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The Clintonville Woman’s Club: the women before the Clubhouse

Thursday, April 1st, 2021

Mary Rodgers has written a very nice article about the Clintonville Woman’s Club.

The Clintonville Woman’s Club: The Women Before the Clubhouse
by Mary Rodgers

I was recently asked to speak at an evening meeting of the Clintonville Woman’s Club. Specifically, I was asked to speak on the subject of the history of the land that the Clubhouse occupies. I have always understood that the Clubhouse was located on land from the old Fuller Farm. I was surprised to learn more about the “Fuller” family.

In the 1820s, John Rathbone sold farm lot 5 to Edward Amaziah Stanley. Using today’s landmarks, that land would have been bounded on the east by Indianola Avenue, on the west by the river, on the south by roughly Torrence Road and on the north by roughly Overbrook Drive. When Mr. Stanley died in 1862, his land holdings were passed down to his children. Harriet Marie Stanley (aka Hattie) was one of those children. She was born in Connecticut in 1831. Based on the extensive land holdings throughout Ohio, I believe her father Edward was an Ohio land speculator. After acquiring several thousand acres, in 1829, he returned to Connecticut to marry Abagail Talcott Hooker. Sometime between 1831 and 1834, the family moved to the Clintonville area.

In 1856, Hattie married Erskine Asa Fuller, aka E. A. Fuller. E. A. was known as a dealer in stock animals. When her father passed away, Hattie inherited all of farm lot 5 in Clinton Township Ohio. The 1870 census shows a large extended family living together in Clintonville–the Fullers and their daughters, Hattie’s mother, brother, sister, and several farm hands and servants. The combined household value per that census was in excess of $25,000. Hattie passed away in 1879. E.A. passed away in 1894. After their deaths, the farm was transferred equally to the four Fuller daughters–Abby, Mary, Katherine and Martha.

Martha Fuller and her sister Katherine Fuller Peters lived all of their lives in Clintonville. They owned two brick homes along High Street–Katherine’s just south of where the Library sits today and Martha’s where the Christian Science church sits today. Martha Fuller passed away in 1938. She left half of her land holdings to long time farm hand Matthew McCallen and half to her niece (sister Mary’s daughter) Helen Osborn.

Eventually, all the land was sold off, some to the Christian Science Church, some to the Calvary Bible Church, and the balance to the City of Columbus.

The Clintonville Woman’s Club land was purchased by the Kiwanis Club of Northern Columbus. That Club loaned the ladies the funds needed to build the Clubhouse. In turn, they held a mortgage on the property. The Woman’s Club members worked tirelessly and retire their debt to the Kiwanis within five short years! They have owned the Club house and property ever since.

[Courtesy of Mary Rodgers]

242 East North Broadway

Monday, March 1st, 2021

Gary Mean’s stunning restoration effort of 242 East North Broadway was included in Old House Journal, April-May 2011 issue.

Kelley Buick

Saturday, January 30th, 2021

This is a very nice picture of Kelley Buick at 3415 North High Street (corner of North High and North Broadway Streets, where Kroger’s parking lot is today). Kelley Buick was at that location from 1936/37 until 1949, after which it became Bob Daniel Buick. (Before 1936/37 it was a Chevy dealership.)

[Image courtesy of the Hollenback Collection at the Clintonville Historical Society.]

Close Cover Before Striking

Friday, August 14th, 2020

Wendy Bayer came across a matchbook for the Beechwold BBQ at 4848 N. High. Notice the address?



Beechwold Barbecue, owned by Anthony Delewese, was located at 4848 North High from the day it opened, March 27, 1926, until an overheated furnace caused a fire during the last week of January, 1934.


Four months after the fire (May 29, 1934), Mr Delewese reopened his restaurant as Beechwold Tavern, at 4784 North High, where Mozart’s is today. (He sold it to Henri Boyd in 1938, who in turn renamed it the Beechwold Restaurant.)


Mr. Delewese–assuming I have the right “Anthony Delewese”–died September 13, 1975.

Just to finish off the “fire” theme:


Oh and remember when we abbreviated Ohio as just “O.”? State abbreviations were standardized to 2 characters in 1963, to make room for zipcodes, as most addressing equipment at the time could accommodate only 23 characters (including spaces) in the bottom line of the address.

[Matchbook image courtesy of Wendy Bayer. Dispatch clippings researched by Nick Taggart, librarian par excellence of the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Local History and Genealogy Desk. ]

Olentangy Park Casino

Wednesday, July 15th, 2020

Admittedly, this is a not a great image of the casino at Olentangy Park! But it is the only one I have and so I’m glad to have it. It is from The Book of Ohio.

I do not know what the gambling consisted of at the park.

