Four newspapers have served Grove City and Southwest Franklin County. The Grove City Blade (1894-1898) was the first. When L. E. Parsons began his newspaper, he offered a free one-year subscription to the person who brought the largest ears of corn to his office. In 1895, he reported horse races were being held on a half-mile track, 65-feet wide owned by the White family and by 1897 he wrote about a new pipe organ at St. John’s saying its chimes could be heard for miles from its steeple. After seven years with no local newspaper, The Grove City News (1905-1910) served the community but little is known about that publication. It would be another 16 years before C. Carl Williams and his brother, Henry, arrived in Grove City to open their publishing firm, The Grove City Record. Both men had prior newspaper experience in Mt. Sterling. An interesting turn of events occurred in 1970 that involved a new restaurant at Westland Mall. The advertisement read: “Best Damn Hamburgers in Town.” By today’s standards it would be no concern but it caused an uproar with readers. Williams said the office telephone rang constantly from morning until mid-afternoon. In the next edition, he and the advertising agency expressed an apology for reader concerns. The ad for The Fatted Café was changed in the next issue to “Best Darn Hamburgers in Town” and there were no complaints. William’s company also owned The Skyhawk, a weekly newspaper at Lockbourne AFB, a series of all advertising publications under the name of Shopper Times and The Fair Times. He also published the Lions Roar, a newspaper for the Grove City Kiwana’s Club and a newspaper for a World War I veterans’ organization. The Record was the primary news source in the community until Earle F. Moore, owner of the Columbus Messenger Company, expanded his operation into Grove City much at the insistence of Grove City resident Ray Stark. The Record was absorbed into the Dispatch family of ThisWeek publications and eventually discontinued. The Messenger still publishes every other week.

Colonel Paul Grossman, a Grove City historian, remembered Leslie J. Mulzer and Orville Spillman, both flyers in World War I, brought the first two airplanes to Grove City. They were British-made Spad aircraft purchased as war surplus. Mulzer and Dave White barnstormed throughout Central Ohio taking passengers on short flights for $10. About the same time and at the close of World War I, the citizen soldiers of Grove City were returning home and John Wahl, a twice decorated veteran, took it upon himself to organize the Pascall Post of the American Legion. Some of the original members were Clarence Grossman, Otto Riebel, Asby Seeds, Otto Hensel, Ray Henry, Cletus Ralston, Orin Breckenridge, Grove Davis and Pearl Riebel.

Jacob Galle, a Grove City and Harrisburg saloon keeper, was born in a log cabin in 1866 on Johnson Road. His son, Otto Everett Galle, born in 1895 at Harrisburg, grew up to be a popular grocer and butcher in Grove City. As a youngster, he attended Little Pennsylvania School (Darbydale) and completed the eighth grade at Harrisburg’s Green Hill School. Otto was first exposed to his butcher trade at the age of 12 working for an uncle, Louie Remo. When Galle was 20, he purchased the meat business operated by Henry Witterman and advertised his business in the Grove City Times newspaper. When customers didn’t have cash, he would barter for eggs, butter and lard. In an interview in 1981, Otto said he often butchered beef and hogs after midnight because flies were not as troublesome and the meat was temporarily stored in a well. Meat was packed in salt, hung in a smoke house to dry before being sold. Picture is the Jacob Galle Saloon in Grove City around 1910.

One member of the Grant family we don’t hear much about is Robert Davis Grant, (1847-1910) the eighth child of Hugh Grant Jr. and Leah Diemer Grant. Before the Civil War, he was a plasterer by trade but worked only a short time at his vocation. After returning from the war, he embarked in the grocery and dry goods business in which he remained until about 1910. He was the town's postmaster for 11 years and served 12 years on the school board. He stood just over five feet but weighed more than 350 pounds. His success was attributed to his ability to plan wisely and to execute with energy. Robert was a member of the Grove City Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.

Stanley Allen Meyer of Grove City received international acclaim for his invention of a water fuel cell that would operate a motor vehicle without the use of gasoline. The basic principle in Meyer’s fuel cell was that it allowed electricity to pass through water producing hydrogen and oxygen. He converted a dune buggy into a vehicle that he claimed used water instead of gasoline as the fuel. Meyer said 22 gallons of water would power the vehicle from Ohio to California. Meyer’s claims were never accepted by the mainstream scientific community and efforts to test his theory never occurred. Meyer had investors in his theory who filed suit in 1997 and Meyer was ordered to repay the $25,000 they had invested. Many still believe today he was murdered because of his water fuel cell invention. He died suddenly in 1998 after dining at a local restaurant with two foreigners. A Grove City police investigation found nothing suspicious and accepted the natural cause of death ruling by the Franklin County Coroner.