What’s Your Story, Columbus?

 

As people interested in history – as we all are, or should be! – we always enjoy learning more about the place in which we live. And if there are pictures, all the better! Fortunately for us, historical societies, libraries, and other interested parties often publish items that include a look at yesterday as well as documentation of today.

Greg Lashutka, former mayor of Columbus, brought us one such item not too long ago, entitled The Story of Columbus: Past, Present and Future of the Metropolis of Central Ohio. He’s the owner of the book but he asked if we might scan it and make it available to our users. As the book was in beautiful condition, we gladly complied.

The book included photographs both historic and contemporary. Fortunately, these photos feature long-gone buildings, some of which had been demolished years before the book’s publication in 1899. Some buildings, such as the Ohio Statehouse, look very much the same. Others, however, such as “Dispatch Corner” at Gay and High Streets seen below, are nearly unrecognizable compared to their earlier photos.

A number of buildings found in The Story of Columbus are on the National Register of Historic Places, such as the Ohio State Arsenal, Engine House Number 16 (on Gay Street), and the Wyandotte Building, among others (see the list of Columbus properties here and a weekly list of all national properties, to which you can subscribe, here).

We’re extremely grateful to Mr. Lashutka for sharing this wonderful treasure with us, as it means we get to share it with you. So the next time you decide to take in the sights in Columbus, take a look at the pictures in The Story of Columbus first…and then go on a treasure hunt!

____________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you to Shannon Kupfer, Digital/Tangible Media Cataloger at the State Library of Ohio, for this week’s post!