Goodale Park

Goodale Park is largely known in the Columbus area as the home of Comfest, and the city's Pride activities. I'm sure that would please the man who donated the land to the city, as he intended the land to be a place for citizens of Columbus to enjoy life. I do wonder how many people know the colorful history behind this park nestled in the middle of a thriving metropolis. Goodale may be smaller in scale than Manhattan's Central Park, but it serves much the same purpose: A peaceful, natural space inside the concrete jungle.

Lincoln Goodale, as a child, was part of the earliest contingent of settlers in Ohio. How early, you ask? Early enough that his father was kidnapped by Native Americans and never seen again. Furthermore the loss of one man nearly precipitated the collapse of the settlement of Belpre because Nathan Goodale was responsible for its defense.

Lincoln Goodale grew up and became a doctor. By most accounts he was the first practicing physician in Franklin County. Goodale opened a pharmacy to supplement his income, and invested the profits in real estate--well before the Columbus area was slated to become the state's capital. After serving in the War of 1812 as a regimental surgeon, Goodale began the first of several mercantile businesses and further real estate deals. I tell you all this to point out Lincoln Goodale was a very successful man, constantly building on his successes.

By 1864, Goodale's annual income was marked at $67,213--again, those are 1864 dollars, kids. Goodale did very well for himself, and his philanthropic endeavors certainly reflect that, including the donation of the land for Goodale Park in 1851.

The catch in donating this extremely valuable piece of land (even in 1851, it was prime real estate and only getting more valuable) was a series of stipulations that would ensure it's use as a park and nothing more, including a ban on wantonly cutting down trees and building a fence around the grounds--the full list can be found here, 5th paragraph from the bottom.

It worked pretty well. Except for a spell as Union army Camp Jackson during the Civil War when trees were downed and things were generally torn up and beaten down, the park has stayed open and available to the people as a peaceful space. I tried to imagine while taking the photos below how truly idyllic the space must have seemed in the heyday of the Gilded Age, with coal stacks belching smoke and horseshit laced mud mucking up the streets.

Of course, like most things that truly serve the public Goodale Park was used as a political tool, being improved or neglected as seemed to best suit the people in power at the time. Various improvements were made to the park, including a menagerie, an impressive gate (see below), and a lake complete with boathouse. I highly encourage you to click thru to read about the shenanigans revolving around the lake and Superintendent Topping, circa 1890.

Today there aren't many shenanigans, but the lake provides a view of twin elephants spraying water, and has some nice flowers planted alongside the footpath.

While the boat house, stables, and menagerie are long gone Goodale does have a couple structures remaining. Notably, the gazebo (where Katie and I are saying our vows in the fall) and shelter house.

The shelter house was built in 1912, primarily to incorporate the use of gas and electricity into a park structure. It's substantial look is no accident--the designers deliberately chose to use natural, strong materials as a reaction to the shoddy construction borne of the industrial revolution (called the Arts and Crafts movement). This would have been especially at odds with the local buildings of Flytown, a section of the city said to have "flown up" overnight (and by simple deduction we can assume they weren't constructed nearly as well as the Shelter House.

I'm wiling to bet you've driven under Park St.

Heading East on I-670, Goodale is to your left--that bridge is Park St

Heading West on I-670, Goodale is to the right, just before the Neil Ave exit

While Goodale Park is an excellent place to sit and watch the ducks, reminders that Columbus is all around are not far away. Skyscrapers, the Convention Center, and Interstate highways are all just a short walk from this little green paradise.

My final shot for this post is a patch of asphalt, because as our society is in flux so is our definition of public land use. Is the best use of land green space? Shops to buy ice cream and tank tops? More parking? Not so long ago, it seems, there was something man-made here at the edge of the park (a different path, perhaps?), before it was rethought. It's not so difficult to cover up green space--but covering up parts of the city after it creeps in is a completely different and more challenging proposition.

For more on Goodale Park, I'd like to direct you to the places below:
Columbus Parks
Friends of Goodale Park
Short North Gazette