Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Historical Society

Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Historical Society Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Historical Society, 1685 West First Avenue, Columbus, OH.

Fifth Avenue StagecoachPrior to the turn of the last century, before the arrival of the streetcar, access roads to the a...
10/02/2026

Fifth Avenue Stagecoach
Prior to the turn of the last century, before the arrival of the streetcar, access roads to the area that would eventually become the Village of Marble Cliff and the City of Grandview Heights were very limited. The main north-south road was Dublin Pike (now Riverside Drive, or Dublin Road), which followed the Scioto Indian trail. The main east-west road was Fifth Avenue. It had a toll booth near Kenny Road, and wagons had to ford the Olentangy river because there was no bridge. The stagecoach shown below was used in 1896 to transport passengers along Fifth Avenue. The picture is originally from the James T. Miller family collection. The 300-acre Miller farm was developed into Upper Arlington after 1913.

It’s officially spooky season and this month GHMCHS is going to feature Grandview Heights and Marble Cliffs things that ...
10/01/2026

It’s officially spooky season and this month GHMCHS is going to feature Grandview Heights and Marble Cliffs things that go bump in the night.

Our first feature: The Red Shoe Mystery

Lola Celli and her family lived at 1783 W. Third Avenue, between Westwood and Glenn. She graduated near the top of her Grandview High School class in 1941 and later graduated from Ohio State.

On February 23, 1946, the 24-year-old teacher left home intending to take the bus downtown.

She vanished.

A motorcyclist later told police that while traveling on Olentangy River Road near W. North Broadway, he saw a man and woman apparently arguing inside a passing coupe.

Then something came flying from the car:

A red shoe.

Another motorist reportedly corroborated seeing the shoe.

Lola was wearing her favorite red shoes that day.

Police organized an enormous search. About 150 Grandview and Upper Arlington high-school students joined police, sheriff’s deputies and the Highway Patrol searching from Grandview Avenue toward Trabue and along the Scioto/railroad corridor.

Nothing was found.

And as of September 2026, the Ohio Attorney General still lists Lola Celli as missing.

The City of Grandview Heights initiated a First & Grandview District Plan in 2025. The District is defined as Grandview ...
09/17/2026

The City of Grandview Heights initiated a First & Grandview District Plan in 2025. The District is defined as Grandview Avenue from Third Avenue south to First Ave., then First Ave. from Grandview Avenue west to the Grandview Heights Public Library.
As an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the community’s history and its structures, the Historical Society has identified and documented the buildings within the district that contribute to its historic character. A sample is shown below (click to enlarge). There are several buildings from the 1920s, 1930s, and beyond that may be worthy of preservation. These buildings illustrate the early development of Grandview Heights and have distinctive architecture that contributes to the area’s eclectic character.

Former Historical Society Trustee Judy Williams, a professional historic preservation consultant, prepared the historic inventory of buildings in the district and presented that data to the City.
The inventory sheet for each property provides information about the building’s architecture and history, followed by a ranking of historic and architectural significance based on professional
standards. The very informative building Inventory and evaluation prepared by Judy can be viewed in its entirety here https://www.ghmchs.org/first-grandview-district-survey

Please join us for the annual meeting of the Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Historical Society.We will be reviewing our ...
09/16/2026

Please join us for the annual meeting of the Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Historical Society.
We will be reviewing our activities from this past year and discussing our plans for the future.

WHEN: Sunday October 4, 2026 from 4 to 6 PM
WHERE: 1661 Goodale Blvd., in the Parks and Recreation Building

Guest Speaker: William Butler
President of National Veterans Memorial & Museum

Preparations are underway for the annual Ox Roast. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first Bobcat Booster spon...
09/08/2026

Preparations are underway for the annual Ox Roast. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first Bobcat Booster sponsored Ox Roast that was held in October of 1956 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Grandview Heights.
The attached Columbus Dispatch article (click and enlarge) is from October 24, 1956. It pictures the original planning committee and provides the schedule and details for the event. It was a three day celebration with many of the same traditions and time table that still exists today. Interesting that the article states that the Ox Roast would be held at the “East Playground Field” aka Oxley Field. Dinner tickets cost $1. Mayor Arthur K. Pierce was scheduled to accept new lighting for the field donated by the Boosters. In 1966 the location was subsequently renamed “Pierce Field” to honor his service to the community. The Ox Roast is one of Grandview Heights' most favorite traditions.

