Several years back, Gordon Brevoort gave a wonderful presentation to the Clintonville Historical Society about he and his family’s life in Clintonville. The Brevoorts are one of Clintonville’s oldest families, and some still live in the neighborhood.

Gordon told the listeners about Chicktown, the fantasy land he and his friends played in.

The old Brevoort homestead has been torn down but I liked the old image of it. (There is a picture of it on page 12 of my book). More from or about the Brevoorts here.

(Documents and photo courtesy of Gordon Brevoort)

In another post, I mentioned that Gordon Brevoort had given a presentation to the Clintonville Historical Society on the history of Clintonville. He also made a map of the community as he remembers it in the 1930s.

You’ll find other information on this web site about the Brevoorts by clicking here.

(Map courtesy of Gordon Brevoort and the Clintonville Historical Society)

Perhaps the first house to be built on East Como was this house at 71 East Como. The owner from 1908-1926 said he recalled a little brook that ran near the house and a footbridge leading to High Street.

Libby Wetherholt recently gave this presentation about the Zimmerman family to the Clintonville Historical Society, and has kindly agreed to share it with us.

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The Zimmerman Family and Olympic Swim Club
by Libby Weatherholt, March 8, 2016

The History of the Olympic Swim Club starts with Orr Samuel Zimmerman. (Photo courtesy of the Upper Arlington Historical Society)

Orr S. Zimmerman was born in Oakwood, Ohio in 1890 but moved to Columbus with his family when he was a child. He was educated in engineering at Ohio University and transferred his interest in mechanics to a career in the family automobile business.

In 1913, Zimmerman married Ethyle Cather, a native of Athens, Ohio. They moved to this house at 645 Dennison. (Photo courtesy of the Franklin County Auditor’s web site, property ID 010-044708 4/27/2014)

By 1916 the Zimmermans had begun building the house below at 1790 Cambridge Boulevard. (Photo courtesy of the Franklin County Auditor’s web site, property ID 070-000571 4/18/2014)

An historical picture can also be found on the Upper Arlington Historical Society web site.

The birth of their sons Robert Orr Zimmerman and Richard S. Zimmerman followed in 1918 and 1922, respectively.

By 1930, Audrey Ethyle Zimmerman had passed away and Orr had married Alice M. Zimmerman. The family had moved to 4497 Olentangy River Road—a house that remained an important part of the family history. (Photo courtesy of the Franklin County Auditor’s web site, property ID 010-006577 3/17/2014)

Zimmerman built the house in 1929 on what was then a 52-acre estate; at the time, Henderson was a country gravel road and Olentangy a narrow two-lane street. The architect was Thomas Tulley. Interior walls were decorated by a New York artist, with beautiful wooded scenes in both the trophy room and the living room. Two Canadian bear cubs, captured on a hunting trip, were raised in a small house on the property. In 1977 the house was a Decorators’ Show House. The house was destroyed in January, 2016.

Mr. Zimmerman had a special interest in outdoor sports, particularly hunting and fishing. Zimmerman’s hunting expedition in the Canadian Rockies with Upper Arlington founder and resident Ben Thompson was detailed in a November 1920 issue of the Norwester, complete with descriptions of the large game seen and hunted by the pair in British Columbia. Zimmerman submitted his own account of the trip to the Norwester, documenting the geography and vegetation of the region. (The Norwester magazine, published November 1917 through March 1922, chronicled early suburban life in the Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, and Marble Cliff areas.)

Zimmerman also enjoyed pitching horseshoes and playing baseball. In 1920, he served as captain of the Upper Arlington “Lobsters” who battled the rival “Crabs” in the village baseball tournament. Mr. Zimmerman personally donated the “Zimmerman Cup,” the trophy awarded to the winning baseball team. He was also a member of the Upper Arlington Fishing Club and the president of the Upper Arlington Gymnasium Club, which oversaw the organization of indoor sports such as hand ball and volley ball. He was active in the Kiwanis and Athletic Clubs, and served as director of the Columbus Auto Trade Association.

The 1915 City Directory documents that Orr S. Zimmerman and Walter B. Charles owned Ohio Auto Sales Co. at 772-774-776 North High Street.

On June 30, 1941, Thomas Tully and Orr Zimmerman filed for a patent titled Means for producing formed strips of plastic materials, US 2323862 A. The patent was granted on July 6, 1943.

Richard Zimmerman married Dorothy Rupp, his high school sweetheart. They were parents of three children: Lynda, Ric, and Dan

Richard S. Zimmerman and his father, Orr Zimmerman, purchased the Olympic Beach from Frank Hauf in 1938, the same year it was built. The pool remained under ownership by members of the family until it closed in 2014.

Newt Jones, one of Richard’s grandchildren, purchased the Olympic Swim Club from his grandfather for $325,000 in 2002. Richard died shortly after on October 23, 2002 at the age of 81.

