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Worthington Historical Society

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Worthington Historical Society

The Worthington Historical Society is dedicated to creating experiences that inspire interest in Worthington history.

by preserveing and interpreting local history, maintaining historic sites, and providing community education.

08/27/2026

100 Years Ago Today....August 26, 1926

The sale of Sharon Township's Potter Schoolhouse on East Granville Road was announced in the newspaper 100 years ago today. The schoolhouse was sold by the Worthington Board of Eduction to Mr. Harvey Tilton, who did live at 1403 East Granville Road for several decades following this purchase.

By the mid-19th century there were 13 one-room school sub-districts in Sharon Township. However new legistation over the second half of the century required schools that divided classes by grade and later necessitated the establishment of high schools. In November of 1921, the Sharon Township Board passeed a resolution to consolidate graded elementary schools, and by the following year constuction contracts were signed for Homedale and Minerva Park consolidated schools, which replaced the remaining one-room schoolhouses.

08/25/2026

Then & Now - 1976 to 2026

This home, at 550 Morning Street, is located in the Morris Addition, a subdivision platted in 1856 on land that was formerly part of farm lot 78. In 1888, Mary Stickney purchased 12 lots in the Morris Addition for $600, a price that suggests the property was still vacant. Over the following years, Mary and her husband, Henry Stickney, secured several mortgages on the property, including one from Rev. Charles Fellows, who served as a minister at Worthington Methodist Church in the early 1890s, where the Stickneys were members. Mr. Stickney was a local grocer, who had attended Kenyon College and served briefly in the Civil War.

A notice published in the Westerville Public Opinion on October 12, 1893, announced a housewarming for Henry and Mary Stickney at the "new house into which they have just moved," indicating that the residence was completed in 1893. The house changed ownership several times over the years, including a period when the Stickneys sold the property and later repurchased it. During the 1920s and 1930s, the home appears to have been used as a rental property.

In 1976, for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration, a series of photographs were taken around Worthington, including businesses and residences. Throughout 2026, this series will take a look at what has changed and what has stayed the same, as we celebrate America 250!

08/19/2026

100 Years Ago Today....August 19, 1926

"A Cosmopolitain Appearance"! Worthington got it's first traffic light 100 years ago.

The Worthington News wrote: "Worthington has not only taken on a more cosmopolitan appearance because of the installation of the traffic control light at the corner of High Street and Granville Road, but has undoubtedly taken a most effective step toward the elimination of traffic accidents at that very dangerous corner.

Few people in Worthington realize the extent of the motor traffic which flows through the village. It is always heavy but on summer evenings and particularly Saturdays and Sundays it assumes alarming proportions. It is an astounding fact that a count made of automobiles passing the corner of High and Granville Road between five and six oclock last Sunday evening showed that machines were passing that point at the rate of 1500 per hour.

Few Intentional Violators
It is remarkable that more accidents have not occured at the intersection of those two heavily traveled highways, but indications are that the number will be still further reduced since the installation of the control light. Numerous drivers did not obey the signal during the first few days ot its operation but in practically all cases the offenders were not aware of its presence and when brought before the Mayor were dismissed with a warning.

There have been very few willful violations, and it is to be expected that as time goes on the control light will prove itself indispensible."

The stoplight can be seen in this 1938 photograph looking northwest across the intersection of High and Dublin-Granville Road from Don O'Brien's collection (viewable on Flickr, dok1).

08/17/2026

Then & Now - 1976 to 2026

The lot on which 656 Morning Stree is situated was part of the Morris Addition, which was platted in 1856. The 1856 plat map shows the parcel as vacant, indicating that no building yet occupied the site. However, by 1872, maps show a structure standing on Lot 60, confirming that construction occurred sometime between those dates.

In 1862, Adolphus Tuller purchased the south two-thirds of Lots 58, 59, and 60. The 1860 census records Tuller, then 30 years old, working as a cooper (barrel maker). He lived with his wife, Martha, age 22, and their two children. Over the following decade, the family grew rapidly; by the 1870 census, Adolphus and Martha had six children living in the household.

