The Short North Columbus Ohio - Inman Stories - Real Living

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth?  A Real Living video about The Short North in Columbus Ohio, calls the neighborhood "downtown."  While The Short North is an urban neighborhood,  The Short North is not downtown, it is just north of downtown, hence the name, 'The Short North'  ... a quick run for the police in the old days when it was not the place to be for galleries and restaurants.  The introduction of The Cap over 670 in the past year makes the walk from downtown to the Short North seamless.    

The Real Living video is also about the residential neighborhoods near the Short North, Victorian Village and Italian Village.

There are arches in the Short North today, but this picture is an old photo of Columbus with it's street light arches. Of coures that were the reason Columbus was known as the Arch City. The video shows the modern (and hopefully soon functional) arches in The Short North.

There are lots of colorful stories about 'The Short North' what it was like in the past, how it got the name, 'The Short North.'  I've blogged about events and place in The Short North here on Columbus Best Blog a number of times.

The Short North  ....This weekend is Gallery Hop!  It's always the first Saturday....

" Welcome to the fabulous SHORT NORTH ARTS DISTRICT"

"If Columbus is the heart of Ohio, the Short North is the pulse. Fine art. Fine Food. Great Shopping. Great Entertainment... it's the SoHo of the Midwest. Whether you're merely dipping your toe in the pool at one of the scores of galleries or shops along High Street, or diving in head first for a full night of "Gallery Hopping," you've found the sweet spot. "

 c. 2006 Columbus Best Blog

 Sausage links....  Italian sausage or bratwurst?  Italian Festival or German Village Oktoberfest.. there are lots of entertainment choices in Central Ohio this weekend including Italian Festival and Oktoberfest. 

 "SIMPLY ITALIAN" 

Italian Festival is at  St. John the Baptist Italian Catholic Church, 720 Hamlet Street in  Columbus, Ohio. 

German Village Oktoberfest in German Village

Also The Food and Wine Affair

 and

Fall Fun Days Harvest Festival in Grove City

There is more going on this weekend in Central Ohio, visit ExperienceColumbus.com

c. 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

Was the Italian Village area known as Flytown? 

Great photos of Columbus'  Short North murals   on New Hampshire blogger Dr. Lorianne DiSabato's  blog,  Hoarded Ordinaries.  A former Columbus resident,  DiSabato an  English instructor at Keene State College in New Hampshire and literature courses through Southern New Hampshire University wrote: 

"When my Dad grew up in Columbus, OH in the neighborhood around High and Goodale Streets, they didn't call it Italian Village.  Back then, when this neighborhood was an ethnically-mixed, working-class ghetto you wanted to get out of, the poor folks who lived there called it Flytown." 

DiSabato's link to Flytown links to a Shortnorth.com article:

 " Flytown, the area of mostly blacks and immigrants that once existed between Spruce Street and Buttles Avenue west of Goodale Park and that was razed in the mid-1950s as part of a Columbus urban renewal project." 

Isn't Victorian Village east of High Street?   I always thought Flytown was west of High Street, west of Goodale Park.  The historical marker on the south end of Goodale Park says Flytown was south of Goodale Blvd.   

The Godman Guild's History gives this colorful history of  how that settlement house got it's start helping the residents of Columbus Flytown neighborhood:

"The first neighborhood guild association began when Ms. Anna B. Keagle, both a high school and Sunday School teacher in the Flytown neighborhood, discovered all of her 8-10 year old charges were in jail one Sunday. "

Also from the Godman Guild Website

"1955 - Flytown was demolished for urban renewal and for freeway construction (I-670) in the late 1950's. Many residents moved north and continued to utilize the services of the Guild "

I've  read that the area known as Italian Village was an area of immigrant housing, not necessarily Italians.  I have to believe the homes in the Italian Village historic district were better than the Flytown  homes taken by eminent domain in the 1950's.  

The Italian Village Society website (which DiSabato links to in her blog too) says of Victorian Village geography:  

"Italian Village is an historic district located in the near north side of Columbus adjacent to the central business district. The area is bounded by Interstate Route 670 on the south, Fifth Avenue on the north, North High Street on the west, and the Conrail railroad tracks to the east. The Italian Village area was one of Columbus' first suburbs, annexed to the city of Columbus in 1862.  In the early 1970s, residents of Italian Village took action against the deteriorating physical condition of the area and the threat of having more and more historic buildings demolished. Residents and property owners, who felt a sense of community and had visions of an improved neighborhood, formed the Italian Village Society in 1972. One year later, the Italian Village Commission was established by Columbus City Council.

In 1986, the entire Short North Area (Italian Village, Victorian Village, and the High Street Commercial District) was awarded an "All American City" designation, for its public-private partnership, in revitalization of the area. Several sections of Italian Village were recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places and another section is currently being considered for listing."

Enough Columbus geography and history lesson!   

DiSabato's Short North mural photos are gorgeous  !!  Depending on the era maybe her father lived in Flytown rather than the immigrant neighborhood east of High Street which has come to be known as Columbus' Italian Village.

Columbus Historic Neighborhoods

Copyright Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

I am fascinated with HouseBlogs.net  "A community- powered home improvement publication."

It's a blog of blogs. 

They say : " In general, Houseblogs are diaries by people building, improving or restoring their own homes. Like other "blogs", they are updated regularly and show the work unfold in real time. They each reflect the unique character of the individuals doing the work.  There are hundreds of houseblogs across the internet. HouseBlogs.net serves as a central hub to help find, track and interact with those many individuals embarking on their DIY adventures."

I believe there are 180+ blogs on HouseBlogs.net.  Lots of fun photos.

I used the map on  HouseBlogs.net to see if I could find a Columbus or Central Ohio Home Blogger... in my humble opinion using a map of the world with a few blogs sprinkled over Europe and so many clustered in the US doesn't make sense... or maybe the map should be distorted so the US is larger... enough with my views on cartography!    I thought I could find Ohio (the heart of it all) and surely find a blog from a home owner in Clintonville, Old Beechwold, Victorian Village, Italian Village, Old Worthington, German Village or one of the local historical neighborhoods... and find a local "House Blog."  I found  '1914 Foursquare in Muncie Indiana. "  a little west of 'the heart of it all."

I wonder if neighborhoods like Old Worthington, German Village, Victorian Village, Old Beechwold if the homeowners are not DIY adventurers, but are instead hiring the work done...

The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Columbus Best Blog  does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied.

Copyright © 2006 Maureen McCabe & Columbus Best Blog All Rights Reserved.