whats round in the middle and high on both sides? hiohi...wait thats not how it goes, ah heres the pumpkin lovin' metropolis.

 

with a population of more than 13,484 and a 400,000 visitors a year tourism (source). it is the county seat of pickaway county, so it has a courthouse

 

 

 

 

 

The courthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

whoa, watch out cincinnati

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oops

Some great buildings, and an unusual courthouse. I like it.

I like Circleville and the courthouse is unusual, but it's not one of my favorites. Nice pics.

Nice looking town. Nice Masonic building as well.

Nice!

Ive went though that town before, if you blink you'll miss it, lol. Ohio has alot of those towns.

some nice looking buildings there.....is that building which kind of resembles OSU's Orton Hall their City Hall?

That 1st Choice Cash Advance is definitely the classiest cash advance store I've ever seen, haha.

john, the orton hall lookalike is the Circleville Memorial Hall.

and i think it has bingo too

Nice pics of Circleville!

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/04/28/20060428-A1-01.html

I believe the article is about this gas station

Coolest gas station ever.

I found a website with a great collection of photos of old gas stations...including some in Ohio.

 

http://www.sca-roadside.org/resources/links.html

 

Here are th kinks to the Ohio photos:

 

http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/gas/oh/gas35-09shell.html

 

http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/gas/oh/gas35-17-02marathon.html

 

http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/gas/oh/gas35-17-01sinclair.html

 

http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/gas/oh/gas35-33gulf.html

 

http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/gas/oh/Gas35-57sunco.html

 

http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/gas/oh/gas35-76-01.html

 

 

 

Some typical examples that remain all around Ohio:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8685.0

There's an interesting "octagonal" gas station in Delaware at the intersection of US-36-37 and US-42 (east of US-23).  It's been unused for some time and has a bunch of derelict cars around it, but it would be an interesting structure to restore.

 

Looks a lot like this one in Illinois, although not nearly in as good shape....

You mean this one?

 

Surely you don't mean this one....

 

The Delaware Gazette did a story on the history of the "Octagon" (originally a Linco-Marathon Station, that closed up back in 1970) back in 2002.

 

It sits cati-corner from the old Delaware Train Station at US 42-Oh 37 (Lake & Central)

 

That's the one, Magyar!  Nice find!  Where did you find the photos?  That whole area over there has a lot of historic buildings.... the old NYCRR train station (Delaware's last surviving one, sadly), the old New York Central freight station across the tracks, some old hotel buildings, etc.  It would make a nice redevelopment district for shops, restaurants, etc.  Could very well also become a Delaware stop for the Ohio Hub trains someday.

That's the one, Magyar!  Nice find!  Where did you find the photos?

 

I took those photos around Christmas 2004

Circleville should be called Squareville.

 

I went to Circleville for the pumpkin show and went in Hardees to take a piss and they locked the bathroom so that no one could use it. That's illegal in a sit-down restaurant with that many seats.

It's called Circleville because it used to look like this:

 

The town was originally built around Native American earthworks.  But, the people were dissatisfied with the layout and beginning in 1837 they started to "square" Circleville to a conventional grid.  By 1856 it was completed and looked as it does now.

Yeah they've tried to build perfect symmetrical utopian cities..it just doesn't end up being functional.

okay nice joke but just so everybody is clear (I'm originally from laurelville about 15 minutes away) that last photo is NOT circleville lol.  they don't have a skyline. don't make me photoshop a laurelville pic of skyscrapers. *snap*

Circleville has skyscrapers!?

You mean you haven't seen them?

There are some grain silos or something of height on the west side of town...correct? (Only been to Circleville once, last spring)

Haha... grain silos and church steeples

I can't believe nobody's used the term Roundtown yet.

Oh nevermind, I was looking at that last pic but I should have known it wasn't Circleville. Sorry guys, I did a lot of drugs in the 70s.

I am impressed.

Oh nevermind, I was looking at that last pic but I should have known it wasn't Circleville. Sorry guys, I did a lot of drugs in the 70s.

 

You meant that your parents did a lot of drugs back in the 70s.  You're not older than me, are you?

Hehe, I think that's the joke.

From the 12/23/06 Dispatch:

 

 

PHOTO: The house was moved to a nearby field in 2004 to make way for a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Vandals have damaged the 150-year-old building, but it’s structurally sound. 

 

PHOTO: A free-standing spiral staircase is one of many unique architectural features in the Gregg-Crites Octagon House in Circleville. Wally Higgins, left, and Tom Cooper are part of the Roundtown Conservancy, a local group trying to restore the house. State lawmakers earmarked $100,000 for the project in a bill that passed this week.

 

8-sided restoration project

Circleville group raising cash to renovate octagonal house

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Kelly Hassett

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — The Gregg-Crites Octagon House has more than 150 years behind it, and supporters hope the next couple make up for the past few.

