Birthday Gift That Saved Hanby House Set The Stage For Westerville Historical Society’s 85 Years - Canada Fires Affect Westerville - DiCarlo's Signs Removed
Saturday’s celebration will also mark a century since Dacia Custer Shoemaker helped preserve the Westerville landmark
The Westerville Historical Society’s story began not with a meeting or a charter, but with a birthday wish.
In 1926, Dacia Custer Shoemaker learned that Hanby House had been condemned and was slated for demolition. She asked her husband to purchase the building as a birthday present, saving a home tied to Westerville’s abolitionist, educational and musical history.
Fifteen years later, local residents formed the Westerville Historical Society to preserve a community history that was rapidly disappearing.
On Saturday, the society will bring those two stories together as it celebrates the 85th anniversary of its founding and the 100th anniversary of Shoemaker’s role in saving Hanby House.
The free event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at Hanby House, 160 W. Main St. The afternoon will include house tours, music and light refreshments.
At 2 p.m., the society will hold a ceremony dedicating a commemorative bench donated by the Westerville Lions Club. The event is open to the public.
Shoemaker’s birthday gift preserved a building that would become the centerpiece of the historical society’s work.
Hanby House was home to Bishop William Hanby, his wife, Ann, and their family from 1853 to 1870. William Hanby was an abolitionist, a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and a co-founder of Otterbein University. The home also served as a station on the Underground Railroad.
His son, Benjamin Hanby, became a minister, teacher, abolitionist, and composer. He wrote more than 80 songs, including “Up on the Housetop,” “Darling Nelly Gray” and “Who Is He in Yonder Stall?”
The home now contains furnishings, documents, and other items connected to the Hanby family. The collection includes a walnut desk made by Benjamin Hanby, printing plates from the first edition of “Darling Nelly Gray,” sheet music and books.
The Ohio History Connection owns the property, while the Westerville Historical Society manages the site and offers tours and public programs. Hanby House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been recognized as a significant Underground Railroad site.
When the historical society was organized in 1941, its members set out to collect and preserve records, educate residents, identify historic places, and support preservation efforts.
That mission became increasingly important as Westerville changed from a small town into a growing Columbus suburb after World War II. The society worked to preserve the community’s connections to the Underground Railroad, Otterbein University, the temperance movement and the historic homes and neighborhoods that gave Westerville its identity.
The city became nationally known for its role in the temperance and Prohibition movements and was once called the “Dry Capital of the World.”
Over time, the society’s work expanded beyond the preservation of a single landmark. Its programs now explore subjects ranging from pioneer settlement and local industries to churches, theaters, cemeteries, historic tools, and lesser-known community stories.
The volunteer-led nonprofit also offers lectures, walking tours, cemetery tours, exhibits, publications, and educational programs. It works with schools, libraries, civic groups, and the Ohio History Connection to make local history accessible to the community.
Hanby House, however, remains a visible link between the society’s past and present.
The building’s survival began with Shoemaker’s request for an unusual birthday gift. A century later, the house will serve as the setting for another birthday celebration, this time honoring the organization that has spent 85 years helping Westerville remember its history.
Canadian wildfire smoke settles over central Ohio
A gray-brown haze from Canadian wildfires reduced visibility across central Ohio on Friday, obscuring views along State Street in Uptown Westerville and the heavily traveled Schrock Road corridor.
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission issued an air quality alert through midnight for Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties. Fine-particle pollution was expected to remain in the Unhealthy range. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also placed the state under an advisory, warning that hourly pollution levels could briefly reach the Very Unhealthy or Hazardous categories.
The National Weather Service in Wilmington reported Friday evening that conditions were beginning to improve, though smoke was expected to linger around Columbus.
Fat Arnie’s conversion moves forward as DiCarlo’s signs come down in Uptown Westerville
The removal of DiCarlo’s Pizza's neon signs on Friday marked a visible turning point at 20 S. State St., where the former pizza shop is being converted into Fat Arnie’s Provecho and an adjoining neighborhood bar called The Blind Pour.
Fat Arnie’s Sandwich Shop is preparing to open its first standalone brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Uptown Westerville space. The project will bring two connected concepts under one roof, with Provecho handling food and The Blind Pour offering a separate bar experience next door.
Fat Arnie’s Provecho will focus primarily on takeout and delivery, with limited indoor seating. Customers seated in The Blind Pour will also be able to order from the Provecho menu, allowing the two businesses to operate independently while sharing the same kitchen and customer base.
The new restaurant is being developed by owner Chris Beardman and his sons, Christopher and Andrew. Christopher, who previously worked at Lindey’s and Chapman’s Eat Market, leads the kitchen. Andrew recently left his position at Columbus Brewing Company to work full-time on marketing, social media, preparation, and other parts of the family business.
Although the Westerville restaurant will carry the Fat Arnie’s name, it is not intended to be a duplicate of the family’s existing sandwich shop on Indianola Avenue in Clintonville. That location will remain open and continue serving its established sandwiches, staples, and rotating specials.
Provecho will have its own menu and identity, built in part around the equipment already in the former DiCarlo’s kitchen. Because the space has a pizza oven but no griddle or traditional burners, the team is developing a largely oven-based menu.
A small number of Fat Arnie’s signature sandwiches are expected to make the move to Westerville, but much of the menu will be created specifically for Provecho. The concept will also feature the handmade empanadas that became an unexpected favorite at the original shop. The empanadas are made in-house and hand-rolled and braided daily.
Beardman has described the food as an elevated approach to sandwiches and casual meals, influenced by Christopher’s fine-dining experience. Fat Arnie’s specials have included dishes such as a vegetarian BLT made with marinated carrots in place of bacon, and the Westerville menu is expected to continue that mix of familiar food and less conventional ideas.
The name “Provecho” reflects the experience the family hopes to create. The word is commonly used around dinner tables in Latin America to wish others an enjoyable meal and good company.
The Blind Pour is being developed by Beardman and Columbus radio personality Dino Tripodis. The bar is expected to offer bourbon, wine, familiar cocktails, and spirits made by Ohio producers, with an emphasis on quality drinks at approachable prices rather than an extensive list of elaborate cocktails.
Tripodis has also been involved with Bottle to Bar, a video project featuring Ohio distilleries and bars that serve locally produced spirits. That work could help shape The Blind Pour’s focus on Ohio-made products.
Renovations to the former DiCarlo’s space are primarily cosmetic and include painting, redesigning portions of the bar and adjusting the rooms for the new concepts. The owners may add booths or make other seating changes after seeing how customers use the relatively small space.
The team hopes to complete construction and secure health department approvals in time to open before Uptown Westerville’s Fourth Friday event in late July. The schedule remains dependent on inspections and the remaining renovation work.
For now, the removal of the large green-and-white DiCarlo’s signs is the clearest sign of the change underway. In their place, the Beardman family is preparing to introduce a new restaurant, a new bar and a broader version of the family-run business it began building in Clintonville.
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