Scenic Temple
| Type | Exhibition |
|---|---|
| Park Section | Unknown |
| Built | 1908 |
| Opened | 1908 |
| Closed | Unknown |
| Cost | $50,000$1.75 million in 2025 dollars |
| Replaced By | Love's Voyage |
A building once called the Scenic Temple at Olentangy Park opened on Memorial Day, May 30, 1908.[1] It is most likely the building just north of the first Ye Olde Mill seen in photos at the time.[2][3] Little is known about the attraction other than that it showed "Battle Scenes of the Republic,"[4][5] by the French artist Paul Phillippoteaux[6] and described as a $50,000$1.75 million in 2025 dollars "scenic production of General Grant's Campaign in the Late Civil War"[1] and was "some of the finest paintings of great battles of the Civil War."[7] The artist's painted canvases were also on exhibition in Europe and included the "Battle of Gettysburg," "The Siege of Paris," and "The Belgian Revolution."[6] The "Battle of Gettysburg" was a panorama and a daily reenactment of the Civil War sea battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac.[8] Admission was 10 cents$3.49 in 2025 dollars for adults and 5 cents$1.75 in 2025 dollars for children.[1]
In 1909, the music revue[9] The South Before the War was most likely shown in this building.[10]
Scenic Temples in other parts of the U.S. were often venues for vaudeville, illustrated songs, and moving pictures. This could be the motion picture building that replaced the one that burned down in 1907.
External Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Advertisement. 1908. The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. May 24, 1908. Page 12.
- ↑ Photograph. "Panoramic views of Olentangy Park showing many new amusement structures being erected on newly acquired tract of 25 acres to north." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. March 28, 1909. Page 1.
- ↑ Postcard. Park View and Band Stand, Olentangy Park, Columbus, Ohio. Postmarked Sept. 23, 1908. Published by The American News Company, New York. Accessed through The Columbus Metropolitan Library Digital Collections.
- ↑ "Olentangy Park, Theater, and Zoo." Dispatch Daily Magazine, May 29, 1908. Page 12.
- ↑ "Olentangy Park." Dispatch Daily Magazine. April 23, 1908. Page 14.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Barrett, Richard E. "More on Olentangy Park." Columbus and Central Ohio Historian No. 3. May 1985. Page 39.
- ↑ "Olentangy Park." Dispatch Daily Magazine. June 1, 1908. Page 12.
- ↑ Berman, Jay and Sesar Carreno. "The Short Life of a Downtown Amusement Park." Los Angeles Downtown News, Sept. 4, 2006. Accessed on Jan. 6, 2025.
- ↑ "The Gillette Dog and Monkey Circus, The South Before the War, Willard's Temple of Music, Paradise — The Show Beautiful, and other shows." Lost Wonderland. Accessed Dec. 14, 2024.
- ↑ "Olentangy Park." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. April 11, 1909. Page 5.