December 13, 20213 yr Capitol Square and Sheraton Hotel towers under construction in November, 1982. PNC Tower under construction in the foreground with One Nationwide Plaza under construction in the background, circa 1976. Note how much of downtown has already been decimated and turned into surface parking. Most of what is surface parking today was already surface parking in this photo. The William Green Building and Three Nationwide Plaza under construction simultaneously, sometime in 1988.
December 13, 20213 yr 1 hour ago, cbussoccer said: Capitol Square and Sheraton Hotel towers under construction in November, 1982. Bottom left in the photo above is the Centrum, High and Town. I ice skated there in high school. Photo below is about 1980.
December 23, 20213 yr union station one 1864 union station two 1875-90 union station three - demo 1976 https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/ohio/columbus/oldest-photos-columbus-oh/
December 26, 20213 yr 1976? The still existing Union Station overshadowed by the Nationwide tower construction. View from High St. looking south.
December 27, 20213 yr 12 hours ago, Pablo said: 1976? The still existing Union Station overshadowed by the Nationwide tower construction. View from High St. looking south. nationwide was completed in 1977 so that looks pretty right on the money timeline-wise for the last days of the high street union station 3 in 1976.
December 27, 20213 yr 12 hours ago, mrnyc said: nationwide was completed in 1977 so that looks pretty right on the money timeline-wise for the last days of the high street union station 3 in 1976. Yup, the High St. arcade was demolished in 76. The actual station was demolished in 79.
December 30, 20213 yr 1980 - Hyatt Regency construction. Union Station replaced by a parking lot (classic Columbus) that would remain for 10 years or so until the convention center is built. Jeffrey Manufacturing buildings are visible at the top of the photo. The Abbot warehouse isn’t built yet and there’s a warehouse between 3rd and 4th north of Nationwide. 670 ramps to the airport are a few decades in the future. The small white building beneath the 670 bridge is the Amtrak station used between 1977-1979. Amtrak station (photo from ColumbusRailroads.com) http://www.columbusrailroads.com/photogallery-6/gg amtrak-1-1200.jpg
January 3, 20223 yr "The Amshack" 1977-1985. Has to be one of the shortest-lived buildings in the city's history. Maybe the Bombay Bicycle Club on S. Hamilton lasted less time but I doubt it. I really remember the Union Station lot being gravel but maybe it was only turned to gravel once they decided on which Convention Center design to use (hint: not the good one).
January 3, 20223 yr Oh and what's that 10+ story building on Summit about? By this time Columbus wasn't tearing much like that down. I can't find it today.
January 3, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, GCrites80s said: Oh and what's that 10+ story building on Summit about? By this time Columbus wasn't tearing much like that down. I can't find it today. That tower at 1st & Summit was replaced by this: https://goo.gl/maps/SLstHxKU2Xju9kXD8 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 3, 20223 yr 17 hours ago, GCrites80s said: Oh and what's that 10+ story building on Summit about? By this time Columbus wasn't tearing much like that down. I can't find it today. There were two public housing towers on Summit between 1st and 2nd. They were torn down in the early 2000 replaced by the lower density townhomes. This was the time, as I recall, that the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority was trying to get away from concentrating poorer tenants in towers. As I recall, this New Village Place homes were open to market rate and subsidized tenants. Of course, I could be completely wrong....
January 3, 20223 yr ^Correct. Similar to the Poindexter Tower being demolished for low-rise housing as well. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 8, 20223 yr Driving Park, 1920 or so. The photographer is above present day Berwick looking west. That's Alum Creek across the bottom of the photo. Livingston Ave. just to the right of the track heads downtown. Driving Park is were WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker got his start in auto racing. His childhood home still stands on Livingston. https://columbusneighborhoods.org/video/driving-park-racetrack/ Driving Park is also where the very first commercial cargo flight landed. In 1910 a Wright Model B flew from Dayton to Driving Park carrying 10 bolts of fabric. https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/2015/august-2015/first-air-cargo-shipment
January 8, 20223 yr Not much longer 'til the old movie theater opens up on Livingston -- then it was really Puttin On the Ritz!
January 12, 20223 yr The Charminel Apartments built in 1925 and demolished in 1995. It's now a parking lot - very Columbus. Located on E. State by Grant Hospital. At the time of demolition it was owned by a florist named Lou Viereck. The building had multiple code violations and was rat and roach infested. Too bad it couldn't have hung on longer and been renovated. It was located here:
January 12, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, Pablo said: The Charminel Apartments built in 1925 and demolished in 1995. It's now a parking lot - very Columbus. Located on E. State by Grant Hospital. At the time of demolition it was owned by a florist named Lou Viereck. The building had multiple code violations and was rat and roach infested. Too bad it couldn't have hung on longer and been renovated. It was located here: It's interesting that you posted this because the Dispatch's out-going managing editor wrote about the Charminel Tower in his farewell column: https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/2021/12/29/editor-thank-you-honor-serving-you-37-years/9021201002/ In that column Miller wrote: "Our job is to tell their stories and hope that at least they inform you and help you navigate life. At most, they might inspire you or someone else to take action. That happened in late 1991 when a Franklin County judge who had heard one case after another involving health and safety violations at a notorious former hotel turned rooming house at the east end of State Street near the main library. It was owned by an elderly florist who lived in the penthouse and either didn't see or didn't care about the squalor on the 11 floors below him." "I had written a series of stories about slum properties and slum owners in Columbus, and Charminel Tower was one of the poster properties for that series. After reading and hearing about the sewage leaking from one apartment into the kitchen of the one below it, and the cockroaches and filth, Judge Tommy L. Thompson packed up his courtroom and went to see the place for himself." "One step onto the rickety fire escape, one look at the inoperable fire alarm, and one walk down the narrow hallways was enough to convince Thompson that the building was a potential death trap and people should not be living there. He ordered it emptied and the doors padlocked." "No one wanted that, of course. I didn't. Thompson didn't. The residents didn't. We all wanted safe, clean housing for people who couldn't afford much but deserved much better than that. The old florist seemingly never understood that." "Eventually, the building was sold and demolished. As a lover of old buildings, I would have preferred that someone save and restore the 1920s-era tower. But an empty lot was better than the death trap it had become." Although the Charminel Tower wasn't able to be saved. That case did lead to the creation of the Franklin County Environmental Court, which specifically deals with code-enforcement issues and has been key in saving other properties, like the Seneca Hotel (located a few blocks from the Charminel) and the Trolley Barn property near Franklin Park, which was recently renovated as the Trolley District. His article also had this 1991 view of the Charminel Tower from the end of State Street looking west:
January 13, 20223 yr I wonder if it had bathrooms in the units or shared bathrooms down the hall -- being such an old hotel before it was apartments. 1995 is really late to be tearing down a building this tall in Columbus. Edited January 13, 20223 yr by GCrites80s
January 13, 20223 yr ^ that was interesting. especially because you dont usually get to hear the court's side of it. i can feel the judge's pain here. its too bad, but he made his case and it seems his hands were tied. i would think the building could have been emptied and put into mothballs for later, but i guess it was too far gone and no one wanted it.
January 13, 20223 yr 14 hours ago, Columbo said: It's interesting that you posted this because the Dispatch's out-going managing editor wrote about the Charminel Tower in his farewell column: https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/2021/12/29/editor-thank-you-honor-serving-you-37-years/9021201002/ Thanks for that! I was looking for a newer photo but was unable to find it. That block was pretty dense. It is a shame the building couldn't have been mothballed - it definitely would be renovated today. From the book "Historic Hotels of Columbus, Ohio" (this is all Google Books shows me):
January 13, 20223 yr It's a beautiful building. It would be amazing if someone built a replica on that lot. It'd be a great spot for some affordable units, given it's directly next to a hospital with a ton of jobs and the library.
