Westerville is a suburb to a large town, yet it has a great small town feel and great diversity. We go back quite a way. Let’s look out how it all began.
In 1806 Revolutionary War veteran Edward Phelps and his friend, Issac Griswold, put down stakes at Alum Creek at Blendon Corners, which today is Westerville Road and Highway 161. Cardinal Pizza had not yet arrived, but by 1818, four brothers named Westervelt came and settled. By the way, one of them had previously started a town that is part of Brooklyn today. Since it was raining Westervelts around here (and they were quite generous), they named the place sort of after themselves. And hence, Westerville was born.
In 1820 one of the most 19th Century-named guys – Gideon Hart built a house up on Hempstead Road. It’s still there. It stands as the oldest building in Westerville Ohio. In ten years, our population exploded to 700 whole people.
In 1847 Otterbein University got founded by the United Brethren Church. It is the first institution of higher learning in the United States to admit women without restrictions, the first to include women on its faculty, and one of the first to admit students of color. In 1872, they built those cool towers that still stand today in Westerville.
Inclusion has always been part of our story. A president of Otterbein, Lewis Davis, organized folks into a group who became part of the Underground Railroad. Many of the houses that provided shelter for escaped enslaved people are still around.
We spent the rest of the century and into the next doing city things that cities do: Incorporate, add a police force, fire department, electricity and a library. When the 1900s rolled in we were up to about 3000 people.
In 1934 we got our first city park, Alum Creek. To this day, it is a local favorite. Between the 70s and the 90s we went from 12k people to 32k. Now we are up to 38,000 cool folks.
Cardinal Pizza is so stoked to be part of this awesome community, please come in and say “Hello!”
Cardinal Pizza Shop
At Cardinal Pizza Shop, we want to be the best of the best for pizza, sandwiches, salads, beer and more in uptown Westerville, Ohio. Visit us online today to place an order.
