Wonderland was a community of summer cottages, just outside the

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

suburb of

Gahanna Gahanna ( ) is a city situated in northeast Franklin County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Columbus. The population was 35,726 at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1849. History Gahanna was founded along the Big Walnut Creek in 184 ...

, near a bend in

Big Walnut Creek Big Walnut Creek starts near Mount Gilead, Ohio in Morrow County. It flows south to eastern Delaware County and parallels Alum Creek. It passes to the east of Sunbury and into Hoover Reservoir, which then crosses into Franklin County. From ...

. By the beginning of the Depression, many of the summer cottages were winterized and became year round homes. In the early-1970s

Port Columbus International Airport John Glenn Columbus International Airport is an international airport located east of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formerly known as Port Columbus International Airport, it is managed by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which also overs ...

planned an extension of their north runway, and because of the need for a clear approach, the airport authority was given the go ahead to buy out the remaining property owners still living in Wonderland. Some of the homes were moved to Agler Road, alternating new-built homes between relocated homes. The remaining structures were razed, and the area fenced off. Because its congregation was still using its building, and the church was at the eastern edge of the land, Wonderland Community Church, on Friendship Drive, next to the interchange of Interstate 270 and

Hamilton Road Archibald Milne Hamilton (1898–1972) was a New Zealand civil engineer, notable for building the Hamilton Road through Kurdistan and designing the Callender-Hamilton bridge system., and with the Callendar-Hamilton aeroplane shed of the late 1930 ...

was allowed to remain.Meredith Heagney
"Wonderland church trusts God for future: Neighborhood replaced by runways, and small but loyal congregation aging."
''

The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

'', September 16, 2011.

History

Local folktales and rumours in Gahanna and on the east side of Columbus up until the early 1980s said that Wonderland was developed after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a "utopia" of sorts, although this has never been proven. ''The Columbus Citizen'', April 23, 1927, page 7 stated that Wonderland Opens Sunday. Until the early 1980s there were still people living in the community, most of whose children attended Gahanna schools. Many of the homes built during its creation were now well below flood level and when the Big Walnut river rose it would flood houses in the community. Wonderland never incorporated, and was considered "an accommodation", rather than an unincorporated community.

References

External links

* {{coord, 40, 00, 10, N, 82, 52, 15, W, display=title Ghost towns in Ohio Neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio