Between 1948 and 1950, the Columbus-based Lustron Company made 2,500 all-steel, prefabricated houses and shipped them nationwide. Unlike the more traditional architecture of Sears homes, Lustron houses offered a sleek, modern aesthetic. They were easy to maintain, and affordable. Despite a backlog of orders, the company went bankrupt in 1950. There are 4 porcelain-steel Lustron homes in Clintonville; this one is located at 272 East Weisheimer. (Photo courtesy of Lynn McNish)

E.A. Fuller was a prominent Clinton Township horse trader at the turn of the century. I found the Clinton Township records for the late 1800s and early 1900s, and his name was frequently mentioned as buying or selling horses. I assume that the so-called “Fuller Farm”—where Calvary Bible Church, Whetstone Park, Clintonville Women’s Club, and The Church of Christ, Scientist are today—once belonged to this man. (Photo courtesy of Calvary Bible Church)

The vacant farm has been put to many uses. During World War II, the land used for victory gardens. (There were also victory gardens near Riverside Hospital.) Children put the area to their own purposes, scrambling through the undergrowth and playing by the river. Many long-time residents recall a family that lived in the farm house—some have called it a log cabin, others say it was a chicken coop–of the old Fuller Farm. Some say the family was partly Native American; others say partly Romani; in any case, the family’s race added to their mystique and exoticism in the minds of the Clintonville children of the time. The family’s surname was Windsor; Mr. Windsor was a professor at OSU, and many of the people fondly recall daughter Zolithia [or Zelitha] (back row, 4th from left) and her brother Romanus (3rd rw, 2nd from right).

During or shortly after World War II, Rand Hollenback (founder of The Booster) lobbied for remaining land to be converted into a park, and the City of Columbus purchased the 161 acre farm. It became Whetstone Park. From early on the park has included a casting pond, softball diamond, tennis, picnic and playground, and archery field.

North Community Lutheran Church, when it first opened on Morse Road in 1949, was described as a “modified Colonial” made of cement block with light green stucco, sandfinished Colonial Brick, and white wood trim. When they opened they had plans for a baseball diamond, outdoor basketball and volleyball courts, tennis courts, horseshoe pits, and a variety of other sports. (Photos courtesy of North Community Lutheran Church)

In the late 1940s, photographer Ken Hauer’s studio was located at 4139 North High Street, where a pet grooming studio is now. Hauer took quite a few photographs of the community, including catholic churches and schools. (Photo courtesy of Marge Hauer)

Revised post!
These two photographs were found among the papers of Kenneth Hauer, a local photographer who had a studio on North High Street. The photos were taken in 1948 at the intersections of Summit and Maynard.

The first photo is taken from the west side of the accident, looking toward the businesses on the northeast corner of the intersection of Summit and Maynard. The building’s address is 2336 Summit Street.

The second photo is taken from in front of that business building, looking west/northwest.

Now to be clear, in my original post I got it all wrong! Larry L Lower was instrumental in discovering the location of Kenneth Hauer’s accident pictures. (Previously, I’d placed the accident at 4139-4147 North High–though admittedly the buildings there today have significant differences from the old photos–because I couldn’t find any other location and Kenneth Hauer’s studio was at 4139 North High.)

I do not how many hours Larry worked on this but he deserves some sort of prize! He said,

The storefront property in your photo matches an existing building on the northeast corner of Summit and Maynard. Across the street on the northwest corner are two buildings that match the two buildings in your second photo.

The storefront photo shows First National Cleaners in the far left store front. The 1947 Polk city directory showed a business of the same name in the same position of the building at Summit and Maynard, which is 2340 Summit.

Summit and Maynard are one-way in 2012. They were two-way in 1948. That would explain the direction of all of the automobiles in your photos.

Larry undoubtedly got it right; both the building and the houses across from this building match the photos that Kenneth Hauer took exactly. Thanks, Larry! (Note: you can compare the 1948 pictures with the intersection today using Google’s Street View.)

Other readers: Charles (Coryn), Nina, Bob, Terry (Seidel), and Genie (Hoster) also contributed critiques and/or theories of how to solve the puzzle. Without doubt my original post, wrong as it was, garnered more comments than any other post on my web site.

You can click on the photos to see them in more detail. (Photos courtesy of Marge Hauer.)

Original post:
These two photographs were found among the papers of Kenneth Hauer, a local photographer who had a studio on High Street. The photos were taken in 1948 at the intersections of Westwood and Overbrook and North High Street. I have compared the photos with the same location today, and remain puzzled (Note: you can do this online using Google’s Street View.

