Franklin Park is a neighborhood located on the Near East Side of Columbus, Ohio. The historic neighborhood and landmark, the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, are named after the 88-acre park.
Development in Franklin Park began in the 1850s and continued through the 1880s. The neighborhood was home to the Franklin County Fairgrounds for 30 years before it became the recreational park it is today.
The current neighborhood contains Columbus first known residential area. The three to six-block addition was known as “Franklin Park Place,” Its borders were Franklin Park South (known as Fair Ave) to the north, Bryden Road to the south, the train tracks to the east, and Fairwood Avenue to the west. According to the source, the Franklin Park area comprised many different subdivisions and additions, the names of which eventually merged to form “Franklin Park.”
Franklin Park’s development attracted both the working class and the wealthy. The neighborhood mixes large mansions and smaller, more modest homes. The 1930s were a transitional period between downtown’s fast-paced city life and the countryside beyond Alum Creek. Until the 1940s, the streetcar was the most common mode of transportation, followed by people typically owning automobiles. People would take their Sunday drives on the 1.2-mile loop that circled as this became a popular commodity. Franklin Square. Not only was Franklin Park a community neighborhood, but people would come here to drive for fun, race their cars, and picnic with their families. Bed Bug Exterminator Columbus
Geography
Franklin Park is surrounded on the north by the other Near East neighborhoods of Eastgate, Nelson Park, Woodland Park, Eastwood Heights, and Bronzeville/King-Lincoln. To the south are Hanford Village, Driving Park, and Old Oaks, both considered Columbus’ Near South. Olde Towne East is another Near East Side neighborhood between downtown Columbus, OH‘s Discovery and Market Districts and the Franklin Park neighborhood. A Google Map shows the general location of the Neighborhoods of Columbus’ Near East and Near South neighborhoods (without boundaries depicted).
Franklin Park
Franklin Park is a neighborhood Near the East Side landmark. The park is 88 acres and includes several ponds, an amphitheater, terraced waterfalls, a community garden, an Asian-themed garden, a picnic shelter, and playgrounds. The Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, a neighborhood and city landmark, are also located within the park. Franklin Park is home to twenty-one cherry trees donated by Japan to represent Columbus’ Japanese community. Twenty trees are being kept in the greenhouse of the conservatory before being transplanted outside. On April 27, 2012, the last remaining older tree was planted along one of Franklin Park’s lakes. The event commemorated the 100th anniversary of the original Japanese gift, a shipment of thousands of cherry blossom trees from Tokyo to Washington, D.C. “Honda is one of the most important employers in central Ohio, so there’s a strong connection with Japan,” said Bruce Harkey, executive director of the Franklin Park Conservatory and a former Honda employee.
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