There are two Youtube videos that I will be embedding here. It is an hour long talk given in 1963 for the Ladies Club of Minerva Park. The speaker is the very first Mayor, Carlton Berry, speaking about the Minerva Amusement Park from 1895-1905. This is what Minerva Park originally was. When it closed down, the owners had opened another park in the center of Columbus called Olentangy Park Casino. The Mayor will go on to speak about the Minerva Park incorporation in 1940 and bringing the ladies up to date to 1963. These oral reports are so fascinating because he is providing so many details about life in those years. While these are Youtube videos, there is only one photograph for both of them. The first photo is the “Casino” of Minerva Amusement Park but it was not a gambling center but an opera house. Evidently, this is what they were called in those days.

My home was built in 1928 and is one of the very first homes to be occupied in Minerva Park. I live on a street that was originally a wild bear exhibit, when they had zoo animals in the park, as well as the casino. The original owner was Opal Dunn McAlister and you can read more about her in another article featured on this website.