Paul-Henri Bourguignon was a talented visual artist, a prolific writer and journalist, a skillful photographer, and an avid observer of the human condition. His wife Erika was a world-renowned anthropologist. They lived at 193 East North Broadway until their deaths in 1988 and 2015 respectively.

Here’s a terrific house tour of their Clintonville home, showcasing their life and collections at 193 East North Broadway before the house was sold.

And here are some links to additional information about each of them:
About Paul-Henri Bourguignon
About Erika Bourguignon

[Courtesy of Jane Hoffelt, who has worked indefatigably to keep the Bourguignon’s legacy alive and appreciated.]

Gary Mean’s stunning restoration effort of 242 East North Broadway was included in Old House Journal, April-May 2011 issue.

Old House Journal, April-May 2011 issue, included pictures of 4 North Broadway Lane “then and now.” Beautiful!

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.

[Information and family photograph courtesy of Mary Rodgers, Clintonville Historical Society.]

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]

Two more terrific pictures taken in the old old days of 242 East North Broadway‘s history.

This house was known as the Winfield Scott house, after the owner in the early part of the 1900s. The people in the first photo are Winfield Scott (1848-1934) and his wife Francis Anna Whipple. This homeowner bears no relation to the Civil War general. He is also not the son or brother or nephew of a former OSU President.

There were various Winfield Scotts living at the same time and in the same areas, and it makes for some confusion. There is a Winfield Scott (1846-1916) who was the brother to William Henry Scott, the OSU president; William Henry lived on North High Street a scant block from 242 East North Broadway. (This is confirmed with matching parents’ names, Alexander and Susan Scott, appearing on both of their death certificates, viewed on Familysearch.org.) This Winfield brother was married to someone named Josephine.

The Winfield Scott living at 242 E. N. Broadway was the son of Lancelot and Jane Scott, and he was married to Francis Anna Whipple. He also had a son named Winfield Kenath Scott (spelling based on his death certificate) who lived from 1876-1915. Winfield and Francis had a daughter named Florence May Scott who married Clarence B. Hoover; their daughter was Elizabeth Hoover and Elizabeth lived in the Rosemary Parkway neighborhood of Clintonville. In 1991 she sent a letter to the homeowners of 242 E. N. Broadway and you can find that letter here.

There is a mention on OhioMemory.org, that the Winfield Scott who lived at 242 E N Broadway was the son of the OSU president William Henry Scott. But that is not the case. This Winfield was of the same generation as William Henry Scott and Winfield Scott, so they may have been cousins.

By the way, both of these Scott lines lived in Athens County in the 19th Century, so that adds to the evidence that they may have been related (and also adds to the confusion!

[Thanks to Nick at the Columbus Metropolitan Library Local History and Genealogy Desk for this genealogy information. The photographs came from Elizabeth Hoover and are shared courtesy of Gary Means and Jane Hoffelt.]

Bob Henry (North High School Class of 1957) was kind enough to share this photograph of himself in the days when he was a Columbus Dispatch carrier.

The Dispatch sub-station he was posted from was located in the alley behind the Clinton Theater on High Street. This picture was taken circa 1950 and shows a bunch of Dispatch carriers in front of the station. Earl McBlain, shown in the doorway, was the station manager. From Bob:

In those days, the carriers, ages 10 to 15, would ride their bikes to the station after school, where Earl would count out our papers to us. The station had a bench along the walls, which we used to fold and bag our papers. In the center of the room was a pot-belly stove that burned yesterdays papers to keep us warm in the winter. Once we had bagged our papers, we rode to our routes throughout Clintonville. Mine was on West Dunedin, along Olentangy Blvd, Winthrop and Weston Place, about 70 houses. Carrying papers took a couple of hours each day, including Sat and Sun morning; on Thurs, and Fri nights we collected money from each house on the route, which required another couple of hours. I believe the cost was 40 cents per week for a seven-day subscription. The Weds Star cost another 15 cents. When my mom learned I was carrying the Star, which was a risqué paper in those days, she called Earl to complain, but he could not do anything about it.

On Saturdays before noon we had to go to the station to pay our paper bill of about $20 and kept the rest, about $8.

[Photo courtesy of Bob Henry]

Clintonville resident Tom Thacker has been researching former Clintonville resident Nelson Evans, who lived at the end of East North Broadway near the railroad tracks between 1891 and 1910. The Evans family evenutally moved to Hollywood, and Mr. Evans became a notable photographer. Check out Tom’s blog detailing his search for Mr. Evans here.

North Broadway was developed by the Loren and Dennison company in 1897; it was intended to be the place to live, and it was. James Loren originally planned to call it the Oakland Addition, but the post office requested he change the name to avoid confusion with another neighborhood. It had a small railroad depot and post office at North Broadway’s east end at the Big Four Railroad track. This house at 510 North Broadway Street was the first house built in the subdivision. It was built around 1890.  It was sometimes called Acton Place, for reasons I was unable to discover.  By 1894 it was owned by a man named E. Howard Gilkey.  The William W. Daniel family purchased it in 1896, and the house remained in that family’s hands until 1961.  It burned down in 1966. My Clintonville and Beechwold book has a photograph of the original house; this photograph shows the fire. The spot is now occupied by Columbus Speech and Hearing Center.  (Photo from an unnamed newspaper clipping)

I also found a handwritten history that said that this was the first house built on North Broadway and was lived in, or owned by, someone named Loren. I do not recognize the house—do you? (This very poor image was taken from a photocopy of a microfilm.)

According to the 1896-97 city directory, there was also a Jeremiah C. Loren (motorman) living 1 building north of North Broadway on the east side of North High Street.

Mary Rodgers (resident of East North Broadway who has been researching the houses along East North Broadway) believes this is a picture of 625 East North Broadway, a house which was in the Broadway Villa subdivision and which I have written about here. It was lived in by the MacIntosh family.