Hollywood, California, has a surprising and unique heritage connected to Ohio. In many ways, Ohio and its ingenuity helped give birth to the American film industry. Hollywood’s original settlement was founded as a reserved Christian community by a young woman from Ohio.
That vision lasted until the fledgling New York City motion picture industry moved to California, seeking distance from the powerful patent control of inventive Ohioan Thomas Edison and his motion picture monopoly. Soon, native Ohioans stepped into Hollywood’s early spotlight. The film industry reached a new milestone when the Warner brothers of Youngstown introduced sound to motion pictures, transforming movies into one of the world’s most influential forms of entertainment. "Hollywood in Ohio" explores the surprising role Buckeyes have played in shaping the motion picture industry and the impact Ohioans continue to have on film today.
Conrade C. Hinds is a registered architect, historian and retired project manager with the City of Columbus. He is a graduate of Ball State University, where he studied architecture and industrial technology. Hinds also served for 25 years as an adjunct faculty member in the Engineering Technology Department at Columbus State Community College. Originally from Nashville, he has lived in Central Ohio for nearly five decades.
In addition to his work as a historian, Hinds is a 50-year veteran and teacher of the yodeling arts and a storyteller with a passion for forgotten history. He previously served on the board of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation. Hinds is the author of several books, including The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908 and Columbus and the Great Flood of 1913, which chronicle the events leading to the devastating flood that crippled much of the industrial Midwest. His other works include Lost Circuses of Ohio, which explores 19th-century shows such as those of the Sells Brothers of Columbus and John Robinson of Cincinnati, who competed with Barnum & Bailey Circus. His fourth book, Made in Ohio, examines the manufacturing history and inventive spirit of the Buckeye State. His newest book, Hollywood in Ohio, was released in March 2026.
