Two long-time residents of the University District have compiled and written a new pictorial history book, The Ohio State University Neighborhoods.  The book is a memoir of the area from the early 19th century through the 1970s with 200 vintage photographs of the people and neighborhoods which surround the university's Columbus campus.

The book's authors, Doreen Uhas-Sauer and Stuart J. Koblentz. joined with leaders of the University District Organization (UDO), on July 28 to present the first copy of the book to E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State.

Arcadia Publishing is printing the book as part of its Images of America series.  UDO supported the research for the book.  The book is available in central Ohio bookstores for $21.99.

Among the long-gone landmarks (or sometimes, there but buried) that are pictured in the book: Indianola Park, an amusement park on North Fourth Street; the Big Bear grocery (and former Crystal Slipper nightclub) on West Lane Avenue; and the bars and shops that stood where South Campus Gateway now stands.

UDO hopes that the book will be the starting point for compiling additional photographs and stories for a larger book to be published in time for the bicentennial of Columbus in 2012.