The Circus House!  Of course! The corner of Dennison and Buttles, I've heard it referred to as the Circus House but I never knew of the Sells Brothers, the Sells Brothers Circus or later the Adam Forepaugh-Sells Brothers Circus or Sellsville across the Olentangy from OSU where the circus wintered, etc. 

Anyone who has been to Goodale Park or Victorian Village knows the Circus house by sight.  The present owners of the home which was last on the market in 1997 were urged via the listing agent's comments in the MLS:   "ONCE IN A LIFE TIME CHANCE TO BUY A PIECE OF HISTORY. "  It said "Circus House" in the MLS (multiple listing service of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®) remarks. 

This week, history columnist Ed Lentz tells the story of spring 1906  when Columbus was the headquarters of the best (although not the biggest) circus in the USA  in This Week Newspapers.'

"Baby animals born in the winter were kept in the basement of one of the Sells Brothers' homes at the corner of Buttles and Dennison Avenue near Goodale Park." 
 
Elephants and trains seem to be the essence of what  made the Columbus area brothers' circus the best in the country.  Columbus position as a rail hub and the Sells brothers' use of trains to move the circus in a time when most circuses were  moved via wagon  makes  sense!

A December 2004 'This Week' column by Ed Lentz spoke of Columbus place in circus history and the Sells Brothers Circus fondness for pachyderms.  

"In the years immediately after the Civil War, four enterprising brothers named Sells left the family home in what is now Dublin. If they did not run away to join the circus, they at least walked briskly to seek fame and fortune."

"And if one elephant was interesting, seven elephants in the same show were nothing less than astonishing. Or at least so it seemed to several generations of visitors to the Sells Brothers Circus."

"Each autumn, the circus would return to its winter quarters in the village of Sellsville across the river from The Ohio State University.  And each spring, for more than 30 years, it would set out to see much of America and the world once again."

"Circus Town!"  A history of the Circus House and Sells family story in the Short North Gazette by Nancy Patzer includes:

"During the late 1800s, the Sells Brothers Circus was one of the largest, most successful shows of its kind in the country. At the time the home was built, Peter Sells and his three brothers were among the wealthiest citizens of  Columbus.   As front man for the operation, Peter traveled ahead of the circus to book engagements, post advertisements and arrange railroad transportation for the massive operation" ....  among juicier details of the Sells Brother's Circus, Circus House  and the Sell's family history.

The photo taken in 2003  is on the Franklin County Auditor's website.  

The Short North Gazette at www.ShortNorth.com is an "independent newspaper serving the Short North neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, since 1987."  

ThisWeek News  www.thisweeknews.com  is  part of The Columbus Dispatch.  ThisWeek  community newspapers serve and local community news in areas  including Worthington, Dublin, New Albany, Clintonville, Upper Arlington, Gahanna, Northland, The Westside, New Albany,  Westerville,  etc in Central Ohio.  

Copyright 2006  Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe