Reynoldsburg

About Reynoldsburg

Reynoldsburg calls itself the Birthplace of the Tomato, and it has a good claim. In 1870 local seedsman Alexander W. Livingston released the Paragon, one of the first tomatoes bred to be smooth, uniform and reliable enough to sell commercially, and the city has celebrated him every late summer since the 1960s with a festival built around the fruit.

The town was founded in 1831 along the National Road, the early federal highway that survives as US 40 and East Main Street, about 12 miles east of downtown Columbus. Its oldest blocks, known as Olde Reynoldsburg, still line that road, while newer neighborhoods spread across three counties as it grew into one of the larger Columbus suburbs.

The best reason to linger is outdoors. Blacklick Woods Metro Park on the west side protects old beech and maple forest and a swamp-forest preserve crossed by a boardwalk, and an old sandstone quarry on the east side has been turned into a wooded park. Easton Town Center and downtown Columbus are each a short drive away.