January 13, 20223 yr I’ve been here n a history kick lately, probably because I’m getting old. 😄 Here’s the view south from the Statehouse in 1982 or so. What a desolate sea of parking. The Ohio Theater was on the chopping block (in the ‘70s, I think) to create, wait for it, more parking. Fortunately it was saved, what a gem. This was around the time the Capitol South Corp was formed to deal with this.
January 26, 20223 yr 1958 Columbus Riverfront and Downtown panorama... really clear image that shows one of the last years before the interstates. The detail is pretty amazing once you open it up completely. Some things of note: -Flytown is clearly being demolished along Goodale, but this was before the mass demolition of almost everything south of 2nd/east of Neil. -Construction of the first piece of the interstate system on the north side of the Whittier Peninsula doesn't seem to have begun yet. -Downtown had relatively very few surface parking lots compared to just a decade later. -The lack of any real trees or greenery along Downtown streets save for a few pockets. -Most of the 19th and early 20th Century buildings are intact. -Is that a tiny island on the Scioto? Edited January 26, 20223 yr by jonoh81
January 26, 20223 yr On 1/13/2022 at 5:32 PM, Pablo said: I’ve been here n a history kick lately, probably because I’m getting old. 😄 Here’s the view south from the Statehouse in 1982 or so. What a desolate sea of parking. The Ohio Theater was on the chopping block (in the ‘70s, I think) to create, wait for it, more parking. Fortunately it was saved, what a gem. This was around the time the Capitol South Corp was formed to deal with this. The irony is that Capitol South was a big proponent of the demolition of quite a few old buildings for City Center and ultimately arguably did very little to turn the tide on surface parking. It's largest product besides the mall was the city's largest parking garage. They were very much a product of their time. Edited January 26, 20223 yr by jonoh81
January 26, 20223 yr 55 minutes ago, jonoh81 said: 1958 Columbus Riverfront and Downtown panorama... really clear image that shows one of the last years before the interstates. The detail is pretty amazing once you open it up completely. Look at all that industrial might! I really like this era of the city since it was still free of all the vices ascribed to it by people (they hadn't happened yet). Well except maybe "Cowtown".
January 27, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, GCrites80s said: Look at all that industrial might! I really like this era of the city since it was still free of all the vices ascribed to it by people (they hadn't happened yet). Well except maybe "Cowtown". Painful pic. Should convince anyone who doubts Columbus was ever a "real city" back before urban renewal wiped it off the map.
January 27, 20223 yr 17 hours ago, jonoh81 said: 1958 Columbus Riverfront and Downtown panorama... really clear image that shows one of the last years before the interstates. The detail is pretty amazing once you open it up completely. Some things of note: -Flytown is clearly being demolished along Goodale, but this was before the mass demolition of almost everything south of 2nd/east of Neil. -Construction of the first piece of the interstate system on the north side of the Whittier Peninsula doesn't seem to have begun yet. -Downtown had relatively very few surface parking lots compared to just a decade later. -The lack of any real trees or greenery along Downtown streets save for a few pockets. -Most of the 19th and early 20th Century buildings are intact. -Is that a tiny island on the Scioto? It looks like this was taken from atop the LeVeque Tower, right? Pretty amazing photo taken right before a truly pivotal point in Columbus' development. It's a shame to have lots a lot of the buildings and density depicted (I had no idea of the Fairmont Creamery building that straddles Long and Spring - I want it back! 😭). But it's also good to see that while downtown was decimated, VV and IV to the north and German Village to the south remain largely intact. And the Scioto Peninsula has never looked better than it does now, in my opinion.
January 31, 20223 yr Circa 1975 - the Borden Dairy. Borden was headquartered here in Columbus for a number of years at 180 E Broad (a spin off Hexion is there now). I remember this dairy from my childhood. I took classes at CCAD and we drove by this every Saturday. The view is looking south - that's Spring St at the bottom and Cleveland Ave on the right. The dairy took up the entire block between Long, Washington, Spring and Cleveland. It's now a parking lot serving Columbus State. South of the dairy is Long St and beyond that CCAD and the art museum. https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll28/id/140946/rec/4
January 31, 20223 yr 8 minutes ago, Pablo said: Circa 1975 - the Borden Dairy. Borden was headquartered here in Columbus for a number of years at 180 E Broad (a spin off Hexion is there now). I remember this dairy from my childhood. I took classes at CCAD and we drove by this every Saturday. The view is looking south - that's Spring St at the bottom and Cleveland Ave on the right. The dairy took up the entire block between Long, Washington, Spring and Cleveland. It's now a parking lot serving Columbus State. South of the dairy is Long St and beyond that CCAD and the art museum. https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll28/id/140946/rec/4 They bought BBF! “Everybody’s goin’ to a BBF, and taking their appetite. Everybody’s goin’ to a BBF at the whirling satellite”
January 31, 20223 yr On 1/26/2022 at 4:00 PM, jonoh81 said: 1958 Columbus Riverfront and Downtown panorama... really clear image that shows one of the last years before the interstates. The detail is pretty amazing once you open it up completely. Some things of note: -Flytown is clearly being demolished along Goodale, but this was before the mass demolition of almost everything south of 2nd/east of Neil. -Construction of the first piece of the interstate system on the north side of the Whittier Peninsula doesn't seem to have begun yet. -Downtown had relatively very few surface parking lots compared to just a decade later. -The lack of any real trees or greenery along Downtown streets save for a few pockets. -Most of the 19th and early 20th Century buildings are intact. -Is that a tiny island on the Scioto? The river looks very high in this pic-maybe that little island thing is some detritus that washed down? It if was a pic from a few decades later I might think it was a ...um...very large piece of Dublin sewage...
February 1, 20223 yr On 1/26/2022 at 4:00 PM, jonoh81 said: 1958 Columbus Riverfront and Downtown panorama... really clear image that shows one of the last years before the interstates. The detail is pretty amazing once you open it up completely. Some things of note: -Flytown is clearly being demolished along Goodale, but this was before the mass demolition of almost everything south of 2nd/east of Neil. -Construction of the first piece of the interstate system on the north side of the Whittier Peninsula doesn't seem to have begun yet. -Downtown had relatively very few surface parking lots compared to just a decade later. -The lack of any real trees or greenery along Downtown streets save for a few pockets. -Most of the 19th and early 20th Century buildings are intact. -Is that a tiny island on the Scioto? Flytown is being demolished for the beginnings of the Goodale Freeway which is technically the first part of the Interstate Highway System since it became I-71 soon after completion and was the first interstate open in the city (rather than I-70). Also some of I-70 is kind of started since I think that bridge over the railroad tracks was used for I-70. But I didn't know that you had those ramps leading to Front St. a block apart like that. That probably didn't last long. The Justice Center is there now. I've been looking at this picture for days now. You can see in the existing parking lots how everyone is really jammed in there in some places. Everybody probably had to leave work at the same time in order to get all the cars out and they had to do it in a coordinated manner. All those WWII Gen and Silent Gens are getting their mental scars of not having enough parking right here. They'll want everything to be "easy to get in and out of" in the future. Edited February 1, 20223 yr by GCrites80s
February 1, 20223 yr On 1/31/2022 at 2:49 PM, Toddguy said: The river looks very high in this pic-maybe that little island thing is some detritus that washed down? It if was a pic from a few decades later I might think it was a ...um...very large piece of Dublin sewage... It looks like a couple of upright trees, so I'm not sure. Historically, there were small islands in the Scioto through Downtown at times. They were around long enough to even get names, though the names escape me. Edited February 1, 20223 yr by jonoh81
February 1, 20223 yr I think there was a pretty big one in front of the Old Pen before the low-head dams went in.