When the Tullers celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1905, a newspaper article covering the event noted that "they have lived in the present house for forty-one years." This statement places their occupancy of the house around 1864, just two years after Adolphus acquired the property.

The Tullers lived in the house until their deaths; Martha in 1910 and Adolphus in 1914. Heirs kept the property until 1941.

The images accompanying the Then & Now of 656 Morning Street include tin types of the couple, presumably around the time of their marriage in 1855, and a photograph of the couple on their front porch in 1907, when the two had been married for 52 years.

In 1976, for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration, a series of photographs were taken around Worthington, including businesses and residences. Throughout 2026, this series will take a look at what has changed and what has stayed the same, as we celebrate America 250!

08/14/2026

The sheep are grazing at Perry Park!

Perry Park, a 22-acre park established in 1979 and dedicated in 1983, sits on land that reflects both Worthington’s agricultural heritage and its later suburban growth. Unlike much of Worthington, this area was not part of the original Scioto Company purchase of 1803. Instead, it remained in Perry Township until being annexed into the City of Worthington in 1974.

Throughout the nineteenth century and into the mid-twentieth century, the land that now includes Perry Park and the Potter’s Creek neighborhood was active farmland. Generations of farmers cultivated the property, helping define the rural character of Perry Township.

A significant chapter in the land’s history began in 1945 when Ruth Potter purchased 72 acres that would eventually become both Perry Park and Potter’s Creek. A Denison University graduate, Potter joined the family business, Potter Lumber, and later succeeded her father, Howard Potter, as president. Founded in 1913 near Worthington’s railroad tracks, Potter Lumber became one of the city’s best-known businesses. Ruth was also active in community organizations, including the Worthington Methodist Church, the Worthington Library Board, and Wesley Glen Retirement Center.

More than thirty years later, the farm began its transformation. In 1977, Ruth’s nephew, Steve Potter, partnered with Betts Builders to develop Potter’s Creek, Worthington’s westernmost subdivision. The neighborhood retained connections to its agricultural past through street names such as Meadow Brook Circle, Ravine Circle, and Lakeside Circle. An existing farm pond was expanded into the lake that remains a central feature of the community.

As development proceeded, a portion of the former Potter farm was preserved for public use. That land became Perry Park, providing recreation and open green space while honoring the site’s rural heritage. Today, visitors enter the park through the Potter’s Creek neighborhood, linking the park to the farmland from which it originated and preserving an important connection to Worthington’s agricultural past.

08/12/2026

100 Years Ago Today....August 12, 1926

The Worthington News headline on August 12th a century ago announded that one of Worhtington's new residents, Karl Bolander, was to be the Columus Gallery of Fine Arts new Director. Bolander had recently purchased 256 East Granville Road. During his tenure from 1926 to 1932, the museum constructed the Second Renaissance Revival style building that is the central part of the museum today.

The image of Bolander shown here was printed in the 1933 Worthington News when Bolander was leading a trip to the Chicago World Fair. After his tenure with the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, he became president of the National Art Hobby Guild.

08/10/2026

Then & Now - 1976 to 2026

This home at 80 W. Granville Road was built beginning in March 1896 for Lyman Gardner, a Civil War veteran, businessman, and president of Worthington Savings Bank, the community's first bank. According to the Westerville Public Opinion, the ten-room frame home was constructed under the supervision of George Van Loon, then owner of the Worthington Inn, while Frank Case held the carpentry contract.

Gardner was raised near Powell, and he enlisted at age 18 in Company C, 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Following his service, he attended Center Academy, taught school for three terms, and later established himself in the sawmill and lumber business in Powell. After marrying Lillian Hall in 1873, the couple raised their family and eventually moved to Worthington, where Gardner became a financial leader.

Lyman and Lillian Gardner lived at 80 W. Granville Road from 1896 until Lyman's death in 1912. Their children, Royal, Stella, Frank, and Blanche, were among the home's earliest residents.

