Cread Lawless

There’s a playground on Arbutus Avenue south of Kingston Avenue called Cread Lawless Park, but few residents today know the history of the name. Marshal Cread Lawless, a lifetime resident of Grove City, started to build his home on Arbutus during World War II when construction material was in short supply. For years, he and his wife, Ruth, lived in a small cinder block garage until building materials were available to finish the house they occupied throughout their life. Cread was introduced to Beulah Park early in life. His mother did the laundry for all jockeys at the race track and the track eventually became the place he worked many of his adult years. His first job at Beulah Park was working with eight other men moving the starting gate from Grove City to other Ohio horse tracks. At the end of a race meet, the track was moved to Lancaster and as far away as Ascot Park near Cuyahoga Falls. It was towed behind a truck and guided on the road with a steering wheel similar to that on a ladder fire truck. One race day job he disliked was monitoring and directing traffic at the curve in front of St. John’s Lutheran Church on Columbus Street, a frequent bottleneck. He said he was often called everything but a gentleman working that location.