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Indianola’s Rail
In response to John Krygier’s photos of Indianola’s substructure, Alex Campbell sent this lovely photo along.
He says,
There were streetcar tracks on Indianola Avenue from Glen Echo to Oakland Park. The Summit-Steelton standard gauge line was extended north from Glen Echo where the CD&M turned off to head for the private right of way of its Worthington Cutoff. I have conflicting information on just when the Indianola track was built; one date says early 1927 yet it shows up on a 1925 map. It was taken out of service in 1938 when the line was converted to a trolley coach line.
Here is a N. 4th St. photo from 1909 — Fourth Street and 17th Avenue view from southeast corner looking northwest from 17th and west of 4th looking east. Fourth Street north of Chittenden Ave. was the only streetcar line with side of the street right of way in Columbus.
The construction style used to reinforce Indianola (shown in John Krygier’s photos) appear to be similar to tracks used elsewhere in Columbus.
For good measure, Alex also sent along this picture of South 4th St. He says the school building in the left background can still be found on Google maps.
Under Indianola
John Krygier recently sent me the following photos (shown across then down), taken May 2018, with accompanying information:
When the City contractor dug down to put the new median (with trees, plants) on Indianola Ave. by Studio35, I took a few photos of the road subsurface and they can be found here.
The construction of the road was rather interesting. Like many other Clintonville streets, Indianola has brick
pavers under the asphalt.If you look at the photos you will notice that train rails are running perpendicular to the road, and seem to have been used to reinforce the road from below…
I’m wondering if the rails were scrapped from the rail spur that came in from the main line, through Glen Echo (the north side of the ravine) to the old sewer pipe factory (now the site of Columbus International High School).
The cross-section of the roads seems to be (from top down):
Asphalt (newer)
Pavers
Concrete
SoilAlso, here is a PDF about early 20th century street construction in Cleveland, which seems similar to our city streets constructed at the time.
And here is an article about resurfacing roads in Columbus.
Thanks John!
242 East North Broadway
I’ve written in the past about this stunning house at 242 E. N. Broadway–a beautiful renovation job by the current owner.
This is the oldest existing house on E.N. Broadway. Here are some old and new pix.
Original house:
And today, after years of loving restoration:
Elford Company Develops Beechwold
Elford Inc., a commercial construction company located near Grandview on Dublin Road, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010.
To mark the occasion, the company published a 70-page hardcover book detailing Elford’s history, from its founding by Edward “Pop” Elford in 1910 to today. It’s available as a PDF here. The book chronicles the company’s history decade by decade, focusing on the marquee projects of each decade.
From a Clintonville and Beechwold perspective, the following are standouts:
The Mastery of Frank Packard on Glen Echo, by Amanda Page
Amanda Page wrote a very nice article about Frank Packard, architect of the former North High School. The article is in Ravinia Spring/Summer 2014, pp 1,3.
Clinton Elementary School Deed
Former Clintonville Area Commissioner Judy Minister furnished us with a copy of the deed for Clinton Elementary School. It’s attached as a PDF.
