and roughly King Avenue, became united as the Hamlet of Marble Cliff. Marble Cliff was the first incorporated suburb of Columbus and was nicknamed "the Millionaire Suburb." Many people came to this country setting to escape the heat and dirt of downtown. The residents considered naming the area Arlington Heights, but another municipality already had the name and they wanted to avoid any confusion with the post office.
The Lindenberg family planned the Country Club Addition which is located at the south end of Marble Cliff today. Charles, the father, had a mansion on Broad Street; he donated the building to the state of Ohio which was used for the governor's residence. Charles's home is currently home to the Columbus Foundation.
The first powered, controlled, sustained flight was accomplished by Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903. The picture shows Orville flying and Wilbur running alongside to balance the plane. The first flight was 120 feet in 12 seconds at 10:35 a.m. in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Here is a Cool Library.
Samuel C. Jones was chosen to be the Council President and first Mayor of Grandview Heights.
Grandview Heights was incorporated as a village in 1906 and became a city in 1931.
Gas lines and telephone lines were installed
The trolley made the trip from downtown to 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 as William Stainer.
Glass Plumbing Company was started in 1908 on First Avenue across from the current library. It is now located on Fifth Avenue.
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 three-story garage built into the side of the hill. 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.
William H. Page was elected the second Mayor. Mr. Page was an 1889 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale and a member of the first law class of Ohio State in 1892. He became a law professor at Ohio State, and published numerous articles including fifteen volumes on the Ohio General Code. William was recruited to the University of Wisconsin. He died in Madison, Wisconsin at the age of eighty three.
The census recorded 489 residents.
Grandview Elementary School was built in 1911 and is now known as Edison Intermediate/Larry Larson Middle School.
Dedicated in 1911, this church was located at the corners of Lincoln and First Avenues. Today it is known as First Community Church.
These photographs of the original cornerstones show Larson Middle School and Edison Elementary Board Members and Architects. The building was replaced with a new fourth through eighth grade middle school.
This photo taken in 1912 shows Clarence and Harry Salzgaber with baskets of harvested sweet corn to be sold at local markets. Their family farm was located at the corner of First and Grandview Avenues which is currently the Tri-Village Photo Studio. The photo of the building was their home.
The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. She carried 2,224 passengers and crew, but only enough lifeboats for 1,178 people. Just under two hours after Titanic foundered, the passenger liner RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene of the sinking, where she brought aboard an estimated 705 survivors. The death toll has been estimated to have been between 1,490 and 1,635 people.
In March of 1913, a devastating flood destroyed much of Columbus' near west side and killed nearly 100 people. More would have died were it not for the efforts of citizens who helped rescue stranded people and animals. One group of these good samaritans was the Howell family of Broadview Avenue, who are shown here as they prepare their boats to help in this rescue effort. A notation on the photograph says "How many people was it we rescued - 423 1/2 wasn't it? You know we got one M.M.I. cadet." The Howell's stable and barn shown here were located behind their home at 1082 Broadview, and were accessible by a pass-through carriage house that was built under the front porch of the house.
Paul Avenue was changed to Lincoln Avenue. Originally, Paul Avenue was named after Paul Springer, son of the owner of the first house built on the street.
Just behind the boys are the railroad tracks that parallel Rt. 33. On the hill in the background are the Charles C. and Mary Jane Price Griswold home on the left (current site of the French Quarter), and the Butler Sheldon mansion directly behind them. Players are as follows: Back left to right: Herbert Ford, Louis Geer, Hiram Bronson, Alford Bradbury; Middle: Julius Stone, Frances Paddock, John Guy; Front: Joe Thomas, Robert Page, Elis Rogers, Bradley Skeele
On June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, a Serb nationalist shot to death the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife Sophie. Their deaths triggered the chain of events that led a month later to the start of World War I.
Claude K. Seibert was the fourth Mayor of Grandview from 1915 to 1919. He was a founding member of Boulevard Presbyterian Church in 1925. Charles also founded and owned Fifth Avenue Florist Shop. This photo shows his house located on Broadview Avenue with an inset picture of Mayor Siebert.
The summer field days began in 1915 and continued through 1925. Upper Arlington, Grandview, and Marble Cliff celebrated with a parade, food, and a baseball game. This photo was taken near the Salzgaber's farm which was located on Grandview Avenue. The former Tri-Village Studio is in the background.
This secret organization for boys was formed by Joe Bronson and Maurice Hendershott in 1915. The cabin was originally located at the corner of Cambridge and Cardigan and was later moved to Wyandotte Road. This photo shows the inside of the cabin.
The first high school graduation ceremony for Grandview Heights School system was held in 1916.
The Wyandotte Market, on the Northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Wyandotte Road, was formerly the Herrick and Reed Grocery. Hobart Herrick sold his interest to William Reed in 1916.
This 1918 photograph shows a group of Grandview girls participating in the Maypole dance, which has been a May Day tradition around the world for several centuries. Each dancer holds a different colored ribbon and moves in a circle around the pole. The pattern on the pole is determined by the choreography of the dance.
The 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic was caused by an influenza A (H1N1) virus, killing more than 500,000 people in the United States, and up to 50 million worldwide, more people than World War I (1914-18).
The first village newspaper was called the Community News and was later renamed Tri-Village News. The original newspaper was published by the First Community Church.
John Ryder was elected Mayor and continued as mayor until 1940.
The riveted steel coal furnace was invented in 1885 by Dave Lennox. It was not uncommon to see coal trucks deliver piles of fossil fuel to homes outside. Early versions of the furnace burned it to distribute heat throughout the house. Most people heated their homes with coal through the 1960's.
The area's first pharmacy was Mykrantz Drug Store which was located at the corner of Oakland and First Avenues.
The Civic Club was organized in 1920 and remains active today.
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified by three-fourths of the states on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment guaranteed all American women the right to vote.
William W. Reed was appointed the first police chief in 1921.
This is the 1921 Grandview High School girls basketball team. Their coach, at the upper left in the photo, was Ira Stanton Jones, who started as the boys football coach in 1919, and was also the athletic director and boys basketball coach. He retired from coaching in 1926, after several successful years, including coaching both the boys and girls teams to the Franklin County championship in 1922.
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