GreenLawn Abbey
GreenLawn Abbey was built in 1927 by the Columbus Mausoleum Company. It was the finest and largest in the area with room for 654 interments.Columbus Mausoleum Company says GreenLawn Abbey
was their grand masterpiece. GreenLawn Abbey was furnished with all types of religious status and featured the fabulous stained glass windows and marble floors and fireplaces.
One of the most famous people to be interred in GreenLawn Abbey Howard Thurston, a world-famous, world-class magician born in Columbus in 1869.
Other notable residents include George Karb (former Franklin County police commissioner and five-time mayor of Columbus), Charles Foster Johnson (first real estate tycoon in the area), Isaac Collins (founder of Anchor Hocking), Edward Swisher (founder of cigar company that manufactures the famous Swisher Sweet), and H. R. Penney (brother of J.C. Penney of department store fame). A special family crypt room holds members of the Lewis Sells family (the Sell’s family owned the 2nd largest traveling circus in America at the turn of the century).
Other locally prominent names include Dierdorff and Wildermuth. Much research has to be done to reveal who else might “reside” in the Abbey.
Although it is used rarely, the abbey has many of the features of the public building There are ashtrays, waiting room chairs, drinking fountains,restrooms.There’s something very eerie about the thought of those having public restrooms and just sitting there for months.
Interestingly, the Abbey is 100% unaffiliated with GreenLawn Cemetery.This definitely explains why it sits a block or so from the property.Apparently someone built it there to capitalize on the reputation of the graveyard;Some of the employees have complained that the abbey is an embarrassment because of the way its maintained, or something like that. I personally think cant see how an edifice as attractive as this could incur so much scorn the Abbey.
I just recently made a visit to The GreenLawn Abbey everything seems to be boarded up and padlocks all over the place.And they put security camera signs up along the building seeing you are being monitored tell everyone the truth i never seen a security camera.
