The Bank Block
Inscription
Built by pioneering retail developer Don Monroe Casto Sr., the Bank Block was dedicated in 1928. Considered one of the earliest regional shopping centers in the United States, it innovatively featured 350 free parking spaces-complete with uniformed attendant-to accommodate the rapidly growing numbers of automobile-owning suburbanites. The Bank Block’s first tenants included several competing national grocers (Kroger, A&P, and Piggly Wiggly), the First Citizens Trust (later Ohio National Bank), a stationer, barber shop, and pharmacy. It remains the nucleus of Grandview’s commercial district. Casto, once described as “the man who changed the shopping habits of the free world,” also built the Town and Country Shopping Center in Whitehall and was a dominant figure in retail commercial development in the Midwest for much of the 20th century.
[Side B]: Same
Location
Sources
More markers in Franklin
Iuka Ravine / The Neil Family in North Columbus
Columbus, OH
Iuka Ravine, developed on land from the “Indianola Farm” that belonged to the Neil Family, is significant for its early 20th century...
The Grant Family: Hugh and Catharine Barr Grant / The Grant Family: Six Generations at the Grant Homestead
Grove City, OH
Hugh Grant Sr. (1769-1806) owned a gristmill and land in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the 1790s.
Olde Methodist (Lincoln Street) Cemetery
Westerville, OH
Olde Methodist Cemetery, 66 West Lincoln Street, is the final resting place for two of Westerville’s pioneer families, the Sharps and...
Ovid Wellford Smith (9 November 1844-28 January 1868) / Medal of Honor Recipients At Green Lawn
Ovid Wellford Smith, aged 16, enlisted in the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry as James Smith.
(B) Ohio-Erie Canal and Locks / The Columbus Feeder Canal
Lockbourne, OH
The Ohio-Erie Canal was built between 1825 and 1832 and extended 308 miles from Lake Erie at Cleveland to the Ohio River at Portsmouth.