Here is an amazing photograph of High Street, given to me by Stu Koblentz, who found this image in an old student thesis by Forest Ira Blanchard. The photo looks north, taken around 3070 North High. On the right (east) side of High Street I believe is the house of Mathias Armbruster, which later became the Southwick Good Fortkamp Funeral Chapel at 3100 North High Street at Weber and High. I’m told that some gravestones from the old burial ground are visible on the right. Check my book, Clintonville and Beechwold, for a better photo of this house. You can click on the image to see it in more detail.

[Citation: Blanchard, Forest Ira. 1922. An introduction to the economic and social geography of Columbus, Ohio. Thesis (M.A.)–Ohio State University, 1922. On January 16, I replaced the grainy version of this image on this web site with a higher quality photo after Joe Smith alerted me to its existence.]

And another amazing old photo of North High Street from Stu Koblentz. This photo also looks north, and was taken just south of the intersection of High and North Broadway. The house on the west (left) behind the little shack (marked “ice”) is the Chesnut house (aka Chestnut house), described in this web site’s “Water for Cookies” entry and also found in my book. The school on the east (right) side of High Street is the old Clinton Township school building, a picture of which is also in my book. You can click on the image to see it in more detail.

Stu’s theory about the Chesnut house is as follows:

The image shows the Chesnut house, facing North High Street, about where it currently stands. The facade that faces Wall Street today is the facade facing High Street. This is verifiable in the chimney placements.

So I went through Joe Testa’s web site and I think I know what happened to the house.

As far as I can tell the house stood approximately at 3327-29 North High Street. In the 1910s, when the house (which appears to have been built in the 1860s or 70s) is pictured, the house had been moved on a pivot to its current location, with its northeast corner remaining close to its original placement. This would account for the front lot build out, the twist in the alley and the sudden reemergence of Wall Street as well as the placement of the house in the picture, and the current location of the house.

What is interesting to me is why did they go to all that trouble, when its fairly common in urban settings to build a street facade onto a house and call it a commercial building. I think that part of the reason is that the house sat further back from High Street, making it too far away to convert to a commercial space commonly found in that era.

The township school located at Clinton Heights Avenue and North High Street did not, originally, have running water. Every day a child was designated to carry one bucket and dipper across High Street to the Chesnut house (see page 12 in my book, Clintonville and Beechwold) to fetch water that would be shared by the students. Legend has it that there were no lack of volunteers for water duty, as Mrs. Chesnut (or perhaps it was her daughter Fannie) always had cookies for the volunteer. This is a bad, yet significantly older, image of the Chesnut house.

Overcrowded schools were a chronic problem, and the schools supplemented their brick-and-mortar ediifices with portable buildings. In response to the overcrowding of the east building, Clinton Elementary School’s west building was constructed in 1922. Both the east and west buildings have been in use for elementary and kindergarten grades since that time. (Photo courtesy of Columbus City Schools)

In 1925, members of Maple Grove Church presented a play at the church. The play was Friendly Helpers Class. It was a success and was taken on the road to the Linworth and King Avenue Methodist Churches. The left photo shows cast members Katherine Cooke (Barbee) and Lulu Browne (Ohsner), Dorothy Cooke (Hambleton) and a neighbor playacting for the camera in 1925. The photo on the right is the program for the June production. (Photo courtesy of the Ron Ohsner Family)

The original North High School, located at 100 West 4th Street at the corner of 4th Avenue and Dennison Avenue, had opened its doors on February 3, 1893 with eight teachers and 300 students. The student body quickly outgrew the building and an annex was constructed in 1902. That, too, became overcrowded.

After a new high school was completed, the old building became Everett Junior High School, named after the first North High School principal C. D. Everett. This first building—designed by Frank Packard and built at a cost of $14,000—is still in use. As shown in the lower photograph, the turrets and other elaborate structures have since been removed from the school. (Photo courtesy of Columbus Metropolitan Libraries)

In 1921, the Columbus Board of Education purchased 13.15 acres for $35,000 to build a new high school. The property had been owned by the American Vitrified Products Company. The land bordered on a deep ravine; the ravine was considered to be an asset for science classes, as was the proximity of the property to the streetcar tracks. Many other sites had been considered, including somewhere on the campus of Ohio State University. Discarded bricks and baked clay shards had to be removed from the old brick yard before construction of the school could begin. The new building was designed by architect Frank Packard and cost $1,000,000. Construction began in 1923 and the building opened on September 2, 1924. It graduated its first class in January of 1925. For a brief time, the new high school was named Edward Orton High School. It served as an anchor for the community; often three generations of Clintonville families attended the school. It was one of the city’s top college-preparation schools; between 90 and 95 percent of the students went on to higher education. North High School was closed in 1979 as part of the city’s desegregation plan and subsequently became an adult education center and has also served as temporary quarters for schools undergoing renovations. (Photos courtesy of Leeann Faust)

The Sherman Private School existed at 30 Webster Park Avenue in the early 1920s. Webster Park was a King-Thompson housing development and the school may have been an inducement to purchase houses in the area. (Advertisement courtesy of North Broadway Methodist Church)

Three lovely views of Glen Echo bridge near North High School, were taken in the later 1920s or early 1930s. [From North High Memory books.]

In the spring of 1929, the first portable building at Glenmont was erected and about 6 weeks of school were held in the new building before the summer vacation. Celia Vanderiff was the principal and the first grade teacher was Elsie Elliott. Frances Jones taught the 2nd grade. In February 1930, the third grade was added but no new teacher employed. During the summer of 1930, the second double portable was added. The third double portable was built during the first semester of 1930-31.

I previously stated that I was unsure where this photos was taken. A reader named James wrote in that it’s “the view from atop the school, facing South East. You can see the edge of the football field along the fence line in the middle left of the pic. The white house in the middle right is still there, at the corner of Adams and Arcadia. That large apt building on the other corner is still there, too.” Thanks, James! The photo was in one of the North High School Memory Books (their yearbook). [From a North High School Memory Book]