In the summer of 1948 a new summer treat became available in the Tri-Village area - a soft ice cream goodie called "Dair...
08/27/2026

In the summer of 1948 a new summer treat became available in the Tri-Village area - a soft ice cream goodie called "Dairy Queen" which was invented by John McCullough in 1938. Roy and Eileen Gilmore of Cedar Rapids Iowa saw the popularity of this new product and bought the only available franchise in Columbus, Ohio. They purchased the property at 1512 W. Fifth Avenue and built Columbus’s first Dairy Queen. One of the first franchise-oriented companies, Dairy Queen had only 10 stores nationally in 1941, about 100 when the Tri-Village store opened in 1948, and grew to nearly 2600 nationally by 1955. Today there are 4,353 DQ’s throughout the United States with 255 locations in Ohio. The Fifth Avenue DQ remained in the Gilmore family until 1980. The soft ice-cream, a blend of fresh milk and a proprietary mix, remains a specialty for summer and all year round. The Dairy Queen, shown here in a 1981 newspaper ad, celebrated 33 years of the Gilmore franchise at the Tri-Village location. The first DQ on West Fifth Avenue has been serving loyal customers for 78 years.

The high school building originally opened in September 1923. For nearly 70 years, a large second-floor study hall serve...
08/20/2026

The high school building originally opened in September 1923. For nearly 70 years, a large second-floor study hall served as the core of student life. The drawing below(click to enlarge) shows the study hall from the 1926 Student Orientation Blue Book.
The study hall was a mainstay of the high school schedule, and was a hub of activity both during and after school. As pictured below it was decorated for homecoming and football games. The cheerleaders on the ladders provide a relative reference for the large dimensions of the room. Student "study hall checkers" monitored attendance. Scheduling of study halls eventually declined due to the emphasis on students enhancing their college applications with more rigorous academic schedules and extracurricular activities. In the 1990’s this massive space was subdivided into smaller, separate classrooms to accommodate changing space needs and grade distributions. To this day, during Alumni Week building tours, graduates from before the 1990’s still lament the loss of their study hall.

Ezio CherubiniThe Italian Heritage, published by the GHMCHS in 1985, states that in 1902 there were 1100 Italians living...
08/14/2026

Ezio Cherubini
The Italian Heritage, published by the GHMCHS in 1985, states that in 1902 there were 1100 Italians living in Franklin County. Approximately one hundred of them were men working as laborers at the various stone quarries in Marble Cliff. Many of these workers were brought to this country by Columbus steamship agent Ezio (Jesse) Cherubini (below), whose offices were at Spruce and Front Streets. Ezio arrived in Columbus in
1891 and was initially sponsored by his prominent uncle, John Marzetti. Cherubini operated an office at Spruce and Front Streets as a registered steamship agent. He traveled to New York to meet incoming ships from Naples, vouching for the employment of Italian immigrants. He transported hundreds of workers by rail to Columbus to labor at Sylvio Casparis' limestone quarry on the Scioto River. His recruitment efforts directly led to the establishment of San Margherita, a historic Italian settlement neighborhood near the quarries. In 1910, Cherubini stepped forward to become the first Italian banker in the Columbus area to assist new immigrants with financial services. He developed the business block at 509-525 N. Park Street. Many of the immigrant laborers were single men who lived at the “Italian Club” where monthly rent was one dollar, a very affordable rate for workers whose daily pay ranged from seventy-five cents to two dollars. Blacksmiths were at the top of the pay scale. Ezio Cherubini played a foundational role in shaping the early Italian-American community in Central Ohio during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Address

1685 West First Avenue
Columbus, OH
43212

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm
Sunday 9am - 3pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Historical Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Historical Society:

Shortcuts

Share