Some cool memorabilia from the Zinn Lumber Yard, courtesy of John Clark (great grandson of J. Harvey Zinn).

I just learned that Leeann Faust passed away. What a loss.

If I could describe Leeann in just one phrase, that phrase would be “all in”. When Leeann was enthusiastic about a person or cause, she was all in–whether it was an actress (Leeann was a long-standing president of the Carol Lawrence Fan Club) or the North High School Polar Bears (she was the historian/editor of the Alumni Association), or the history and legacy of her family (she was a descendant of Mathias Armbruster). Leeann was extremely generous with her time and her knowledge and her collection of articles, newspapers, & memorabilia. She was indefatigable in contributing to the community around her; she kept her friends close; and she was routinely cheerful.

Leeann, you will be missed.

Leeann’s obituaray can be found here.

When I first moved to Clintonville, there was a prominent vintage-looking advertisement painted on the south side of the brick wall at 3230 North High Street. (Today, this faces the parking lot for the Clintonville Resource Center’s North High Street location.) Today the paint has mostly been removed, and I don’t have a picture of the billboard back then. The attached picture is from Google Street View in 2011.

I thought I remembered the billboard as being for “Clintonvilla Pizza,” and containing an ad for a cola drink with a tag line such as “Relieves Fatigue”–something that hearkens back to the days when soda drinks contained some invigorating pharmaceutical ingredient such as coca (or maybe just caffeine). Actually, that’s the real reason that the ad stuck with me. But truly, today I can no longer remember it.

Here is the history of that business:
—1956-1970: that address, or 3232 North High Street, was occupied by Pizza Villa Restaurant. Pizza Villa was owned by Fred DiPietro and Rose Bucci (both Clintonville residents in 1970). You can find an online obituary for Fred R. DiPietro (born April 25 1934, died Jan 17, 2007 at age 72), “owner of Pizza Villa in Delaware and Columbus OH”) here.

I found a Rose C. Bucci (born 11 Jul 1932, died 14 Sep 1994, lived initially in Columbus but died in a nursing home in Delaware County) who had been a manager of an eating establishment, but really, I’m just fishing and have no idea if this Rose was one of the owners.

Fred DiPietro may have gotten divorced in 1974. Regardless:
—1971-1973: Nothing was listed for that address.
—1974-1981: 3230 North High became PJ Villa Restaurant. It was PJ Villa until 1981.
—1984-86: it was Jim’s Pizza. After 1989, it was no longer a pizza establishment.

Does anyone remember the exact wording of the sign, or have any pictures of the billboard?

J. Harvey Zinn, owner of the Zinn lumber yard, lived in Clintonville and was a civic leader and philanthropist. Mr. Zinn was reported to be an ardent fisherman who followed his favorite sport in practically every part of Canada, as well as in Florida waters. His attractive estate “Edgewater,” was located at 285 Kenworth on the Olentangy River just north of West North Broadway. This estate still exists in Clintonville.

J. Zinn died in 1957. Attached are some obituaries from The Columbus Dispatch and elsewhere.

The Zinns were very active in the North M. E. Church. Though the church is not, technically, in Clintonville, I’ve also posted some information about the church.

[Photos and clippings courtesy of John Clark]

The North M.E. Church, located at East Ave and Tompkins, has a long history, which–thanks to John Clark, a descendant of the Zinn family–can be found here.

The church was located very close to the Zinn Lumber Yard (and the Zinn family residence), and the church was damaged in that business’ November 1925 fire. Then the church had its own fire in March 1928, which necessitated a complete rebuilding of the church. Scott Caputo at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, was kind to send us this article about the fire.

The church was slowly but surely rebuilt and enlarged and improved. J. H. Zinn paid to have a children’s wing built, dedicated in memory to his two boys (who died in their youth) in April, 1953. The sons in whose memory the wing was built were Clyde Webster Zinn (22 Oct 1895 – 07 Apr 1912) and Walter Curry Zinn (12 Jun 1898 – 30 Jan 1903). What you see here photo of Clyde Webster Zinn (with his sister Lillian Mae Zinn). The family does not have a photo that they are confident of, for Walter. Here is an article about that philanthropic contribution. [Photo courtesy of John Clark]

Around October 1956, North M. E. Church held a celebration of their “oldest members,” by which they meant those members who had belonged to the church at least 50 years. J. H. Zinn and his wife were among them. (See photo to the right.) You can read more about that event here and see some of the other members in the photos below. [Photos and news clippings courtesy of John Clark]

There’s more information about the Zinn family and the Zinn Lumber Yard elsewhere on this web site.

