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A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose…
Joyce Ailes Schatz shared some wonderful Maiden of the Roses treasures with us. The photos were taken by her dad, Howard Ailes, on May 30, 1954, and they are of that year’s Maiden of the Roses pageant. The winner that year was Nancy Blanchard (later, Mrs. Clyde Graham). Nancy is Joyce’s cousin.
Nancy attended Mifflin High School, which in 1954 was a county school and located on Sunbury Road near Agler Road. Nancy was born April 23, 1938 in Columbus, and died May 10, 2018. [Images courtesy of Joyce Schatz]
You can read more about this pageant here.
In these images, Queen Nancy is joined by her court, Ruthann Limotta, Carol Newhouse, Dorothy Corfee, Charlene McNair, & Louise Winzenreid (in unknown order). The court’s other member was Barbara Harder, but she does not appear in the picture. Does anyone know who the man is?
In the next two images of the queen and her court, we are not sure who the two extra women are.
Nancy and her mother, Mrs. Bernice (Ailes) Blanchard. Bernice was the photographer’s sister.
In the next three images: Mayor of Columbus Jack Sensenbrenner, Mrs Jane Lausche (wife of Ohio Governor Frank Lausche), and Ray McNamara (Ohio Director of the American Rose Society)
Nancy Blanchard and her court, and Ray McNamara, Ohio Director of the American Rose Society.
And a few more from Joyce’s treasure trove of pictures.
250 East North Broadway
Another beautiful house on East North Broadway is on the market: 250 East North Broadway. Here, courtesy of realtor Judy Minister, is a video tour of the house.
According to Mary Rodgers, the house was built in 1927 at an original cost of $8,320. The first owner of the home was Vera Hults Benoy. Her husband Wilbur was an attorney. He graduated from Ohio State University and was admitted to the bar in 1910. He served as City Attorney, County Prosecutor, and as Special Assistant to the Ohio Supreme Court. He had some fairly large legal cases, including the 1926 prosecution of the Mayor of Grove City for race track betting. Later, he maintained an office in the AUI building (now the LeVeque Tower).
Wilbur was raised in Licking Co. His father owned a grocery in Croton. Wilbur’s mother died in a car accident in Columbus in 1921. Vera was born in Delaware, Ohio. Prior to her marriage in 1912, Vera was a school teacher.
Wilbur and Vera had four children: Alice, Harlan, Ellen (aka Peggy) and Halden. Their daughter Alice was a music teacher.
Hudson & Cleveland, or Elsewhere (Updated)
This picture was labelled, in cursive, “Looking North at the Corner of Hudson and Cleveland.” It was obviously taken April 22, 1948 on State Route 3. The buildings in the photograph, however, don’t match the buildings that are there today–I’m especially eyeing that two story pre-WW II brick building on the left–so I’m doubtful it is that intersection. Any ideas about its location [Image courtesy of Galen Gonser.]
Michael Leyshon believes the photo may be looking south from Weber, where Cleveland/Westerville Roads split (see his comment below). Perhaps so! That intersection has an interesting corner curve, but I’m not convinced. I drove up and down the street today, and am not seeing that brick building (with its distinctive roof line) to the left in the photo. Travelling northbound from Hudson, between Hudson and Weber, there IS an old brick 2-story building on the west side of the street, that is now clad in white. That very old, virtually decrepit, building has the only roof line close in appearance, though it seems short compared to the building in the photo. I continue to welcome ideas. Thanks Michael!
See comments below. John Williamson reposted Galen’s photo to the Vintage Columbus–Linden Area Facebook Page, and asked those folks for their expertise and/or memories. Bob Roehrer found a 1953 aerial, shown below, that seems to confirm the wide, rounded curb cut at Hudson & Cleveland, shown in Galen’s 1948 photo.
A Streetcar Named Desire? or “South High”
There are many people in Clintonville who can remember riding the various forms of transportation running up and down High Street. Here’s one.
Local rail expert Alex Campbell says,
[Image courtesy of Galen Gonser]That photograph was taken in the storage yard across from the North High Car House (next to Arcadia). The destination sign reads “S. High St.”
This particular run would be north-south High St. The end of the line in 1947 was near Merrett St. on the south side to Blenheim Road.
American Vitrified Products
American Vitrified Products (formerly American Sewer Pipe) was located at 100 East Arcadia Avenue, at what we still tend to call the “Old North High School”. Here is an old advertisement for it, showing one style of tile made there.
In addition you can find some additional ads of the brickyard, and maps, at the web site of the Coalition United for Glen Echo.
Stable at 242 East North Broadway
242 East North Broadway used to have a horse stable; it was located behind what is now the garage at that address. The stable stood until the early 1970s, when the then-owner accidentally burned it down.
The story goes that his wife told him not to burn the rubbage so close to the stable! You’ll burn that building down! But her husband did it anyway, and she earned the sad right to say, “I told you so.”
Luckily the current owners have a photograph of that original stable.
[Image courtesy of Gary Means and Jane Hoffelt]