Residents and visitors of Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff no longer need to skim through a book or follow a tour guide to explore the communities’ rich histories. Now, residents can walk on their own throughout the area using an application that can be downloaded on mobile devices.
History Walks, which launched in August 2020, was truly a community effort as a partnership between the Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Historical Society and Grandview Heights Public Library.
The app offers free tours guiding you through up to nine historical stops each in Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff.
“We hope this will get people out and about,” Karen Riggs, board vice president of GHMCHS, says.
The tours are two miles long and take up to an hour and a half to complete. Users can walk, bike or drive to the historical destinations.
Some of the stops on the tour require a little imagination from the user. For instance, one tour includes a visit to one of the original nine-hole golf courses in central Ohio in Marble Cliff, which no longer exists.
During the tours, the app provides users historical photos and information at each destination. Users can learn about homes designed by famed architect Frank Packard and about the former residence of Prescott Bush, father and grandfather of presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush respectively.
“Before the app, the historical society was exploring ways to expand upon tours that Grandview schools have done for years,” Riggs says. “The onset of the pandemic made it a perfect time to move forward with the project.”
A Historical Interest
This isn’t the first time the historical society and library collaborated on a project. Previously, the two worked on an interactive historical timeline touchscreen, located on the second floor of the library and online.
“The library and the historical society have a long history of collaboration and worked closely together on this project,” Canaan Faulkner, public relations manager for GHPL, says. “The app is a great way to celebrate the fascinating local history in Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff. It also encourages local tourism and supports local businesses. And it’s a fun and engaging outdoor activity for all ages that is safe during the pandemic.”
The historical society and library conceptualized the walking tours on the app, releasing four upon its initial release. Two of the tours are about Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff, respectively, and the others feature home tours, which the historical society does every three years.
“There are plans to release a new self-guided tour every quarter,” Riggs says. “This self-guided tour may provide a nice activity to do on a date night before and after dinner.”
In November 2020, the walking tour app added a Grandview Avenue Stroll tour that tells the 100-year-plus story of the communities’ business district.
The Grandview Avenue tour also highlights some of the establishments that once or currently operate in the area such as a dance studio (formerly Dance Plus Ballroom), candle-making laboratory, fish store (formerly Byerly’s Aquarium Supplies), theater and the Bank Building, the only location in Grandview on the National Register of Historic Places. The tour also highlights how the now defunct Ringling Brothers’ elephants walked down Grandview Avenue to Nationwide Arena, where it performed its circus acts. Future tours may feature Grandview Yard and there will be one tour designed for out-of-town visitors.
The GHMCHS provided the historical content for the app, while the library formatted the app. From its late August release to early November, the app has been downloaded more than 450 times.
“We look forward to seeing more people walking the History Walks tours in the community, learning about our fascinating local history, and taking time to visit our local business establishments along the way,” Riggs says.
As part of its outreach efforts, the organizations have placed QR codes at different establishments that people can scan with their phones. The code will direct them to the History Walks website www.tours.grandviewhistorywalks.org with links to the appropriate app store to download the app.
Brandon Klein is an associate editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com.
