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Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Historical Society

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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, Nonprofit Organization, 1685 West First Avenue, Columbus, OH.

05/14/2026

Pictured below in this 1979 photo are 14 second, third, and fourth year French students at Grandview Heights High School. They were selected as part of an exchange program sponsored in this country by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and in France by the French Ministry of Education. They spent 23 days in two different parts of France. The first four days were spent along the coast at Saint Cast in Brittany. The remaining days were spent in a Paris suburb, Maison-Alfort. Each student stayed with a different family and participated in routine French family life. The students did a lot of sightseeing in the afternoons and weekends. In the mornings they went to school with their French correspondents. The students then attended classes at Lycee Eugene Delacroix. In March and April the French correspondents reciprocated and came to Grandview and stayed with families. The exchange was planned and managed by Garda Hofmann, GHHS French teacher, and Principal John Hanlon. Being able to afford the trip was never a requirement of the program - conversational French was. Students with the best ability to use the language were selected, and funds were raised by student projects and private donations to the School Exchange Services Committee. Pictured in the group photo (click to enlarge, left to right from the bottom) are Leah Lacoco, Tracy Knippenburg, Debbie Dericho, Miriam Tucker; second row: Anne Flinn, Molly Wilcox, Heidi Williams, Laura Radcliffe; third row: Carmel Rooney, Theresa Reilly, Rena Shere; top row: Kirk Hickman, Lonnie Owen and teacher Garda Hofmann.

05/07/2026

The magazine distribution industry in central Ohio was controlled at one time by one company, the Scott Krauss News Agency, which had been in business in Columbus since 1903. The company eventually built a distribution plant and office at 1180 Goodale Boulevard, and from that plant it shipped magazines in their coral colored trucks to nearly 1,000 retail outlets as far away as Athens and Chillicothe. The excerpts below(click to enlarge) from a 1968 Columbus Dispatch article provide a brief history of the company. After Scott Krauss’s death the firm subsequently evolved into the Ohio Periodical Distributors Inc. Accent draperies acquired the former Scott Krauss News Agency facility in 1975 and maintains operations there today.

04/30/2026

The first Rax franchised restaurant opened in the United States in 1978. At its peak in the 1980s, the Rax Roast Beef restaurant chain had grown to 504 locations in 38 states. The photo below, showing the building under construction at 1266 Dublin Road, is from a July 7, 1984 Columbus Dispatch article. The accompanying article stated that the 50,000-square-foot, two-story facility was being built at a cost of $5.5 million, according to Paul M. Savage, vice president of the restaurant chain at the time. Once completed, the building would accommodate all the headquarters personnel which were being housed in three buildings at the time. The other photo shows the completed headquarters at its opening on September 15, 1984. The Rax franchise subsequently faced a number of challenges that necessitated the closure of the Marble Cliff headquarters and sale of the property in 1990. The Church of Scientology of Central Ohio has owned the property at 1266 Dublin Road since 2008. The local Rax restaurant at 1724 W. 5th Avenue during the 1980’s was eventually sold to Wendy’s and is now the location of a Valvoline Instant Oil Change center. As of late 2025, there are only six Rax Roast Beef restaurants remaining in the United States.

04/23/2026

Charles and Mamie Rife started their small market business at 1417 West Fifth Avenue in 1936. They lived nearby in a small brick house across from Rife’s Market. The market is pictured in the 1946 photo below. Charles was a truck farmer, and drove around Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana buying produce. The produce was then sold to grocery stores in the area. He started one of the first locally grown food businesses in the area, and in 1946 enlarged the store to add a butcher shop selling locally produced meats. The store became noted for buying Blue Ribbon beef winners at the Ohio State Fair, showing them at the store, then selling the meat as one of a few butchers handling prime graded beef. The reputation grew and sons Wayne and Paul began helping in the store. The store began taking on other products including Hilliard corn from Elfrink Farms, jams from Champaign Berry Farm, and candy from Walnut Creek. Brother Sam, pictured below, and nephew Dick also worked there and later took over the business. In its final days it was operated by Mary Kay Rife and her husband, Mike Zimmerman. Rife’s, a Tri-Village landmark, closed in 2014. The article below(click to enlarge) was published in the Columbus Dispatch in August, 1984 when Sam operated Rife’s. Photos and article are from the Columbus Metropolitan Library online collection.

04/16/2026

The Columbus Soapbox Derby Grandview Connection
The Columbus Soap Box 2026 Spring Fever Rally and Test Drives have started this month. The All-American Soapbox Derby began in 1933 in Dayton, Ohio as a local race. Over the years local races were held throughout the U.S. to select the final group of racers that would compete in the national competition in Akron, Ohio. From the 1940’s through the early 1960’s the Columbus race took place on the Grandview Avenue hill from Mulford Road to Goodale Blvd. Competitors were kids in the 9-15 age range and the cars had to be constructed by the kids themselves. They ran in heats of three over the nearly 1000 feet course. In 1950, the race started a tradition of an adult celebrity race, called the Oil Can Trophy Race. Columbus Mayor Jack Sensenbrenner (pictured left) prepares for his heat in the 1955 Soapbox Derby. His opponent is Joe Wyman, who was the Columbus district shop superintendent. Wyman, who was substituting for Grandview Heights Mayor A.K. Pierce, would himself later become Grandview’s mayor. Wyman was the General Chairman of the local Soapbox Derby race. He won a second place trophy. Sensenbrenner joked that Wyman had a slight weight advantage!

04/08/2026

The High School Band Fundraiser
After the Superintendent of the schools announced the formation of a Grandview HS band in July of 1940, the Band Parents Association or Band Boosters held their first fundraiser on October 18, 1940. It was a tag sale to "Boost the Band". There were 27 male students who played as a "band" at the school assembly and the football game that evening against Columbus Academy. Funds raised by the tag sale went to the purchase of a base drum and other instruments. The tags were sold in connection with the game and people wore them by hanging them on shirt and coat buttons. A vintage tag from the Historical Society’s collection is shown below. Tag sales occurred yearly and would eventually become the current Decal Sale that happens the Sunday after band camp in July of every year. The tag sale was the first and oldest fundraiser for the band. The tag sales were replaced by the first Cake Walk on November 22, 1948. To better reflect the goals of this beloved community event, the Grandview Heights Band & Orchestra Boosters changed the name of the spring fundraiser to the BOBCake Bash beginning in 2024. The information provided here is fromhttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/603e507468514f1405170873/t/60798ed9bc95dd4d82510250/1618579164770/CakeWalkBook.pdf written by Meghan Watters, Grandview Heights H.S. Class of 2020. The 2026 BOBCake Bash is this Friday, April 10 from 6:30-9:30 in the GHHS Gymnasium.

03/26/2026

GHHS Basketball Superstar
March Madness is ongoing and a reminder that Grandview had its own basketball superstar. Pictured here is Ed Smith #32 one of GHHS outstanding basketball stars with his 1946-1947 teammates. By the time he was a high school senior, Ed was all-CBL (Central Buckeye League) and had tied the league hoops record for most points in a single game. He was recruited to play basketball by Harvard. While at Harvard Ed was one of the best players in the conference. At one point there was a giant mural of Ed on the Harvard gym’s wall. His senior year, Ed finished second in the league in scoring. He was the first Harvard graduate selected by the New York Knicks in the first round (6th pick overall) during the 1951 NBA Draft. He played for the Knicks through the 1954 season. A 2012 article in NY Magazine featured a comprehensive review of Ed's basketball career and and can be read online here: https://nymag.com/daily/sports/2012/02/ed-smith-the-knicks-first-harvard-grad.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExSVlCUW5BeE45MUtBMDVieXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR4TZGQM8uNZagbrneK1UoRFXHdFIYdGLdMALvFKLSRUKzofH8gVVhALhE3m0A_aem_HN2JqKREBF9T5bGxpvragA

03/19/2026

Stevenson Sign History
Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School opened in the fall of 1926 but the permanent brick and engraved stone sign shown in this photo was not installed until 1991. The PTO officers that year decided that after sixty-five years a permanent sign was long overdue. The Stevenson PTO officers at the time were Pam Patterson, Karen Nevergall, Wayne Carlson, and Kathy Lithgow. Funds were raised and Norb Howell, an architect and Stevenson parent, was selected to submit designs for consideration. Once a design was accepted drawings were submitted to the firm contracted to produce the sign. Everything was on track for installation and a dedication ceremony until the stone arrived with the school’s namesake misspelled. For whatever reason the mason had engraved Robert “Lewis” Stevenson instead of Robert “Louis” Stevenson. The mistake was immediately noticed by the late Jeanette Lauritsen while looking out the window with her students when the stone arrived. She was a teacher and at one time principal at RLS. The error was the mason’s. A replacement was provided at no charge and it arrived in time for the dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony pictured below. Cheryl Hilton, the school principal at the time, is addressing the crowd. Also pictured are Mayor David Colley and Ted Knapke, the superintendent of Grandview Schools.

03/13/2026

1578 West First Avenue
One of the early homes on First Avenue, 1578 West First Avenue was built around 1906 and has had a series of interesting owners. It was the childhood home of Charles Boardman who was a Mayor of Marble Cliff for 22 years. The Boardman family owned the Murray Coal and Ice Company and moved to Marble Cliff in 1922. The property was eventually purchased by Mr C.L. "Wh**ey" Deyo in 1941. He converted the residence into the Deyo Funeral Home and started a tradition of personal funeral service to the Tri-Village area. In 1959 Mr. Deyo was joined by Ivan L. Davis and the partnership of Deyo-Davis Funeral Home was formed. After the death of Mr. Deyo in 1964, Mr. Davis took over the service to the community. A series of additions and renovations expanded the facility. Ivan was later joined by his son, Jeffery, who received his funeral director's license in 1980. At the time of his death in 2013 Ivan Davis was one of the oldest active licensed funeral directors and embalmers in the state of Ohio. The property sold in 2017. The Deyo-Davis Funeral home and adjacent office building were razed and the site redeveloped. The Edington, a three story mixed use condo and retail space, currently occupies the site.

03/06/2026

The headquarters and main warehouses of former regional grocery chain Big Bear Stores were located on Goodale Boulevard in Grandview Heights. Pictured here is the entrance to the complex and an enlargement of their company sign that was visible from the freeway. Big Bear was founded in November 1933 by Wayne E. Brown, a dynamic individual with his own vision of the future of food distribution and retailing. Big Bear was the first self-serve supermarket in the Midwest, and was the first supermarket in the country to use cashier-operated motorized conveyor belts, and claimed several innovative services, including its own trolley line. Big Bear introduced shopping carts to their stores in 1937. Big Bear operated a farm north of Columbus, as well as Big Bear Bakery. In the 1950s, Big Bear became the first supermarket in the nation to use the new IBM 305 RAMAC mainframe computer. In 1954, a new prototype store was opened in Graceland Shopping Center in Columbus. With an interior store layout that became an industry standard, the store featured perishable items in the center of the store and lower displays to highlight products.
Big Bear was bought in April 1989 by large supermarket holding company Penn Traffic. Big Bear’s demise was finalized in 2004 when the last Big Bear store closed its doors, following Penn Traffic's second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a decade. The headquarters and warehouses between Goodale and Third Avenue were vacated. It is now the site of the Grandview Yard. This excerpt is from the Grandview Heights History Walks Project https://tours.grandviewhistorywalks.org/visitors-tour-map;search=34183546/c/0/i/52396697/big-bear . Visit this link to read the complete narrative about the Big Bear stores and the variety of other popular walking tours available. Get started by downloading the History Walks app.

02/06/2026

This photograph, dated July 23, 1935 was taken during the Great Depression and shows a view of West Third Avenue between Grandview and Broadview Avenues. The apartment building in the background on the left is still present and fully rented on the southeast corner of Broadview and West Third Avenues. A current picture of the apartment is pictured below. It was built in the early 1920’s and was a popular residence for single female faculty members in the Grandview Heights School system. The apartment building in the left foreground was demolished within the last several years and is currently a vacant lot. Houses lined the north side of the block. The square wooden structure on the right between the houses might be a covered bus stop. All the houses on the right side of the block between Broadview and Grandview Avenues were subsequently razed and replaced by the commercial building pictured below.

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

http://www.ghmchs.org/

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