 

The eight-sided structure is the focus of a restoration project by the Roundtown Conservancy, a Pickaway County group dedicated to protecting the area’s historic and significant buildings and green spaces...

 

 

For more information about the house, visit the conservancy’s Web site at www.roundtownconservancy.org.

 

[email protected]

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/23/20061223-D1-04.html

 

Great, I hope to see this building restored!

 

The history of these homes is quite interesting, although most seem to be in rural areas and arn't as ornate as this one or the Lane-Hooven in Hamilton.

 

Here is a list of those in Ohio, there are much more than 23:

http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/OH.html

 

And here is the ForgottenOhio listing with a few more links:

http://www.forgottenoh.com/Crites/crites.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Love the trompe l'oeil.

Looks so different when the streets aren't jam packed during the Pumpkin Festival! ;)

Great shots!

Sweet-looking town. That off-center courthouse always throws me, though.

I really like this town, the courthouse not being symmetrical looks funny to me.

Ted Lewis!!? I didn't know he was from Circleville. There's an old, old-time (and I mean old!) DJ in New York by the name of Danny Stiles who actually still plays his stuff! http://www.dannystiles.com/

Sweet-looking town. That off-center courthouse always throws me, though.

 

I assume the two wings on the right and left were added onto the center portion of the courthouse and they put a new facade over the whole building.  Anyone on here know for sure?

Looks like a very nice little town.  I'm surprised to see so many beautiful old buildings because when I read a description of the history of this town it said that it used to be laid out in concentric circles which have since been replaced with a grid.  So I assumed all the old stuff got wiped out.  Are there ANY curved buildings or cruuked buildings in the town that hint at the old streets?

DuPont planning $175M expansion in Circleville

Business First of Columbus

Monday, January 18, 2010

 

Chemical giant E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. is planning a $175 million expansion at its Circleville plant that state officials say could create as many as 70 jobs.

 

Representatives of the Wilmington, Del.-based company joined Gov. Ted Strickland and other state officials Monday to announce plans to expand to build a line of films used in the production of photovoltaic solar panels.  In addition to products for the advanced energy industry, DuPont in Circleville makes products for the consumer electronics, telecommunications and automotive industries.

 

The $175 million expansion through a production line set to open in fall 2011 is expected to create 70 jobs and retain 444.  Construction during the expansion will create more than 200 temporary construction jobs, Strickland’s office said.

 

Full article at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/01/18/daily1.html

For some reason I missed this thread. I didn't know there was talk about the Gregg-Crites octagon house on here. As you can tell from my username (G is my first initial), my family owned it for many years. No, I wasn't sitting on my butt letting it deteriorate. It was rented until its last couple of years at the original location. My half-first cousin (who was 60 years older than me) had Alzheimer's and couldn't really rent it out in her last few years. She sold it to Wal-Mart before her death. The Roundtown Conservatory has been raising money to finish the inside and my folks check up on the house every few days to make sure no copper bandits have pillaged it.

^Interesting. Thanks for sharing that information. It just goes to show that you never know who you'll meet on UrbanOhio. :wink:

 

The original Octagon House article was posted in the Architecture/Preservation section.  I merged that thread with some other Circleville related threads to create this catch-all development thread yesterday. 

Pickaway County finally OKs JEDD pact with Columbus

Business First - by Brian Ball

Date: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 3:48pm EST

 

The city of Columbus and Pickaway County have expanded a cooperative effort in commercial and industrial development in an area south of Rickenbacker International Airport after a delay of more than a year.  Pickaway County Commissioners on Monday approved creating a joint economic development district, or JEDD, covering about 600 acres owned by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority and the Landings at Rickenbacker LLC golf course in Madison Township.

 

The agreement calls for funding roads and other infrastructure through a portion of revenue from a new 2.5 percent income tax levied on workers in the township.  As part of the deal, Columbus agrees not to annex the land for 50 years.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2010/12/pickaway-county-finally-oks-jedd-pact.html

Pickaway JEDD map shows area of coverage

Business First - by Brian Ball

Date: Friday, December 17, 2010, 12:47pm EST

 

The area covered by the latest joint economic development district between Pickaway County and the city of Columbus extends the area of development cooperation to the west of a previous JEDD between the city and Madison Township.

 

As we reported Tuesday, Columbus and Pickaway County have finally completed the new JEDD to cover about 600 acres.  What we didn’t show you were the boundaries of the JEDD.  That’s now available on a Google map here.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2010/12/pickaway-jedd-map-shows-area-of-coverage.html

Very interesting. What makes this tax unusual is that there are maybe 10 jobs in the whole township outside of the JEDD besides farms and Slate Run Metro Park. Madison Township outside the JEDD has virtually no businesses except for the self-employed.

Thanks for sharing those photos. Great shots of buildings and streets. I hope you update those weekly.