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Elephant Parade LbNA #65820

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Sep 18, 2013
Location: Wyman Woods Park
City:Grandview Heights
County:Franklin
State:Ohio
Boxes:1
Planted by:Everyday Explorer
Found by: Aylianna
Last found:Apr 9, 2017
Status:FFFFF
Last edited:Oct 13, 2015
One of the first years that I lived in Grandview, I can remember coming home from a shopping trip to see lawn chairs lined up along Goodale Ave. It was not Memorial or Labor Day, so I was puzzled by the parade-like scene. Curiosity got the best of me, so I pulled over and hung around for a while. The buzz soon began….”The Elephants are coming!”

Each year when the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus come to Columbus, a “parade of elephants” travel from the Grandview Ave. railroad, down Goodale Blvd. to Nationwide Area. This letterbox is to honor the history of the Circus in Columbus.

From 1871 through the turn of the century, the Sell’s family operated the Sells Brothers Circus across the country. Known for their collection of elephants, the Sells Brothers Circus used railroad cars to transport their show, rather than wagons, and at their peak used 47 custom railroad cars. During winter months they housed their animals on a farm just North of Grandview. This area, near the Lennox Town Center between W. 5th Ave. and King Ave. was known as Sellsville. The area included an elephant house, barns for camels, monkeys, birds, and the big cats; a hippo pit, and a barn for the circus show wagons.
Over time, the Sells Brothers Circus merged with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. Each year when the circus comes to Columbus, Grandview residents can watch elephants parade down Goodale Blvd. from the railroad tracks just South of the Parks and Recreation building.

At the intersection of Goodale Blvd. and Grandview Ave, you will find the park named in honor of former Grandview Mayor from 1966-1971. After parking in the lot, head toward the shelter house. Beginning at the trail head you will pass a bike rake and rock honoring Mayor Wyman. Off to your far right you will see a giant boulder.

Continue walking west, travel past a pair of Ohio trees. If it is fall, stick a treasure in your pocket for good luck, but don’t dare try to eat one of these nuts! Continue traveling west. Pass between the shelter house and the beach sport court. To your left you will see a kid’s wonderland. To your far right, you might stop for a cook out on the grill under a grove of four trees. Walk to this picnic area.

From the picnic area, look to the North to spot the hill where Grandview families with children have been sledding for decades. Walk toward a birch tree. From the birch tree, spot a utility meter between the grass and Grandview Ave. Before you stop to read the meter, you will find this letterbox among a pile of rocks.