By the 1920s it was known as the Gardner Apartments, housing multiple families. The 1928 directory lists residents including Earl McDowell, an electrical engineering instructor at The Ohio State University, and another Earl McDowell, a filling station attendant, each occupying separate portions of the residence with their families. In the 1939 Worthington Directory, Dr. Turton resided in this home.

In 1976, for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration, a series of photographs were taken around Worthington, including businesses and residences. Throughout 2026, this series will take a look at what has changed and what has stayed the same, as we celebrate America 250!

08/05/2026

100 Years Ago Today....August 5th, 2026

A century ago, the Worthington News printed the announcement of the death of Joseph M. Snouffer. His obituary as well as a photograph also appeared in the Columbus Dispatch at the time.

The complete text read, "Joseph M. Snouffer, pioneer resident of this community, died Sunday of Senility, at his home south of Linworth on the Olentangy River Road at the age of 77 years.
Mr. Snouffer who had lived near Linworth his entire life with his two brothers, Alva T. and Michael W. Snouffer, both of Linworth, has fiddled and called dances since his boyhood days, and had won several prizes as an old-time fiddler. A few years ago he lost a foot in a railroad accident, when he stepped from behind 1 one train into the path of another, at Linworth. He is survived by besides his brothers, his wife, Mrs. Sophronia Snouffer; two sons, Marion C. of Linworth and Henry H. of Toledo; a daughter, Mrs. Frank Morgan of Groveport, 17 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Funeral Services were held Tuesday in the Linworth M. E. Church at 2 P. M., Rev. P. A. Harlan officiating. Burial was made in the Dublin Cemetery in charge of George T. Smith."

08/04/2026

Have you seen the sheep at Linworth Park?

The area now occupied by Linworth Park was once part of Perry Township and was primarily agricultural, with farms operated by many local families throughout the nineteenth century. The community changed dramatically with the arrival of the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railroad in 1877, which connected Columbus and Toledo. The new rail line spurred growth in the village of Elmwood, which quickly developed into an important shipping and receiving point for livestock and agricultural products.

Known as Elmwood Station from 1877 to 1909, the community's name was changed to Linworth in 1909 to avoid confusion with Elmwood Place near Cincinnati, which occasionally resulted in misdirected mail and freight shipments. The new name combined parts of DubLIN and WORTHington, reflecting the community's location between the two areas.

In the mid twentieth century, the land was owned by Homer & Eva LeFever, of LeFever's Carry Out in Linworth.

Today, Linworth Park sits within a landscape that evolved from rural farmland into a railroad community and eventually a suburban neighborhood.

08/03/2026

Then & Now - 1976 to 2026

The house at 686 Hartford Street is believed to have been built around 1869 by Samuel and Sarah Sullivan. When the property was sold by Horatio and Harriet Wright in 1861, the deed was placed solely in Sarah Sullivan's name, an unusual arrangement for the time. Samuel Sullivan served as a private in Company E of the 133rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry during its 100-day service in 1864 and was listed in census records as a mason and plasterer.

After the Sullivan family, the home remained in the hands of the Vest and Corbin families for nearly a century. Ownership passed from Caroline Vest to her children, Winfield and Sarah Vest, then to Winfield's four daughters, and eventually to Frank Corbin, one of Caroline Vest's great-grandchildren. Corbin owned the property from 1941 until his death in 1978, although historical records suggest it was likely used as a rental property throughout much of his ownership.

In 1976, for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration, a series of photographs were taken around Worthington, including businesses and residences. Throughout 2026, this series will take a look at what has changed and what has stayed the same, as we celebrate America 250!

Address

50 W New England Avenue
Worthington, OH
43085

Opening Hours

Wednesday	1pm - 4pm
Thursday	1pm - 4pm
Friday	1pm - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 2pm

Telephone

+16148851247

Website

http://www.worthingtonhistory.org/

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