About Us

The Franklinton Board of Trade

The Franklinton Board of Trade was founded in 1904. Franklinton was a flourishing Columbus business and residential neighborhood from the days of pioneers to the years immediately following World War II.

The early years of the Twentieth Century were the great days of retail trade, especially up and down West Broad Street, and a number of businesses from that day are still in operation.

Those were the days of the individual merchant, unlocking the door and letting down the awning on a sunny morning, saying a cheery hello to the neighborhood people who dropped in to do business or to talk about the weather.

When the Board of Trade was formed in 1904, a major portion of its work was directed toward charity. The great flood of 1913 increased the need, and the business community reacted with vigor. Not only did the business leaders assist individual families, they accepted the larger task of dealing with city and county government to make sure that Franklinton got its share of needed social services. Health, education, recreational needs, and the local churches all benefited from the work of those business pioneers.

The work went on as the neighborhood changed during the years of the Great Depression and the second World War. Those years were the great growth years for manufacturing. Franklinton business leaders, sensing the changes in the city and nation, encouraged development, as they do today with the advent of the Franklinton Floodwall which takes Franklinton out of the flood plain.