A brief history of Upper Arlington
The city of Upper Arlington began its life like so many suburbs. It was a large tract of farmland owned by the Miller family. Brothers Ben and King Thompson purchased 840 acres of the farmland to get The Upper Arlington Company underway in 1913. According to the book History of Upper Arlington by the History Committee of Upper Arlington (1977) the location was chosen for being on high ground compared to the rest of the inner ring of Columbus suburbs and sat west of the city with no factories - this meant the prevailing western winds would main that Upper Arlington could maintain clean, healthy air as compared to those communities near or east of Columbus' predominantly coal-burning factories.
Today Upper Arlington is home to many of the area's CEO's, political figures, university professors and other leaders of Central Ohio. The original intent of the founders was to provide a bedroom community with high standards. While Upper Arlington has found it necessary to diversify with more professional industry and retail opportunities it does remain primarily a bedroom community catering to families in the middle to upper class of society.
Upper Arlington is well positioned just west of The Ohio State University and in between the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. Upper Arlington's Northwest Blvd was one of the original Columbus streetcar lines and even today, without the benefit of streetcars, is a very convenient commute to and from the central city.
Two annual events that highlight the interests of residents in Upper Arlington are the 4th of July parade and the Labor Day Arts Festival. Residents are very proud of their community, state and nation and celebrate it to the maximum during the 4th of July holiday including a massive parade and several days of events. The Labor Day Arts Festival is the largest one-day arts festival in the nation; residents and vistors decend upon Northam Park for this event as a celebration of culture that includes various visual arts, poetry, music and dance. Of course there are many other celebrations throughout the year and the Upper Arlington Library regularly hosts all sorts of culturally important community programs.
If one phrase defines Upper Arlington it is community pride; come experience it for yourself.
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