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Friday marks the actual 100th anniversary of the incorporation of Grandview Heights.

On Feb. 3, 1906, a ballot measure to incorporate as the village of Grandview Heights was approved by community members.

"There was not a straight line leading to the incorporation," Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Historical Society treasurer Tom DeMaria said. "February 3, 1906, was the culmination of efforts that had been going on for probably five or six years.

"The establishment and development of the area was apparently a very carefully orchestrated series of events that happened through the efforts of a group of very fiercely independent and entrepreneurial men," DeMaria said.

The Grandview/Marble Cliff area was attractive to members of the Columbus elite as a getaway, he said.

"Back at the turn of last century, downtown Columbus was not a wholesome place to live," DeMaria said. "It was dirty and smoggy. People with means wanted to escape and they looked to the west and the heights on a bluff."

In 1901, an initial effort resulted in the incorporation of the "Hamlet of Marble Cliff," he said.

"It was a huge area, that included what is now Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff and Sellsville," DeMaria said.

The hamlet quickly split apart because of conflicts that could not be resolved, he said.

In one divisive issue, the mayor of the new community, who lived in the northern portion, was a staunch teetotaler, while the south side of the hamlet, where the Arlington Country Club and saloons were located, wanted to maintain liquor sales, DeMaria said.

What is now Grandview Heights and the southern portion of Marble Cliff detached from the hamlet and became unincorporated areas of Franklin Township, he said.

Residents of that area remained interested in incorporating, and an initial effort was placed on the ballot in January 1906, DeMaria said.

That ballot measure failed.

"It failed, presumably, because people on the eastern portion, the Grandview portion, were bent on developing the community and the country club members on the west end had their own ideas," DeMaria said. "They wanted to keep things as they were and maintain their 'lifestyles of the rich and famous.'"

The residents of the eastern portion placed a revised incorporation measure on the ballot, and on Feb. 3 they approved incorporating as the village of Grandview Heights.

"The original village of Grandview was much smaller than the Grandview we know and love today," he said.

Grandview originally incorporated an area west of Grandview Avenue, east of Lincoln Road and south of First Avenue, DeMaria said.

"It was a very different community than the one we know today," he said. "There was no Bank Block, no central hub. The main commercial area was First Avenue and Fifth Avenue."

Grandview grew by annexation in the 1910s and 1920, DeMaria said.

The Grandview Avenue Bank Block, one of the first of its kind, was built in 1927. Grandview became a city in 1931.

DeMaria said the creation of Grandview is notable in part because of the people who led the effort, such as George Urlin.

"The founders of our city were extraordinary entrepreneurs. Their business interests were varied and diverse," he said. "George Urlin, for example, owned among other things a photography studio, a bicycle factory and a tire factory, as well as being a land speculator.

"What's most fascinating to me is that with the diverse backgrounds and economic interests of these people, they were able to bring it all together with a real sense of community," DeMaria said. "These were renaissance men and women, and I include the women because the wives were very prominent themselves and involved in a number of community organizations and activities,

"They had a great community spirit that I think remains to this day in Grandview," he said.

DeMaria will make a presentation during the kickoff of the centennial celebration the city of Grandview Heights will hold at 8 a.m. Friday at the Grandview Senior Center.

Mayor Ray DeGraw will read his centennial proclamation, the centennial logo will be unveiled and refreshments will be served.

Copies of the historical society's new book, "Between Two Rivers," will also be available for purchase.

The public is invited to Friday's event.