Home › Ohio › Franklin County

Franklin County, Ohio

Street maps, historic prints and keepsakes for 10 Franklin County towns.

The oldest is Canal Winchester, established 1866. The largest by population is Grove City (41,252).

Town	Established	Population
Bexley	1908	13,928
Canal Winchester	1866	9,107
Gahanna	–	35,726
Grandview Heights	–	8,085
Grove City	1866	41,252
Groveport	–	6,009
Hilliard	–	37,114
Lockbourne	–	236
Obetz	–	5,489
Upper Arlington	–	36,800

About these towns

Bexley: Bexley was named at the suggestion of an early resident, Col. Lincoln Kilbourne, in honor of his family's roots in Bexley, in London, England.

Canal Winchester: Canal Winchester was founded in 1828 by Reuben Dove and John Colman. When construction of the Ohio & Erie Canal came through Dove's wheat field, he wanted to sue the state.

Gahanna: Gahanna was founded along the Big Walnut Creek in 1849 by John Clark of Ross County from 800 acres (320 ha) of land that his father, Joseph Clark, had purchased from Governor Worthington in 1814.

Grandview Heights: The city was originally part of Marble Cliff, one of the first suburbs of Columbus, which settled as a community in 1890 and incorporated as the "Hamlet of Marble Cliff" in 1901.

Grove City: Until the mid-19th century, the area that is now Grove City was a wilderness filled with oak, beech, maple, walnut, dogwood and other trees.

Groveport: Groveport had its start as a single entity in 1846 when the neighboring rival towns of Wert's Grove and Rarey's Port merged.

Hilliard: In 1852, John Reed Hilliard bought 10 acres (40,000 m2) of farmland in western Franklin County, Ohio from Hoseah High and Abraham Wendell.

Lockbourne: Lockbourne is located near Rickenbacker International Airport and was the source of its original name: Lockbourne Air Force Base.

Obetz: The community (originally Obetz Junction, in honor of settler Charles Obetz) was formed in 1838 as a stagecoach junction, and incorporated in 1928.

Upper Arlington: The land on which present-day Upper Arlington sits was first known to be inhabited by the Adena people. Centuries later the Wyandot lived there, eventually being expelled after the U.S.