SELLSVILLE

Traveling circus formed heart of Sellsville community
Area near W. 5th, King, Kenny once housed winter quarters for exotic animals

 

Ohio Historical Society Circus World's season opener a winner
The Sells Brothers Circus’s winter home from 1871 through the turn of the century was on what was then Columbus’ outskirts.
from:  dispatch.com
By  Mark Ferenchik 
May 20, 2013
Columbus, Ohio--- Most everyone has heard of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was in town this month. But another, lesser-known circus called Columbus home more than a century ago and is forever tied to the “Greatest Show on Earth.”
For decades, the Sells Brothers Circus spent winters in an area of town now dominated by businesses, light industry, apartments and fast-food restaurants.
From 1871 through the turn of the century, the circus’s winter quarters were between W. 5th and King avenues, just west of what are now the CSX railroad tracks in an area that became known as Sellsville. The area included an elephant house; barns for camels, monkeys, birds and the big cats; and a hippo pit, according to the book Sellsville, written in 1971 by Carl Weisheimer. Nearby on Chambers Road was the show-wagon shed. A toll gate monitored travelers on 5th Avenue just west of what is now Virginia Avenue.
Houses dotted the area on what was then the outskirts of Columbus. Farms owned by members of the Sells family were located to the north. That’s the same Sells family that had a role in Dublin’s creation two centuries ago.
While Dublin blossomed into a well-to-do suburban city, Sellsville disappeared with the circus.
“Sellsville as a neighborhood was never really incorporated. It was just a place,” said Ed Lentz, the interim executive director of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation.
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http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/05/20/traveling-circus-formed-heart-of-sellsville-community.html