Upper Arlington

Upper Arlington was founded by brothers King and Ben Thompson, who purchased farmland in 1913 from James T. Miller. Inspired by the garden city movement, the Thompsons envisioned an idealistic residential community. The brothers engaged William Pitkin Jr., a prominent landscape architect from Rochester, New York, to provide the most modern concepts of city planning. Over the years, Upper Arlington annexed land to reach its current boundaries. Upper Arlington has had a Native American trail and a military training camp, and its historic district earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places. The community is still known for gracious living, celebrated schools, and the largest noncommercial Fourth of July parade around. Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, Ohio State University football coaches Woody Hayes, John Cooper, and Jim Tressel, developer John Galbreath, Ohio governor James Rhodes, and United States senator John Bricker have all called Upper Arlington home.

Everything you need to know about the nation's fourteenth largest city. Whether you plan to pursue an education, start a business or a job, or raise a family in Columbus, this guide helps you to travel deeper into the rapidly growing Capital City of Ohio.

Pleasant Litchford and his family traveled as freed slaves from Virginia, who settled in Franklin County, Perry Township, Ohio, in the years between 1829-1830. The family struggled alongside other pioneers to establish a home in the Ohio wilderness. By the time of the Civil War, Pleasant was the fourth-largest landowner in Perry Township. He was a staunch advocate for the anti-slavery movement and a strong figure in the Underground Railroad. Pleasant and his family were also founders of the Second Baptist Church in Columbus in the 1840s. This church is still a vibrant part of the community. Pleasant Litchford had a 1/2 acre of his land set aside for a family cemetery on one of his many landholdings. Early in the twentieth century, there was a social shift in the community that mirrored the national climate. Policies were put in place in Upper Arlington by the Thompson brothers, to exclude people of color from landownership in attempts to create an all-white country club community. In 1955, the Litchford Cemetery was removed to build the Upper Arlington High School. Some of the remains were removed, but many were left behind. Those removed ended up in a far back part of Union Cemetery with no markers. They were left there to be forgotten. The rest of the Litchford Cemetery lies beneath the parking lot of the Upper Arlington High School. Since the publishing of the first edition, much has come to light. We need to honor those who settled the harsh wilderness of Ohio. Many residents are working hard to make sure that Pleasant Litchford's story continues. Acknowledging the truth of history and finding ways to make amends to those who have not been provided the respect they deserved, in life and in death.

Political yard signs are one of the most ubiquitous and conspicuous features of American political campaigns, yet they have received relatively little attention as a form of political communication or participation. In Politics on Display, Todd Makse, Scott L. Minkoff, and Anand E. Sokhey tackle this phenomenon to craft a larger argument about the politics of identity and space in contemporary America. Documenting political life in two suburban communities and a major metropolitan area, they use an unprecedented research design that leverages street-level observation of the placement of yard signs and neighborhood-specific survey research that delves into the attitudes, behavior, and social networks of residents. The authors then integrate these data into a geo-database that also includes demographic and election data. Supplemented by nationally-representative data sources, the book brings together insights from political communication, political psychology, and political geography. Against a backdrop of conflict and division, this book advances a new understanding of how citizens experience campaigns, why many still insist on airing their views in public, and what happens when social spaces become political spaces.