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History Of Clintonville

The community of Clintonville developed as the center of Clinton Township (named for the U.S. Vice President George Clinton), part of the land grants given to Continental Army soldiers in lieu of pensions in what used to be Wyandot Indian territory. For years, the steep hillsides discouraged development, until farmland was purchased by the Bull family and then used for religious services. Clinton Chapel (now a funeral home) was constructed in 1838 and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad over the next two decades. Thomas Bull, a Methodist minister, along with his wife, four sons and one of his two daughters moved to Central Ohio from Vermont in 1812. His second daughter, Chloe Brevoort and her family, joined the rest of the Bull family about a year later. The family first settled in the Worthington area while they searched for land to purchase at a suitable price. (need to cite source)

In 1813, Bull purchased 600 acres along the Columbus-Worthington Pike from John Rathbone. Before the Adams administration patented the land to Rathbone, it had been part of the United States Military Lands—land which was set aside to be given to Revolutionary War soldiers as both a pension and as a payment for their service in the War of Independence. Rathbone was a New Yorker who had never set foot in Ohio. Nonetheless, he owned a quarter section of Clinton Township which was named for George Clinton, the vice president in the Jefferson administration.

Once Thomas Bull and his family settled the land and began to farm, they were faced with a mighty problem. Namely, there was no one else around – – nowhere they could easily go to buy shoes, have blacksmith or carpentry work done—they were isolated. This isolation made the management of a 600-acre farm difficult at best.

In an attempt to draw others to the area and lessen the isolation of their farm, the Bulls built businesses in the center of Clinton Township, along the plank toll road that later became North High Street, the main north–south thoroughfare connecting Columbus to Worthington, Ohio to the north. They offered to give these buildings away to any skilled laborers who would stay. A post office designated “Clintonville” opened in the center of this district on September 13, 1847, and this date is marked by present-day Clintonville residents as the neighborhood’s “birthday”. (need to include sources)

By the early 1900s, downtown Columbus residents and professors from The Ohio State University had built summer homes in Clintonville and the surrounding farmland was developed into housing developments shortly after the extension of the streetcar lines northward from Columbus. A business district developed in Beechwold, separated by nearly a mile of residences from the Clintonville district to the south. Both communities were entirely part of Columbus by the 1950s after it annexed most of Clinton Township.

*Information from Wikipedia