San Margherita is an unincorporated neighborhood directly west of Columbus, Ohio, half falling into Norwich Township and the other half in Franklin Township. Originally, the quarry provided workers with shack-like homes placed along McKinley Avenue and the railroad tracks. Quarry workers who amounted enough wealth moved on to construct homes along the south side of Trabue Road.
At its founding, the area was not connected to Columbus by train. As such, residents of the neighborhood kept livestock and grew some of their own produce. The community was bound together by mutual language and customs, shared work and problems, and by deep family friendships. The isolation prompted members of the neighborhood to drive for a church of their own in 1921. Thirteen local families each pledged $50 and received a land donation to begin construction. The original Saint Margaret of Cortona Church was constructed at 3388 Trabue Road. In 1936, the parish hall was built, and in 1955 the rectory finished construction.
In 2008, The Robert Weiler Company acquired a 10-acre tract of land at 3445 Trabue Rd. In an article by The Columbus Dispatch, company president, Skip Weiler, stated that the company had been amassing property in San Margherita for commercial development and was looking to develop a supermarket-anchored center along Trabue Rd. to serve both Upper Arlington and the West Side.
In 2017, Wagenbrenner Development purchased a portion of the 607-acre Marble Cliff Quarry, with the intention of remediating the site's brownfields to create a mixed-use development and a new Columbus Metro Park. In 2021, the first phase of the park opened to the public. In 1921, the church was built, within 5 years of the finished construction date, the church was debt free. The frame parish hall was constructed in 1936, and the rectory was finished in 1955. Beginning in 1921, the parish held an annual 3-day festival in late July to honor the patron saints of the residents' birthplaces in Italy, including a parade down Trabue Rd. carrying statues of St. Margaret, St. Anne, St. Lucy, St. Anthony, and St. Joseph.
Johnnie's Tavern
left|thumb|Johnnies Tavern on Trabue Rd. San Maghertia, Ohio
Located on 3503 Trabue Rd. Johnnie's Tavern is a "blink and you'll miss it" bar specializing in serving burgers and sandwiches six days a week from 11am to 10pm, Monday through Saturday.
Marble Cliff Quarry
Quarrying activity began as early as 1851, but became more extensive in 1892 with the arrival of Sylvio A. Casparis. Casparis Stone Co. merged with three other companies to for Marble Cliff Quarries, which at one point employed as many as 500 men. The remainder of the quarry has since been filled in and developed for residential use, including Marble Cliff Commons apartments and Marble Cliff Crossing, a 100 single-family and 60 double-family subdivision built between 1998 and 2003. On November 30, 2021, the first phase of the 225-acre Quarry Trails Metro Park opened to the public. Early residents of the neighborhood would tend to chickens and hogs, providing help to their neighbors during slaughter and harvest times. Two dozen of the original homes still remain on Trabue Road.