[Image courtesy of Galen Gonser]

Creative Reuse of a Garden House

Monday, June 15th, 2020

This little gem was once the garden house at Edgewater, summer home of Harvey and Emma Legg Zinn. (Harvey was founder of the Zinn Lumber Company.) It dates to the 1920s. Zinn’s property at the west end of Kenworth was eventually subdivided and several years ago an additional new house was built on the property.

During construction of the new house, the builder, Kevin Clausen, used the garden house as an office for the building project (shown here in 2014).

Upon the house’s completion, the new homeowners, Gary and Kathy Flynn, donated this lovely shed to Clintonville Resource Center (CRC) instead of demolishing it. Thanks to the Clintonville Historical Society, the American Public Gardens Association, builder Kevin Clausen and some hearty volunteers, it was moved to its new home at the CRC Midgard Community Garden (aka Midgarden). The foundation work was completed in 2017 with the help of Tim Beachy and Anderson Concrete.

This building enables CRC staff and volunteers to collect rainwater for irrigation, start new plant seedlings on site, retrieve seeds for new plantings and provide a space for educational and informational gatherings. And of course, it adds a shedful of pretty to the landscape.

Old Piatt Mill

Monday, September 30th, 2019


This lovely mill was located on the river, just north of the present Dodridge Street bridge. There is another photo of this, in my book.

The original dam and mill were constructed by David Beers in 1810. Beers owned the land on which the mill was located. Darius Wilcox built a sawmill adjacent to the flour mill. The mills later came to be owned by the John James Piatt family. The buildings burned down on June 13, 1902. The area just to the east and north is where Olentangy Amusement Park was located.

[Image courtesy of Galen Gonser]

E. A. Fuller Farm

Monday, September 2nd, 2019

The Clintonville Historical Society October 2017 monthly newsletter contained an interesting article about the land at the Clintonville Women’s Club by Mary Rodgers.

________
The Clintonville Woman’s Club: The Women Before the Clubhouse
by Mary Rodgers

I was asked to speak at an evening meeting of the Clintonville Woman’s Club. Specifically, I was asked to speak on the subject of the history of the land that the Clubhouse occupies. I have always understood that the Clubhouse was located on land from the old Fuller Farm. I was surprised to learn more about the “Fuller” family.

In the 1820s, John Rathbone sold farm lot 5 to Edward Amaziah Stanley. Using today’s landmarks, that land would have been bounded on the east by Indianola Avenue, on the west by the river, on the south by roughly Torrence Road and on the north by roughly Overbrook Drive. When Mr. Stanley died in 1862, his land holdings were passed down to his children. Harriet Marie Stanley (aka Hattie) was one of those children. She was born in Connecticut in 1831. Based on the extensive land holdings throughout Ohio, I believe her father Edward was an Ohio land speculator. After acquiring several thousand acres, in 1829, he returned to Connecticut to marry Abagail Talcott Hooker. Sometime between 1831 and 1834, the family moved to the Clintonville area.

In 1856, Hattie married Erskine Asa Fuller, aka E. A. Fuller. E. A. has known as a dealer in stock animals. When her father passed away, Hattie inherited all of farm lot 5 in Clinton Township Ohio. The 1870 census shows a large extended family living together in Clintonville. The Fullers and their daughters, Hattie’s mother, brother, sister and several farm hands and servants. The combined household value per that census was in excess of $25,000. Hattie passed away in 1879. E.A. passed away in 1894. After their deaths, the farm was transferred equally to the four Fuller daughters–Abby, Mary, Katherine and Martha. Martha Fuller and her sister Katherine Fuller Peters lived all of their lives in Clintonville. They owned two brick homes along High Street; Katherine’s was just south of where the Library sits today and Martha’s was where the Christian Science church sits today. Martha Fuller passed away in 1938. She left half of her land holdings to long time farm hand Matthew McCallen and half to her niece (sister Mary’s daughter) Helen Osborn. Eventually, all the land was sold off, some to the Christian Science Church, and some to the Calvary Bible Church and the balance to the City of Columbus. The lane where the Clintonville Woman’s Club land is located was purchased by the Kiwanis Club of Northern Columbus. That Club loaned the ladies the funds needed to build the Clubhouse. In turn, they held a mortgage on the property. The Woman’s Club members worked tirelessly and retire their debt to the Kiwanis within five short years! They have owned the Club house and property ever since.

4 N Broadway Lane

Friday, August 2nd, 2019

Old House Journal, April-May 2011 issue, included pictures of 4 North Broadway Lane “then and now.” Beautiful!

Just Add Water

Thursday, July 4th, 2019

Here are some nice pix of the Olentangy Amusement Park’s swimming pool, without water. [Images Courtesy of Galen Gonser]

Looking South:


Looking East:

Looking Northwest:

As I write this, it’s easily 88 degrees and humid. I’d love to have access to an outdoor swimming pool right now…But one with water!