February 1, 20223 yr 36 minutes ago, jonoh81 said: It looks like a couple of upright trees, so I'm not sure. Historically, there were small islands in the Scioto through Downtown at times. They were around long enough to even get names, though the names escape me. Well that might be the trees/shrub tops on a small island showing if the water is up, which it appears it is. Or it could be an actual photograph of the Scioto River Monster, a legendary creature rarely seen and even more rarely photographed, which of course I just made up. Someone has to start these legends, right?
February 6, 20223 yr 315 construction in 1971 looking south. Arrows point to Ackerman Rd at the bottom of the photo with Lane Ave and Woody Hayes above. Where the construction curved to the left is the Lennox factory. Interesting how the newly constructed 315 bridge over the Olentangy just dumps out onto Olentangy River Rd. Ackerman was the northern terminus of the freeway until the 1980s when 315 was connected to 270.
February 18, 20223 yr 1999 - Construction of the Vine St garage. View is from Nationwide looking north along Front St. The public housing towers at Summit and 1st are visible above the Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
March 31, 20223 yr The State Theater on N High St in 1952. It was converted into the Agora in 1970. In 1984 it became the Newport Music Hall. Photo from Ohiopix.org
March 31, 20223 yr That's the cleanest that building has ever been. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 18, 20223 yr I'm copying this from a Facebook Group, Do You Remember: Classic Old Columbus https://www.facebook.com/groups/456482067786555/permalink/4577988492302538 The photos are from the Columbus Metropolitan Library and OSU Archives and where assembled by the owner of the FB group. Let me know if this is OK to post since it's from someone's FB page. The photos are from around 1954. It's astounding to see what we lost to accommodate the car. These are photos along the south side of E. Long St. downtown between Pearl and Third. What a loss. 1) The Koller Bros. Co., 41 E. Long St., Best Paint Store, 33 E. Long St., and Scherzer's Bakery, 31 E. Long Street. 2) May Trade-In Store, 73-75 E. Long St., Glick Furniture Co., 65 E. Long St., B&A Paint Co., 51-53 E. Long St., M.M. Freedman Loans, 47 E. Long St., and The Koller Bros., 41 E. Long St. 3) May Trade-In Store, 73-75 E. Long St., Columbus Cycle & Sporting Goods, 69 E. Long St., Glick's Furniture, 65 E. Long St., and Joe Gregory Gunsmith, 57 E. Long St. 4) Emswiler's Electric Co., 85 E. Long St., Dave's Gun Store, 77 E. Long St., May's Trade-In Store, 73-75 E. Long St., Columbus Cycle & Sporting Goods, and 69 E. Long St. 5) Here's what replaced these buildings. Progress.
May 18, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, Pablo said: Glick's had an awesome sign and storefront! Such a shame we lost all these buildings.
July 11, 20222 yr Pre 1914 photo showing track construction on High St looking north from Broad. A few buildings remain today from that era. There were streetcar tracks on High before 1900, maybe this is an upgrade? Pretty bustling city. From the Columbus Planning FB page.
July 17, 20222 yr Possibly so they could hold more weight? The old tracks could have been be left over from the horse-drawn Omnibus days and this upgrade could be for larger, heavier rolling stock that holds more passengers.
September 20, 20222 yr This Twitter thread has some amazing pictures of downtown Columbus (mostly High Street) and its streetcars ca 1913. Here's some of my favorites.
September 21, 20222 yr 22 hours ago, cbussoccer said: This Twitter thread has some amazing pictures of downtown Columbus (mostly High Street) and its streetcars ca 1913. Here's some of my favorites. Wow, these are fantastic. Great find! At least some buildings along High St. are still recognizable, but really a lot of amazing structures and density have been lost over the decades.
October 27, 20222 yr By the 70s most of those buildings were replaced by parking lots. We’re slowly trying to remedy that now. This is from 1976 as the Nationwide tower nears completion.
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