In 2014, Columbus Monthly Magazine staff picked Olympic Swim Pool as Columbus’ “best pool for athletes”:

For athletes: Olympic Swim Club
Built in 1938 and originally known as Olympic Beach, the Olympic Swim Club is a Columbus classic. Ohio State divers and swimmers practiced here in the ’70s and ’80s. Even Buckeyes football players would spend their off days at the club. After 76 summers, though, this is the Olympic’s last. “It was a business decision, but a very emotional and very sad one,” says third-generation owner Newt Jones, who has owned the Olympic for the past 13 years. Don’t miss your last chance to dive off the club’s rare 16-foot diving platform and experience a piece of Columbus history firsthand. “We just want people to come out for the last summer and enjoy it,” Jones says.

The following item comes from Shirley Hyatt’s Clintonville History web site:

Will You Swim in Pure Water? I love this ad for Olympic Beach in 1939. “Of interest to the ‘bathers’ of Northern Columbus is the care and precaution the management of the Olympic Pool is taking so that our families may swim in perfectly safe water, free from impurities and its dangers…“ Shortly after the pool was built, the Olympic Amusement Corporation, headed by Orr Zimmerman, assumed ownership of the pool. For many years the O.S.U. swimming and diving teams practiced there and many contestants for the summer Olympics came from all over the United States to train at the pool. Several national championships have been held there. Early on, only male lifeguards worked at the pool.

Here, someone does a kamikaze dive off the tallest tower. (Photos courtesy of the Zimmerman family)

One of the early reasons for Olympic Pool’s notoriety and draw was its double platform diving board and its dive pool. The double platform survived into the 1990s, at which time the higher platform was removed.

The following images are from the Olympic Swim Club’s Facebook page.

This house was built by Gilbert Hamilton, a real estate developer, in 1927. It sits on Glen Echo Ravine. The Gilbert Hamilton House is a lovely example of a Tudor Revival house, and displays old construction methods and design. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo courtesy of the homeowner)

Orr Zimmerman, who owned the Olympic Swimming Pool, owned the Tudor-style house that still stands on the northwest corner of Henderson and Olentangy River Road. Zimmerman built the house in 1929 on what was then a 52-acre estate; at the time, Henderson was a country gravel road and Olentangy a narrow two-lane street. The architect was Thomas Tulley. Interior walls were decorated by a New York artist, with beautiful wooded scenes in both the trophy room and the living room. Two Canadian bear cubs, captured on a hunting trip, were raised in a small house on the property. In 1977 the house was a Decorators’ Show House.

Don Hutslar, in his book Log Construction in the Ohio Country 1750–1850, differentiates between log cabins, which were intended to be temporary, and log houses, which were intended to serve as a home and were consequently sturdier, larger, perhaps taller. I wonder how many log homes there are in Clintonville, covered by contemporary siding. I have been told that there is one at 232 West North Broadway, on the north side of West North Broadway, east of the river.

I loved the story of Lawrence Huber (1893-1958) and his wife Eunice Louise Dougherty (1900-1986). Lawrence had applied for a job at the Elks Country Club. They told him they wanted the incumbent to be married, so he asked his girlfriend Eunice to marry him. She accepted and they married in 1922–and remained married the rest of thier lives.

Huber, under the direction of Donald Ross, helped to construct the Elks Country Club golf course, which was located north of Morse Road and east of High Street to Indianola Road. Huber eventually took over the position of groundskeeper when the course opened the following year. Lawrence and Eunice, and their three children, lived in a residence on the Elks Country Club property while Lawrence was employed there. Huber was extremely innovative, and invented equipment as needed to cultivate and care for the greens. (Photo courtesy of Betty Huber)

I love the story of the concrete block building near Brighton and Milton just south of West North Broadway. Miles Elmers owned AGI, a business that he situated in this concrete barn during the 1930s. Elmers contracted with Monsanto to test and package a low-sudsing detergent. When Monsanto decided to discontinue the product, Elmers purchased all rights to it, renamed, repackaged and remarketed it…and “All” detergent was born.

There are rumors that the building was once a candy factory, that the owners gave out candy from this location, but I was unable to confirm this. It is presently a private residence.

When the Elmers family owned All, they had to travel to the various plants around the country, and so they worked with the Flexible Bus Company to customize a bus to make their travels more comfortable. People along the way asked them where they got the bus/RV, and asked them to replicate it. The result was a new business for the Elmers family: Custom Coach.

Flora Ohaver was one of the oldest residents of West North Broadway, and so she was selected to be one of 4 people to cut the ribbon dedicating the new Broadway bridge on December 1, 1939. She and her husband built their house at 263 West North Broadway in 1908. Her nephew Bob returned to live at this address on West North Broadway as well; his oral history is located on this web site. Bob passed away in June 2009.