King Gibson Thompson’s home, located at 1930 Cambridge Boulevard on the corner of Edgemont Road, was completed in 1916. King Thompson, one of the founders and incorporators of Upper Arlington, lived there with his wife, the former Ethel Herrick, and children, Edward Herrick Thompson, Irma Francis Thompson, Frank King Thompson and Victor King Thompson. Ethel Thompson was a member of the Upper Arlington Red Cross Unit, established in 1917, which met weekly to socialize, as well as to sew towels, hospital clothes, and bandages in their contribution to the war effort. The Thompson family was very involved in the social life of their new community. In fact, the very first school was held in the basement of this home from 1917 to 1918 with twelve pupils in the first three grades.
<p>King and his brother, Ben, initiated Upper Arlington’s establishment when they purchased 840 acres of the "most suitable, most convenient and the most beautiful rolling, partly wooded Ohio farmland" from James Terrell Miller in 1913. The land appealed to the Thompsons as a residential site because of its location on high ground, its proximity to both downtown Columbus and The Ohio State University campus, and its position upwind from larger cities. The beautiful land that was once a "well-managed, immaculately kept, working farm" was subdivided into 2500 lots. The King Thompson Company was started in 1914 to sell the new subdivision to the public. In August of 1914, laborers and teams of horses were hired by the Thompson brothers to construct the first street, named Roxbury Road, leading into this pristine new subdivision.
By 1915 six houses were built and early in 1916 both King and Ben Thompson completed construction on their own new homes. The Upper Arlington Company was formed in March 1917, to develop the land and construct streets, sewers and water lines. King Thompson's plan for this new community demanded that: one management oversaw the entire district, each house was located with respect to the location of houses on adjoining lots, and each lot was graded and landscaped in accordance with the scenery of neighboring areas so that consistency between plots was maintained. This theme of continuity and precision in landscaping is still observable in Upper Arlington neighborhoods. On March 20, 1918, the village of Upper Arlington, with 200 residents was incorporated.
King Thompson was born and raised in Georgetown, Ohio with his brother, Ben, and two sisters, Irma and Loula. After graduating from high school in his hometown, Ben moved to Delaware to attend Ohio Wesleyan University and later attended law school at The Ohio State University. While at Ohio State, King recognized the potential of the residential areas north and east of the university and launched his real estate career by developing many neighborhoods in this area. King Thompson had an entrepreneurial spirit and, as a young man, started a drayage business with a wagon and a team of horses. He was the first to organize a train to transport Ohio State fans to Ann Arbor to see the football game.
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King was also an avid sportsman who loved to fish, hunt, play tennis and baseball, and pitch horseshoes. He was a part of the temporary committee charged with organizing the first Upper Arlington Golf Club in 1922 and was a member of the Upper Arlington Swimming Pool Association, which organized the 1928 construction of the Devon Road pool.
UA Archives | Upper Arlington History
1918-11-01
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