Several weeks ago I wrote about the ghost signage underneath the former Crestview Market’s facade (at the corner of Crestview and North High Streets, 2950 North High Street). From 1926 to 1945, the building held automobile-related businesses–but after that it was, from 1946-1967, the building served as the Elephant Lumber Store.

The lumber yard’s signage is now exposed:

ELEPHANT LUMBER STORE R[]
Paint-Hardware-Tools-Wallboard-Roofing-Insulation.

One passer-by wondered whether it was named that because of the proximity to the Olentangy Park which had closed 10 years before. I have no idea but loved seeing the vestiges of the Elephant Lumber Store anyway.

Algy McBride, who died in 2015, was a long-time president of the Clintonville Historical Society. His dedication was felt throughout Clintonville and the Franklin County community. At his funeral, his family shared this article which I thought I’d re-share with you. [Article courtesy of the McBride family and reprinted from SeniorSource Winter 01/02.]

Very nice article about Columbus Pizza, including a shout-out to Gatto’s Pizza, in the March 15, 2017 issue of 614 Columbus Magazine. The article is by J.R. McMillan.
https://614columbus.com/2017/03/tradish-columbus-pizza-history/

Crestview Market, the Asian/International grocery store that was for many years located at the corner of Crestview and North High Street, recently closed and the building’s owners, Gahanna-based craft brewer Kindred Beer, is looking for a lessee. As part of the building’s renovation, workers removed some of the facade, and I was surprised to see that it used to be an auto dealership.

The picture below is the Crestview Market as it appeared in August 2007 (courtesy of Google Streetview), before the building was painted blue.

Nick Taggart of the Local History and Genealogy Department of the Columbus Metropolitan Library sent me the following information:

The history of the building at the corner of Crestview and North High looks to be quite varied. It has a history of auto sales businesses, under various names for various years. The earliest year I could find it in the Columbus City Directories was 1926 and at that time, the address was listed as 2952-2954. Here are the listings for the auto related businesses:

1926 – Tetlow Motor Sales Co.
1927 – Lindimore Motor Sales Co.
1928 – Hi-Crestview Garage
1929 – Vacant
1930 – VanHorns Motor Sales
1931 – Allen K Bentine auto pntr
1933 – Rufus B. Hay auto repr and Perl Mitchell auto repr
1936 – Orsborn Motors Inc. (the address was 2952-2958 and yes, it was “Orsborn” not “Osborn)
1937 – Same listing but it was spelled “Osborn)
1938 – Orsborn-Baynes Inc. auto (yes, it returned to the “Orsborn” spelling)
1939 – Vacant
1940 – Curtis B. Brown auto repair and Harley J. Arnold auto bodies (the address was just 2952)
1941 through 1945 – Curtis B. Brown auto repair

The auto-related businesses appear to have ceased at this point.

1946 through 1967 – Elephant Lumber Stores
1970 – Six different businesses are listed at this address and for the first time, it shows the 2950 address

I only spot-checked years after this; here is what I found:

1975 – Psychic Science Institute Science of Mind Center
First Church of Religious Science
1978 – Call Dean Inc. int. design school
Psychic Science Institute
1985 – Grid Publishing
1986 – Grid Publishing
1989 – Crestview Market (the first year I find it listed in the City Directory at this address)

By the way, I found an article from a March 1, 1989 NeighborNews (accessible through the electronic edition of the Columbus Dispatch database in the Library’s Reference databases), that mentions Crestview Market’s move to the 2950 location. It reads: “Crestview Market relocated to a larger store in January, just a few blocks from its original location. Mei-Yu Yang Ting, who owns the store with her husband, Jui-I Ting, said the new location, at 2950 N. High St., is 1 1/2 times larger than the original at Crestview Road and Calumet Street.”

A big thanks to Nick and to the Columbus Metropolitan Library!

[Update: see also my subsequent post showing the Elephant Lumber Yard signage, on the side of this building.

…and so we were delighted to see Weiland’s Market featured in Edible Columbus, Winter 2016, pp 58-61. Weiland’s Market, with its multiple generations of owners John Williams, Jennifer Williams and Scott Bowman, and its staff, have been exemplary and generous citizens of Clintonville and the community, and fed us all to-boot. [Booster ad courtesy of Jennifer Williams. Article courtesy of Edible Columbus with apologies in advance for not linking directly to their web site.]