« Return to Clintonville History home page »

Tigers & Lions & Bears! Oh My!

ZooPixWow-Alex D. Stanek has located some treasure! The Columbus Zoological Park was located south of Morse/Rathbone Road on the west side of High Street. The east side of High was the “Garden” which was divided into building lots. That neighborhood retains the name “Zooland”. The Zoo was established on land originally owned by John Rathbone. Rathbone died in 1853. That is when the land officially transferred to his daughter Eliza Wetmore and her heirs. Some of these documents feature a tiger. Prior research on the zoo revealed the existence of a meat eater in the animal collection but we’ve always assumed it to be a lion. One photo features a herd of white tail deer. Other animals included rattle snakes, a couple bear cubs, elk, and monkey imported from the Hagenbeck Zoo in Germany. Fabulous finds. [Text courtesy of the Clintonville Historical Society’s Newsletter. Pix courtesy of Alex D. Stranek and the Columbus Metropolitan Library.]

One Response to “Tigers & Lions & Bears! Oh My!”

  1. Katie Says:

    Do you think the water scene is a section of the Olentangy River, or is it the part of the Old Beechwold ravine that used to be dammed up into a pond?

Leave a Reply