The first photo is taken from the east side of the accident, looking toward the businesses on the southwest corner of the intersection of Westwood and North High Street.

The second photo is taken from in front of that business building, looking east/southeast. I’m amazed at the houses that are shown on the east side of High Street. Today, these houses are no longer there—and the land where the houses sat does not exist anymore, either. Today, the land falls away steeply into Overbrook Road and Ravine.

Could the land have changed this much?

Another snippet: I’m told that there used to be a “party house”—i.e. a building that could be rented for parties–just south of this location.

You can click on the photos to see them in more detail. (Photos courtesy of Marge Hauer.)

This is a great image of Calvary Bible Church, in its first phase of construction. The church’s original pastor, William A. Ashbrook, was pastor of Glen Echo Presbyterian Church. He resigned and founded an independent, non-sectarian church in 1940, after a lengthy disagreement with the Presbyterian hierarchy. 114 members withdrew from Glen Echo with him. For awhile they met at Medary Elementary School, and in 1941 they purchased the southeast corner of the old Fuller farm, at 3939 North High Street. The war interrupted construction—no building permits were being issued due to the shortage of materials–but in July 1949 the church broke ground. Ashbrook had been a resident of Clintonville for 13 years at the time of the land purchase and lived on North Broadway. In 1950 the new church—a basement and a ground floor–was dedicated. That’s the phase shown in this photo. In 1954 the church was expanded to include an auditorium for 450, classrooms, choir loft, and baptistery; in 1958 it was expanded again to include a parking lot. (Photo courtesy of Calvary Bible Church)

I cannot resist including this photograph of the Gus Ackerman Floral Company, even though it is most definitely NOT in Clintonville. It was located at 1794 Olentangy Road on the east side of Olentangy River Road, near Kinnear. (Photo courtesy of the Franklin County Engineers)

Joe Motil has shared the following memories of Clintonville with us:

I haven’t noticed any historical information on the Indianola Business Corridor so I thought I would give you my recollections of what I remember. Located at the south east corner of Oakland Park & Indianola was a Sinclair gas station. The family which operated it lived just east of the Wonder Bread store and their last name was Cotter. South of the gas station was Broady’s Drug Store (I am not sure if the spelling is correct). I believe Mr. Broady lived on East North Broadway between Indianola and the railroad tracks. It was pretty much your typical drug store during the 50’s and 60’s. There was a soda fountain, pharmacy, comic books, etc. As kids we would scour the bushes and roadways for pop bottles and cash in on deposit money and buy candy and pop from the drug store. There was also a phone booth nearby that had a missing coin box cover that you could jingle your finger inside of to get the coins to come out of. Hey, we were just kids. We would then head to the comic book section of the store, grab something to read, sit on the floor and eat our candy and drink our pop. Mr. Broady never had a problem with this. I believe there was also a dry cleaning store named Nash Cleaners that was south of the drug store. I know there was another store in that strip but I can’t remember the name. Where the Burger King now stands was the Beverly (hamburger restaurant Big Boy). These were somewhat popular in Columbus during this time.

Across from the Sinclair gas station at the south west corner was a Shell gas station. It later became a little Greek restaurant. I am sure you have heard of the lumber yard that was located at the north east corner of Oakland Park and the railroad tracks. We used to take our red wagons there and load them up with scrap lumber that was placed in a big bin and use the wood to make tree forts. A Lawson’s convenience store was located next to the current United Dairy Farmers. My father used to buy milk and bread there on occasion especially when the bread was on sale for a dime a loaf. And I am pretty certain that there was a gas station on every corner of the intersection of Oakland Park and Indianola around the late or middle 60’s. And the A & P grocery store was just east of the India Oak (car wash).

Joe Motil

Metzger’s Grill was located at 2571 North High Street. The photos were taken in 1948. Employees (left to right) were Thurm Buckholtz, Bob Grady, ?, Min Metzger, Charley Redd, Jim Walker, ?, ?, Erma Young, Ruth Thomas, Opal Holly.

Some customers at the grill, front to back: #8 Ruth Thomas, #10 Eddie Thomas, #12 Thurm Buckholtz, #13 Doc Sly. Behind the bar: Charley Redd, Harvey Edgar, Jim Walker, Min Metzger.

Here’s a picture of Harvey Edgar, ?, Ma Berwill, ?, Min Metzger, Jim Walker. (Photos courtesy of Frank Jones.)

Here’s a very nice Columbus Dispatch article about Chester Nicodemus.