Take a short hike at Highbanks or Quarry Trails to learn more about the people who once called Columbus their home.
Check out the Pool Family gravestones at Highbanks Metro Park. The recreated cemetery can be found just off the Overlook Trail and it belongs to some of the area’s earliest settlers. Joseph and Sally Pool arrived from New York in 1812 and they and their 13 children farmed the land that is now part of Highbanks. This wasn’t their exact final resting place, no one knows where they’re buried – the headstones were found stacked just south of the park and moved to this location in 1981. The recreated cemetery is a representation of the last known pioneer family graveyard in Sharon Township.
White Cemetery (also known as Britton Cemetery) at Quarry Trails Metro Park can be found along the connector trail. The cemetery used to belong to Marble Cliff Quarry, and it is believed that the original owner is buried here. According to a plot map of the cemetery from 1925, there was space for 396 graves, and that there is at least one veteran of the War of 1812 buried here. While most of the stones are broken and hard to read, it appears the most recent death in the cemetery was Lucinda Winegardner, who died in 1867. We ask that everyone please be respectful of the area.
Many other parks have cemeteries and glimpses of the history of the area. Fall is a great time to discover these hidden treasures in Metro Parks.
My friend and I just found the memorial for the Pool family last Sunday at Highbanks. It was beautiful with all the fall leaves. The area was very peaceful and calm. It is a hidden treasure in the park.