ABOUT THIS SITE
University District History is a site dedicated to exploring and sharing the rich and fascinating history of the neighborhoods that surround the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio.
The 2.8 square miles of the University District are home to nearly 40,000 people. Most of these people are transient residents. They come from some other city, state, or country, stay for their education for 4-6 eventful years, then leave.
A sense of a shared history is essential to building a community. To care about a place, people need a sense of belonging. They need to feel that their story is part of a larger narrative. They need to feel that the place they are in has meaning. They need to feel pride in the place. I believe knowing our area's history can engender these feelings and help build a community.
With so many people coming and going each year, the stories that make this shared history aren't transmitted. That's why this site is here.
This site is a way to share the stories of these neighborhoods. This site is here to tell how this neighborhood came to be, to highlight the remarkable people, institutions, and events that have shaped and been shaped by this place, to commemorate the lives that have been lived here, and to chronicle the changes that have taken place here over the decades.
Enjoy, learn, remember, be inspired, share, and be proud of our incredible community!
D.A. Kellough
THIS WEEK IN UNIVERSITY DISTRICT HISTORY
1929- "A real spectacle" The Dance of Mars promised at May Fete at Crystal Slipper Ballroon, 386 W. Lane. May 17.
1929- Olentangy Park opens 1929 season w 1-armed, 1-legged daredevil parachutist Capt. Smiles O'Timmons. May 18.
1929- Former Buckeye Lt. Kingston Tibbetts lands his Army Air Corps Curtiss biplane on Oval as part of airshow. May 20.
1930- Semi-nudity, drunkeness, High St torch parades, Mirror Lake dunks & hurled eggs mark annual frosh v soph battle. May 14.
1948- Ground-breaking for new Ohio State University Medical Center. May 13.
1964- Crowd of over 1,000 gathers on The Oval for civil rights rally. May 18.
1974- OSU 1973-74 enrollment of 47,268 makes it largest campus in the nation. Second year in a row. May 16. |
RANDOM GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY DISTRICT-SPRING 2012
#76. Magnolias in flower down at E 16th and Indianola.
#65. That day when the trees start losing their blossoms and the neighborhood turns into a fairyland.
#8. The first really warm day of spring on The Oval.
#36. Remembering girls have legs when shorts weather hits.
#40. Daffodils blooming again, years or decades after they were planted by someone who used to live where you do now.
#22. The incredible redbuds in my backyard.
#89. Realizing the crazy loud partying down the block will stop by the end of the quarter. |
LATEST (Last updated: May 13, 2012)
METHODIST MISSION CENTENARY- Airplanes and dirigibles, strange scenes from exotic lands, wild animals, fireworks, live stage shows, parades, a 100 trombone choir, and a 150' tall movie screen don't sound much like Sunday School but that was the scene when Methodists staged a month-long world's fair at The Ohio State Fairgrounds in 1919. COMING SOON!
A NIGHT AT THE DRIVE-IN- Revisiting a 1974 dusk-til-dawn horror show at the W. 5th Ave Drive-In. COMING SOON!
UGLY BOXES- When Ohio State enrollment exploded in the 1960s and 70s, developers responded by throwing up apartment buildings based on the principle of as-many-students-per-square-foot-as-cheaply-as-possible. Here's a selection of these aesthetic abominations. NEW!
VINTAGE VIEWS: MIRROR LAKE REVISITED- More antique postcards revealing campus' natural beauty spot as it looked a century ago. UPDATED YET AGAIN!
THE OHIO WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL- Tucked away in a rarely seen section of Sullivant Hall is a forgotten (and soon to be dismantled) tribute to the Ohioans who fought in The Great War. UPDATED! NEW INFORMATION!
COMING UP
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TRIAL OF THE CENTURY- This Jazz Age story of sex, drugs, scandal, and murder was the biggest thing to ever hit Columbus.
In the summer of 1929, the trial of Ohio State professor James Snook for the murder of his student lover Theora Hix was front-page news. The testimony was so shocking that the Vice Squad seized copies of it and the judge restricted the courtroom to adults only. Readers from coast-to-coast were entranced by the story of a fatal attraction that happened on these streets. |
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE UNIVERSITY DISTRICT?
Tricky one this time. Letters from the signs for six University District businesses spell out "SPRING." Which six are they? A couple clues: All are well-known and local. No chains. All but one are on High Street. Can you figure it out?
LAST MONTH:
Last month's distinctive facade graces a former livery stable from the 1890s that stands at the corner of E. 6th and Indianola in Weinland Park.
