About Us
The Janson Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the maintenance and upkeep of Janson Park located at 6th and Cherry Streets in Columbia, Pennsylvania and supporting those in need. Founded in 1924 by the owners of the former Janson Steel & Iron Co. (brothers Frank, Valentine and Joseph Janson), the foundation has been serving the Columbia community for nearly 100 years. The foundation’s mission is to provide a safe, family-friendly neighborhood park for residents and visitors to enjoy and to serve those in need through its Helping Hands program.
The foundation is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of the following members:
- Eugene “Fred” Smith, President
- William H. Kloidt, Jr., Treasurer
- Mark T. Grab
- Michael S. Grab
- John P. “Tink” Lutz
- Fr. Daniel C. Mitzel
- Gregory A. Nikolaus
- Paul J. Nikolaus
- Paul Resch
- Bernard J. Wolgemuth, Jr.
Park Timeline
1850s–1906
Reservoir for Columbia
1907–1917
Reservoir Park
Inter-County Baseball
1917
Jansons Buy Land
Renamed Janson Park
1920s-1930s
Columbia High School Baseball and Football
1970s
Basketball Court Added
2002
Playground Installed
History
The Janson brothers (Frank, Valentine and Joseph) founded the Janson Steel & Iron Co. in 1894 at 12th and Mifflin Streets along the Reading and Columbia Railroad. At its height, the mill was one of the largest on the East Coast, employing 300 workers and producing 20,000 tons of iron a year. The brothers were active in the community and Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Frank was general manager of the mill, while Valentine was treasurer. Joseph was vice president of the First Columbia National Bank, a member of the Columbia Hospital Board of Directors and president of the Columbia Water Company.
The park was formerly the site of a reservoir that supplied the town’s water until 1906. After the Columbia Water Company abandoned the site, it was leased to the Columbia Athletic Club. Then called Reservoir Park, it continued to be used as an athletic field for baseball, football and other sports until the Janson brothers bought it in 1917 and preserved it as a park and athletic field for future generations.
Upon the deaths of Frank and Valentine within weeks of each other in 1923, they willed funds for the creation of the Janson Foundation. Their wills specified the foundation was responsible for the maintenance of Janson Park, including any improvements “to enlarge its usefulness or increase its benefits to the community.” In addition, the foundation was to provide “relief of old men and women and any needy and deserving cases within the Borough of Columbia … without distinction as to creed or color.” Further, the foundation was to support underserved children by providing for their education to “acquire some suitable trade, profession, business or avocation.”
The brothers specified in their wills that members of the foundation must be members of Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
The foundation held its first meeting in January 1924, with Joseph Janson serving as its first president. Joseph passed away in 1925 and also willed funds for the foundation. An article in the Lancaster New Era announcing his death while on a trip to his birthplace of Hamburg, Germany hailed Joseph as a “man of high character, philanthropic and was ever ready to assist mankind where assistance was deserving. He was active in community work and always took a deep interest in anything that pertained for the good of Columbia.”
A monument at the park entrance commemorates the Janson brothers’ generous gift to the community.
