When a small-town mayor made U.S. history

Our latest installment of the Franklin County historical marker tour brings us to Urbancrest, a small village of about 1,000 residents located just outside the southwest portion of Route 270.

The marker: Ellen Walker Craig-Jones, 2853 Broadway St. (Route 62).

Flashback: In 1971, Craig-Jones became the first Black woman elected mayor by popular vote of a municipality in U.S. history.

The intrigue: She was 65 years old and already a great-grandmother while defeating an opponent two decades younger by nine votes.

• The Ohio History Connection credits Craig-Jones with rebuilding the village's infrastructure and spurring a $3 million housing project.

What she said: "Don't sit back and wait to be asked to do something," the mayor told 100 fellow seniors at a 1972 banquet in Lima. "Offer yourself because only in giving can we love others and receive joy ourselves."

• "You can do anything you want to do."

View the Franklin County historical marker map

Editor's note: This story first published in the Axios Columbus newsletter on March 2, 2022.