Moment in Time (December 16, 2021)
The approximately 9 acres north of the Grandview Heights High School, between Third and Fifth, was purchased by the school district in 1922 to allow for expansion of the school campus, and was repurposed as athletic fields. Grandview resident Walter E. Anderson was instrumental in the development of the fields, and the athletic field is now named Anderson Field in honor of him and his brother Roy and their families. This photo shows renovated fields approved by the Board of Education with Walter as President.
For many years after the Edison school was built in 1911, students from the middle school and high school (the Harding school) utilized the open field just to the north of Edison for outdoor activities. In early 1915, the field was graded and prepared, and the football team played their first game against Columbus West in September on the field. At the same time as the approval of the building of the high school in 1922, the district acquired the nearly 9-acre property to the north of the high school to be used as athletic fields.
The fields were pretty rough, but served their purpose. Nearing the end of the decade, the Grandview Board of Education arranged for funding to properly renovate the fields. Walter E. Anderson was a member of the Board from 1928 to 1931, and served as President in 1930 and 1931. Under his leadership, the Board approved grading, sodding, and fencing the athletic field, and also funded additions to both Stevenson and Edison elementary buildings.
As Historical Society Trustee Terry Smith wrote in the Society's April 2010 newsletter, Anderson was part of a large extended family that lived in Grandview at the time. In 1921, he and his wife Emma purchased a home at 1267 Lincoln Road (now numbered 1487 Lincoln after the house numbers were changed throughout Grandview in the early 1920s.) They raised five children in the home - Inez, Willis, Robert, Ralph, and Edwin. Walter founded W.E. Anderson & Son Trucking Company with their eldest son Willis that same year. The company started with a single truck, hauling sand and gravel for American Aggregates. The fledgling company added more trucks to its fleet and thrived until the great depression.
They weathered the period, and came out stronger. The second generation of Andersons joined the business, and as their corporate historical record notes, “we began to shift from a trucking and hauling company to a ready-mix concrete company amid the pre-World War II building boom. Our fleet grew, we bought our first Jaeger concrete mixers, and we built the first batch plants to meet demand.” After the war, the housing boom created great opportunities for the building industry. Ready-mix concrete became the focus of the company, and W.E. Anderson & Son Trucking Company became Anderson Concrete Corporation in 1954 (the company still continues, with the fifth generation of Andersons involved with Anderson Concrete.)
Walter’s brothers Roy, Archie, and Arthur also all lived in Grandview Heights. Roy and his wife Katherine and son Roy lived on Northwest Boulevard. Roy also had a truck hauling business, later expanding to digging foundations and laying asphalt driveways. Archie and Arthur Anderson operated a business called Anderson Haulage together. Archie and his wife Hedwig with their children Ethel and Frank also lived on Lincoln Road. Arthur and his wife Pearl lived on West Second Avenue with their children Paul and Lois.
Walter’s son, Ralph H. Anderson, GHS class of 1927 and captain of the football team in 1926, followed his father's lead as a member of the Board of Education from 1956 to 1959, serving as President in 1957 and 1958. During his tenure the board approved construction of the current high school gymnasium and the breezeway as well as additional improvements to the athletic field. His sons Ralph W., GHHS class of 1954, Richard, class of 1956, and Denny, class of 1960, were all captains and co-captains of the football teams that they played on. Ralph H. Anderson’s son David, class of 1966, was on the varsity track squad. Richard Anderson was inducted into the Grandview Sports Hall of Fame in his 2nd year (1990) for his outstanding accomplishments in both football and track.
Roy and Katherine’s son Jack, class of 1942, was an Eagle Scout (at the time, the youngest Eagle in Ohio) and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. The Grandview Heights High School Alumni Association honored Jack with a Distinguished Alumnus Award as a nationally known health care executive. He was president of Hospital Affiliates International and Chairman of INA Health Care Group (predecessor of CIGNA Health), also President of Manor Care and Calver Corporation in Dallas, Director of Horizon Health, Safeguard Health Enterprises, FHP International, Quality Inns, and Navistar International. Jack passed away in 2015.
The Anderson families have all moved from Grandview at this point, but on August 24, 2007 the Grandview school community recognized the Roy and W. E. Anderson families in naming the high school athletic field Anderson Field.