Best things to do in Westerville

The Harding Tomb, also known as the Harding Memorial, is the burial location of the 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence Kling Harding. It is located in Marion, Ohio at the southeast corner of Vernon Heights Boulevard and Delaware Avenue, just south of Marion Cemetery.Plans for ConstructionShortly after the country’s 29th President died in office, The Harding Memorial Association formed to raise money for a memorial site in honor of the late president. The association ultimately received $978,000 in donations from more than one million people across the country, as well as contributions from several European nations. Among the list of contributors from the United States were an estimated 200,000 school children, who donated pennies towards the memorial.ArchitectureConstruction began in 1926 and finished in the early winter of 1927. It is designed in the style of a circular Greek temple with Doric order marble columns. The columns are built of Georgia white marble and are 28ft high and 5ft in diameter at the base. Designed by Henry Hornbostel, Eric Fisher Wood and Edward Mellon, the winners of a 1925 national design competition, the structure is 103ft in diameter and 53ft in height.The structure is unroofed (peribolus), in the style of some Greek temples in which the center (Hypaethros) was open to the sky and without a roof (medium autem sub diva est sine tecto). The open design honors the Hardings' wishes that they be buried outside, and is covered in ivy and other plantings.BurialsAt their deaths, the bodies of the Hardings were entombed in the Marion Cemetery Receiving Vault. Once the Harding Memorial was completed in 1927, the bodies were reinterred in the Memorial's sarcophagus and it was sealed. Because Harding's reputation was damaged by personal controversies and presidential scandals, the Harding Memorial was not officially dedicated until 1931 when President Herbert Hoover presided.

Highbanks Metro Park is a metropolitan park in Central Ohio, owned and operated by Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks. The park is named for its steep banks along the Olentangy River, the park's most unique feature. Highbanks also features ten trails, picnic space, a nature center, sledding hill, and nature preserve. It also includes numerous ancient burial mounds and earthworks from the indigenous Adena culture.

The park was established in 1973, and named a National Natural Landmark seven years later. In 2017, the park's River Bluff Area opened to the public.

Ariel-Foundation Park is a spectacular 250-acre public green space in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The park is built on the site of the former Pittsburgh Plate Glass manufacturing plant. Located within walking distance of Mount Vernon’s historic downtown, Ariel-Foundation Park is one of the most unique public parks in Ohio. Visitors are be able to enjoy lakes, woods, walking trails, picnic areas, a bike path, an events center, a restored railroad depot, historic ruins, terraced landscaping and more. All sections of the park are open and ready to visit. We hope you will visit us soon

The Harding Home, built in 1891, was the home to Warren and Florence Harding for 30 years. They moved from their Marion home to the White House when Harding was inaugurated as the 29th President of the United States in March 1921. The home is 95 percent original in content and the collection contains more than 5,000 items, making it a gem among house museums and presidential sites. The Harding Home has been open as a museum since 1926. The Harding Home Presidential Site, Marion Technical College, and the Ohio History Connection are in the midst of a project called Harding 2020. This project includes the full restoration of the Harding Home, grounds, Press House, and the construction of the Warren G. Harding Presidential Library and Museum. The project will be completed in 2020, the 100th anniversary of Harding's front porch campaign and presidential election.

The Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve is a 4-mile-long (6.4 km) sandstone formation through which the Licking River flows in Licking County, Ohio, United States. Located 12 miles (19 km) east of Newark near the tiny town of Toboso, 957 acres (387 ha) along the gorge were designated an Ohio Nature Preserve in 1975. The gorge is a capsule of Ohio transportation history, having hosted canal boats, steam railroads, electric interurbans, and automobiles through the years. It is named for the black hand petroglyph that was found on the cliff face by the first settlers to the area. Black Hand Sandstone is a resistant rock that also forms the backbone of the Hocking Hills region.

Alum Creek State Park is a 4,630-acre (1,870 ha) Ohio state park in Delaware County, Ohio, in the United States. Alum Creek Lake was constructed from 1970 to 1974 as part of the Flood Control Act of 1962. Alum Creek Dam was constructed on Alum Creek, a tributary of Big Walnut Creek, which drains into the Scioto River. Alum Creek Reservoir holds 3,387 acres (1,371 ha) of water and is open to fishing, boating, ice fishing, ice boating and swimming. The park is just north of the state capital of Columbus and contains the remnants of a settlement by freed slaves that arrived in Ohio from North Carolina.

Hoover Dam, in Blendon Township, near Westerville, Ohio, dams the Big Walnut Creek to form the Hoover Memorial Reservoir. This reservoir is a major water source for the city of Columbus, Ohio. It holds 20.8 billion US gallons (79,000,000 m3) of water and has a surface area of 3,272 acres (13.24 km2), or about five square miles. Construction began during 1953 due to the increased water demand of post-war Columbus. The project was completed and dedicated in 1955 and the dam officially opened in 1958. It was named for two brothers, Charles P. Hoover and Clarence B. Hoover, to honor their careers with the City of Columbus Waterworks.