HomesofHistory — Upper Arlington Historical Society

The August 2025 Homes of History Event

***Homes of History*** is a month-long
celebration of our city’s century-old, diverse and fine quality architecture.

* Welcome to our **fifth event** honoring UA’s century homes. In 2025, there are now approximately 440 century homes in Upper Arlington!
* Century homes south of Lane Avenue, including those in UA’s Historic District, would generally have been considered new builds in 1925. The historic homes north of Lane Avenue once belonged to the people of Perry Township before Upper Arlington annexed the lands.
* Approximately 320 homeowners may participate in our Homes of History event from August 1st - August 31st.
* Signs indicate homes built in or before 1925 and that retain much of the “look” of their original front exterior facade.
* If you think your home qualifies and you have not been contacted, email us at info@uahistory.org.
More fun facts below:

Where are ua’s century homes located?

Over 320 signs should be out in August marking the participating UA historic homes. Be sure to stop by to see Cover to Cover’s window display celebrating architecture!

Welcome to the new class of century homes this year, all built in 1925! Approximately 50+ homeowners registered (out of a total of 70 eligible) to have a free “100” sign planted in their yard around August 1st. These newbie century-homeowners agreed to share their address so you can easily find their sign:

Andover Rd: 1674, 1699, 1700, 1719, 1770, 1842
Arlington Ave: 1949, 2318
Bedford Rd: 1900
Beverly Rd: 2019
Cambridge Blvd: 1827, 1861
Concord Rd: 1938
Coventry Rd: 1930, 1952, 2019, 2471, 2477
Doone Rd: 1474, 1626
Fairfax Rd: 2075, 2233
Guilford Rd: 1487, 1652, 2040
Kensington Dr: 2422
N Devon Rd: 1821, 1899, 2016, 2022, 2034
Roxbury Rd: 1819, 1841
Tremont Rd: 1811, 1880, 1980, 2030
Upper Chelsea Rd: 1741
W Chelsea Rd: 1933, 1941
W Fifth Ave: 1932
Waltham Rd: 1988, 2006
Wickford Rd: 2040, 2048
Yorkshire Rd: 2147

There are many more homes that will be honored this August. Previously registered residents with century homes built before 1925 — approximately 270 homeowners in all — may be proudly planting their “100” yard sign during the month of August. Check for more century home signs on the streets above as well as the following: Asbury Rd, Avalon Rd, Barrington Rd, Cardiff Rd, Chatfield Rd, Clairmont Rd, Clifton Rd, Collingswood Rd, Eastcleft Rd, Edgemont Rd, Essex Rd, Fishinger Rd, Hove Rd, Kenny Rd, King Ave, Lane Rd, Lanercost Way, Lear Rd, Leeds Rd, Lower Chelsea Rd, Lytham Ct, McCoy Rd, Middlesex Rd, North Star Rd, Reed Rd, Riverside Dr, Sherwin Rd, Southway Dr, S Parkway Dr, Stanford Rd, Tewksbury Rd, Vassar Pl, Welsford Rd, Westover Rd, Wickford Rd, Zollinger Rd.

can you find the permanent century home markers?

In addition to our August event, century homeowners have the option to purchase a metal marker to affix to their home or front wall to continue the celebration all year-long! You can find these using this interactive map.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING HERE IN 1925?

In 1925, Upper Arlington’s boundaries were roughly Northam Road to Fifth Avenue, North Star Road to Tremont / Riverside Drive. In this annexation-by-decade map designed by the City of Upper Arlington, all of the gray and orange areas were considered UA. The community’s first residents hit “double-digits” having lived in UA for 10 years, and the majority of land we know today as “UA” was Perry Township. Learn more about life in our community one hundred years ago. Thanks to First Community Church for publishing the local Community News newspaper in 1925 and making a majority of this research possible!

With the opening of UA’s first permanent school building in 1924 — known today as Jones Middle School — Upper Arlington was permitted to graduate seniors from their school system. Prior to this, twelfth graders left Arlington to finish their schooling in Grandview Heights or elsewhere. In 1925, the community celebrated its first high school graduates right here in Upper Arlington. You can view them in the 1925 yearbook thanks to UAPL’s UA Archives site. (May 29, 1925, p1)

We know Upper Arlington has had many ties with The Ohio State University. Even from our community’s origins, professors have chosen to live here, certainly with the convenient commute being a factor. This article lists OSU professors in the Tri-Village area - how many do you see from UA? (January 16, 1925, p4)

Turning 100 this year is this “Home Perfect” house which was one-of-a-kind at its time. (*The Community News, July 17, 1925, p.1*)

Let’s not forget our northern neighbors - While Upper Arlington is developing south of Zollinger Road in 1925, these students are attending 7th and 8th grades at South Perry Township school on today’s Fishinger Road (their building is now part of Wellington School). Read more about the establishment and history of this rural school here.

What Was It Like to Grow Up in Upper Arlington in the 1920’s?

This year, the Upper Arlington Historical Society was honored to receive a remarkable donation: the personal recollections of Kurt Miller, who moved to Upper Arlington in 1920 and spent his formative years growing up in our young and evolving community. Written by UA resident Elizabeth Green, this narrative brings Kurt’s memories to life, inviting readers to step back in time and experience what it was like to be a child in Upper Arlington a century ago:

In the 1920s, Upper Arlington was a quiet, spacious corner of the world where a child's imagination could run free. Much of the land north and west of Tremont Road was still open fields — untouched, wild, and inviting. This wasn’t yet the orderly suburb many know today. It was a frontier of hills, creeks, and quarries where childhood played out like an adventure.

Children roamed without fences or fear. On any given day, small barefoot armies of boys and girls could be found wading through the clear streams of the Scioto Country Club in search of crayfish.. Others dared the rocky ridges of the Franklin Quarry, turning the abandoned pits and ledges into imaginary fortresses or battlegrounds.

North of Lane Avenue, before the subdivisions and shopping centers, the hills and valleys were a natural playground perfect for games of capture the flag. The landscape itself seemed made for hiding, chasing, and conquering. Kids built forts and treehouses with materials they "borrowed" from wherever they could find them. Pilfered boards, rope, nails — anything could be repurposed into a secret hideout.

The daily rhythm of life added its own rustic charm. Ice was delivered in big blocks from a horse-drawn wagon, and later a truck, leaving behind chips that kids scooped up and sucked on in the heat of summer. Garbage was also collected by horse, the slow clop of hooves a familiar neighborhood sound. Several times a week, a vegetable peddler would make his way down the streets, bringing fresh produce and a bit of excitement to the neighborhood.

Along Guilford Road, below Tremont, the street wasn’t even paved. An open creek ran alongside it, and children splashed and played in its cool water. On the other side, a long line of Osage orange trees dropped strange green hedge apples, which the kids promptly turned into messy, mushy ammunition.

Upper Arlington remained a little wild, a little slower, and endlessly magical for its youngest residents. For the children of 1925, it wasn’t just home — it was a wide-open world to explore, full of hidden places, everyday wonders, and long summer days that seemed to stretch on forever.

GUIDE TO COMMON ARCHITECTURAL STYLES FOUND IN UA’S HISTORIC DISTRICT

Since Upper Arlington was originally founded in the southern part of our city, the majority of our century-old homes are found in our Historic District. The District is nationally recognized for its outstanding and numerous examples of Twentieth Century Revival architectural styles. Page through this excerpt from a 1992 publication of the Upper Arlington Historical Society to learn about the background and characteristics that comprise these distinctive house styles.