Tag: Granville

Newark, Ohio – August 2020 – Random Views of Licking County

Architecture, History, Nature, Transportation, Water Features

Today’s tour is Licking County. The unusual name comes from the proliferation of ‘Salt Licks’ that were in the area when it was settled by Europeans. Salt Likes are a natural occurrence that wildlife used to gain critical minerals.

While many of the barn photos on earlier postings were dilapidated, but today’s is in excellent condition.

The small town of Granville is home to Denison University. It is a liberal arts college that attract students from out of state.

Swasey Chapel sits high on a hill above town.

Next door is Swasey Observatory. Apparently Swasey gave you both the virtual view of the heavens as well as the physical.

The Doane Administration building.

Newark is home to a number of large earthworks. The Hopewell Native Americans were prolific mound builders.

The photo below shows the Octagon Mound. In the early 1900s this area was sold to a group who built a golf course around the mounds.

The Ohio Historical Society owns the land now, and is in the process of evicting the golf course to return it to it’s original state.

The nearby Great Circle Earthworks is one of the largest in the world.

Interestingly it is restricted airspace so the drone wouldn’t go into the circle for a photo.

Newark is known as ‘Mound City’.

The area around the courthouse square has a number of historic buildings.

Granville, Oh – August 2015 – Polo

Sports

On a humid Sunday we found ourselves in Granville, Ohio to watch a polo match.  Former professional polo player Horace Henriot founded the Play Polo Club, playing on the grounds of the Bryn Du Mansion.

In the spring of 2013, Horace and his family started Play Pol, a full-service polo company focusing on instruction, supply of equipment and the scouting of polo ponies. In order to sustain the development of polo in Columbus, the need for a new polo club became evident. Through the incredible support of several polo enthusiasts, the Play Polo Club became a reality.

The vision of the club is to have a place where people could simply park and play. No need to transport horses. No need to care for their own horses. The facility would board, exercise and care for polo ponies. The fields would be ready, safe and beautiful. Most importantly, this facility would inspire sparking good in the world through polo and horses.

2015 08 09 35 Granville Polo.jpg

 

The day we were there it the match was essentially a scrimmage with the club divided up into two teams. Having never seen polo before two things amazed me, one is the massive size of the field, and the second is the speed of the horses, which of course I knew horses are fast, but literally sitting next to the field and having them run by is impressive.

The atmosphere was welcoming there was a PA announcer explaining the game, and encouraging people to come check out the horses and meet the players. While it was a cool experience, I don’t see me wanting to play polo, or even watch on a regular basis, but it was a great afternoon.