Did you know?

The Bexley Floral Company was located on Pleasant Ridge Avenue, where Capital University’s tennis courts currently stand, from 1915 to 1961. The Capuano Family began their business with the raising of produce for Central Market, which was in the downtown area of Columbus. The brothers, John and Henry Capuano, then moved into the wholesale flower business.

At one time, there were at least 18 greenhouses at the Pleasant Ridge site, and the business held the distinction of being one of the largest cyclamen plant growers in the United States. A relative of the family, Marian Mangia Cunningham, remembers as a young child sitting at the Capuano’s kitchen table and counting cyclamen seeds.

During World War II, the federal government asked the family to grow vegetables. They became a prime supplier of tomatoes for the Big Bear Grocery Stores.

The photo, circa 1930’s, was taken at the Flower Show held at the Ohio State Fairgrounds.

Written by Nancy Beck
Originally published in Historical Herald, February 2010
Republished in Historical Herald, Spring 2012

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