Big Walnut was among the first Black country clubs

Flashback: This club was incorporated in 1927 by several prominent members of the community who previously founded the Columbus Urban League and the Alpha Hospital in Bronzeville.

• Big Walnut was known as a major social hub for Black residents in the years before the Civil Rights movement.
• The club "encouraged and promoted aquatic and athletic sports by providing the means and facilities not available to the Black community," the marker reads.

The intrigue: After Big Walnut closed in 1963, Gahanna transformed the space into its first public park.

• Friendship Park now offers pickleball, a community garden and a "story trail" for kids.

Worthy of your time: This short WOSU documentary on the country club's history.

4️⃣8️⃣ down, 80 to go.