Years before Grove City came into existence in 1852, the area had three manufacturing operations, all created by the town’s founder, William Foster Breck. Southwest Franklin County Historical Society archives state Breck established a brick plant in 1850 east of present-day St. John’s Lutheran church. He wanted Grove City to have modern brick or lumber constructed houses, no log cabins. About the same time, Breck opened a steam powered, double blade sawmill and a grist mill in the general area of the Grove City Library parking lot. There are also indications Breck was responsible for building the tavern, known today as Planks on Broadway. Before relocating to Jackson Township, Breck owned a large hotel, grain warehouse and general store all on the Ohio Erie Canal in Carroll, Ohio. He was also Carroll’s postmaster. Breck was killed at age 59 in a freak accident on his farm. The Lancaster Eagle Gazette reported Aug. 25, 1864 that his team of horses were startled and ran with him when he fell between the wagon and horses. One of the wheels passed over his neck, causing death almost instantly, the heart not ceasing to palpitate for 30 to 40 minutes. He did not speak, nor give any evidence of consciousness.

Emory Norris, an editor of The Grove City Record in the 1950s, said in an editorial, “What the future will bring to Grove City and all of Franklin County by 2050 can only be guessed at even by the most foreseeing planners. Hence, it would seem logical to suppose that Grove City will serve as one of the four principles administrative sub-centers for the metropolitan government to be. Farming will have almost disappeared from the county; city streets and boulevards will extend to the edges of the county and beyond.” Photo depicts a collection of historic photos and a 2026 calendar still available at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum at a discounted price.

George M. Haughn was a one-term mayor of Grove City largely because he supported an income tax, something not popular at the time. But that effort, which caused his re-election defeat, laid the groundwork for much of the prosperity the city enjoys today. During his term of office, he created a charter revision committee to consider a city manager form of government and also was instrumental in the establishment of the Grove City Community Fair that grew into a five-day event at Windsor Park. Born in 1923, he once told of going to a dump site near St. John’s Lutheran Church looking for wood crates. He and friends put a roller skate under a piece of wood then they would skate down Park Street; long before skate boards were invented. Before his term as mayor, he served several years on city council.

Before his fame and fortune, one of Franklin County’s first millionaires frequented Grove City with his cure-all product that was eventually sold world-wide as Peruna. Dr. Sam B. Hartman frequently lodged at what we know today as Planks on Broadway offering his liquid remedy to local residents as a cure for Catarrh, an excessive discharge or buildup of mucus in the nose or throat. The popularity of his product provided Hartman with the means to create Ohio’s largest farm once located in the area of present-day Scioto Downs. The farm included a large dairy, hotel, general store, retail sales room for Hartman Farm Orchards; the farm even had its own street car line. In downtown Columbus, he eventually built his Peruna manufacturing plant, a large hospital and created the Hartman Theater, beside the Ohio Theatre.

Today, we have many reminders of elections and the importance in voting but in 1868 the Grove City Village Council made it the responsibility of the mayor to make sure residents showed up to vote. An ordinance passed allowed the mayor to be fined $50 if he neglected his duties. The ordinance read: “Be it ordained by the council of the incorporated village of Grove City, O. that it shall be the duty of the mayor of said village to give notice of the time prescribed by law for the election of officers for said village and if he should fail to give such notice he shall upon conviction thereof pay a penalty of 50 dollars to be recovered by an action of debt before any court having jurisdiction thereof to be applied by the council for the use of the corporation.”