District History

The first half of the twentieth century was the golden age of the amusement park in Columbus. Until well into the 1890s, most of the leisure attractions located outside the downtown consisted of picnic grounds and an occasional boat house. Residents of Columbus looked with admiration at attractions like Coney Island or Cedar Point, but found no one with either the capital or imagination to bring parks like this to Columbus.

All of this changed with the coming of the streetcar. In addition to opening whole new areas of the city to housing development, the streetcar companies were constantly looking for ways to induce people to use these expensive devices during off-hours. The answer was the amusement park at the end of the streetcar line. In 1896, the first of the great Columbus amusement parks, Olentangy Park was opened just over the city limits on High Street at North Columbus. In short order other parks followed including Minerva Park in what is now the village of that name and Indianola Park at the eastern side of the Indianola subdivision.

Indianola Park is located where it is for two reasons. First it was located just over what was then the city limits just like Olentangy Park. Secondly, it was located near one of the largest natural springs in central Ohio. This was very important since in addition to its rides and dance halls, Indianola Parks’ main attraction was its swimming pool. At the time it was built, it was the largest pool in Ohio and one of the largest in the world.

The Park ultimately met the same fate as most of the amusement parks in America. Increased entertainment competition from the movies, radio, and the rise of the automobile meant that amusement parks by the late 1920s were working harder and harder for fewer dollars. In the end, only the parks, which could serve huge metropolitan areas survived. Indianola Park was largely gone by 1929 when Indianola Junior High School was built on what had been the northern side of the facility. The pool site to the south was eventfully filled in and made into a parking lot after World War II. The huge bath house was converted to commercial uses and over the years a number of other locally oriented retail stores have been built as well.

The proximity of this commercial area to the rental housing immediately adjacent to The Ohio State University as well as to the 17th Avenue connector to the almost constantly used Ohio State Fairgrounds promises continued possibilities of retail success.