You can see our previous contests and try your knowledge here and here. |
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| 15,000 BC: THE UNIVERSITY DISTRICT IN THE LAST ICE AGE- With a population density that rivals Chicago and Boston, nature isn't the first thing you notice around here. Look a little though and it's still there. Look a little closer and you can still see traces of the epic forces that shaped this land thousands of years ago. |
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THE COLUMBUS STAR- In the mid-Twentieth Century, readers in the University District and elsewhere in Central Ohio spent Sundays enjoying the gossip, scandals, and lurid thrills of Columbus' sensational tabloid paper, The Columbus Star. RATED PG-13. |
| THE ALHAMBRA THEATER (2159 N. High St.)- Known as The Alhambra, The World, and finally The Roxy, this theater's seven decades in business saw it show everything from the silents to hardcore porn. |
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THE 11-11-11- One hundred years ago, an oddly symmetric date brought the new University District neighborhoods some of the weirdest, wildest weather ever. |
| 100 YEARS OF UNIVERSITY DISTRICT THEATERS- Summer 2010 marked the centennial of the first movies shown in the University District. These are the theaters University District audiences have enjoyed in the past century. |
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CROMWELL DIXON (221 W. 11th Ave.)- An incredible adventure story. Cromwell Dixon built an airship in his University District garage before he was 15 and went on to become a pioneer of American aviation. |
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THE 1970 RIOTS- Protestors armed with rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails battled police and National Guardsmen armed with clubs, guns, and tear gas. The streets of the University District became a war zone and the neighborhood was changed forever. |
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A SEARS CATALOG HOUSE (164 and 236 E. Maynard Ave., 202 E. Northwood Ave.)- A hundred years ago, it was possible to buy an entire house from a catalog. Many University District residents did. These North Campus homes--"The Maytown" model from Sears--are among several in the neighborhood. UPDATED October 24, 2010. |
REVOLUTION CORNER (Hunter at E. 10th Ave.)- Forty years ago, campus communists tried to inflame the student body with propaganda in concrete. UPDATED November 11, 2010.
THE PHOTOPLAY THEATER(1597 N. High St.)- Another long-forgotten campus theater from the early days of motion pictures rediscovered.
HENRY T. CHITTENDEN (Chittenden Ave.)- This 19th Century millionaire developer, streetcar tycoon, hotelier, history buff, theater impresario, and songwriter is the namesake of one of the University District's major arteries. UPDATED January 22, 2012. |
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W.H. KNAUSS (358 E. 15th Ave.)- This Civil War veteran overcame his personal animosities and risked his fortune, reputation, and life to help bind the wounds of a divided nation.
VINTAGE VIEWS: MIRROR LAKE- Antique postcards reveal campus' natural beauty spot as it looked a century ago.
THE EGG FIGHT RIOT- Cops and students battling, bricks and bottles vs. firehoses, clubs, and tear gas; and cries of "Kill the cops!" are scenes usually associated with the tumultuous 1960s and 70s--not the 1930s. Read the story of the University District's first riot. RATED PG-13. |
THE COLUMBUS ROWHOUSE- The often ignored, dismissed, and belittled Columbus Rowhouse is one of the most common housing types in the University District. Find out about this unique style and the role rowhouses have played in the neighborhood.
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DR. EDWARDS' OLIVE TABLETS (29 E. 5th Ave.)- In the early 20th century, Americans lived in fear of their colons. A University District patent medicine manufacturer rode that anxiety to a fortune. UPDATED January 22, 2012. |
THE COED MEETS THE GROOVY GHOULIE (Chittenden, maybe)- Russell the Semi-Mummified Oval Squirrel introduces a true University District ghost story for Halloween. A coed's night of partying ends in naked terror after an encounter with a thing from beyond the grave! RATED R.
JAMES A. WHITE (44 E. 12th Ave.)- Just a hundred yards from UDF's Beer Barn stands the home of the architect of Ohio Prohibition.
THE IDEAL THEATER (1145 Summit St.)- This small building was home to one of a half-dozen storefront theaters that proliferated in the University District at the dawn of motion pictures. |
| STRANGE STORIES OF THE OHIO STATE FAIR- What happened to Darth Vader at the fair? Why was E. 11th Ave. a seething pit of sin? What was an intercontinental ballistic missile doing on E. 17th? Here are some interesting episodes and anecdotes from the 158 year history of The Ohio State Fair. |
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JEFFREY DAHMER: FRESHMAN- For Halloween, the story of the notorious serial killer's one and only quarter at Ohio State. |
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