For today’s Random Columbus Photo 12, we don’t go back too far in history, but the before and after are definitely one of the more dramatic comparisons featured so far. Larger versions of both photos are available if you click on them.
Before: N. High Street at Hubbard Avenue looking northeast, around 1980. The Short North by the 1970s was considered a declined neighborhood with significant crime and prostitution problems. Police were called there often, and history tells that it was the police themselves who coined the name of the neighborhood, since it was an area that was just “short of Downtown”. In the photo, you can see buildings at 790 N. High and beyond. At the time, they were a Trailways bus station and some kind of office building. Trailways was eventually replaced by other businesses and restaurants over the years, the last being the restaurant Haiku until it was all demolished for the current hotel building.
After: The same view in 2024. The picture from 2024 shows a drastically transformed neighborhood. After more than 40 years of renovations, revitalization and construction, the Short North has shed it’s drab and shady past. Crime stubbornly persists despite the improvements, but not nearly to the same degree. The taller apartment building in the older photo was torn down in the 1990s.
These before and after views from Franklinton show a snapshot in time of just how unattractive and people-unfriendly the riverfront once was.
Before: 1923 This view looks east from the Franklinton side of the Scioto River. At the time, Central High School was under construction, which is why the area looks like such a mess of materials. Central High School would be completed in 1924 and open on September 4th of that year. The school would remain open for 60 years before being shut down in the mid-1980s. The building sat empty for more than a decade before being renovated into the new COSI. Beyond the river, a much shorter Downtown skyline can be seen. The image predates LeVeque Tower and most of the government buildings that now line the Scioto’s shores.
After: 2020 The riverfront looks much different today. With the Scioto Greenways and park space added in more recent years, the view is much more pleasant, the bathroom not included.
Before: 1926 In an image taken just 3 years after the one above, the Franklinton side of the riverfront looks much better. Additionally, LeVeque Tower is now well under construction. After: 2021 In the modern view, the parking and cars have been replaced with parklands and public space, while LeVeque has become the city’s most iconic skyline addition.
If you enjoy this series, the Historic Building Database page offers thousands of before and after photos of historic buildings and places in and around Columbus.
Next month, AllColumbusData.com will have its 10-year anniversary. Hard to believe! Here are some stats on just some of what the site now contains: -338 published posts. 10 additional are already complete and scheduled over the next few months. -105 specific content pages. -Well over 2,000 individual and before and after series historic photos. -143+ years of weather data for both Columbus and its suburbs. -200+ years of demographic and population data for Columbus and its suburbs. -Information and photos for hundreds of current and past development projects. -100+ videos.
What has been the most visited page, the most popular post over the years? Unfortunately, visitor data was lost prior to 2015 for various reasons. However, here have been the top 10 most popular posts and pages since 2015.
Top 10 Posts and the Year Published 1. Before and After How Columbus Changed in 10 Years 2021 This 2-part series was extremely popular last year, and easily became the most visited in the past 7 years. 2. Questions Answered- Columbus Zip Codes 2014 This post was very popular into 2018, but is now defunct. The information on this post ended up becoming bits and parts of other posts and pages. 3. Columbus Retail History- Shopping Centers 2013 One of the oldest posts on the site, it still gets consistent traffic almost a decade later. 4. Columbus Historic Church Demolition 2021 This one detailed plans to demolish an old church on the South Side. 5. Columbus Area Murders by Zip Code 2008-2015 2016 Pretty explanatory. This post provided crude maps of murders by zip code. 6. Columbus’ Greatest Snowstorm 2021 This post gave an account of the March 7-8, 2008 blizzard. 7. Columbus Area Zip Codes and Their Economies 2013 Still a consistent hit after a decade, this post gave details on economic information by local zip code. 8. Winter 2020-2021 Review 2021 Review the 2020-2021 winter with stats and rankings, something that has been done for all winters since 2014. 9. Franklin County Gentrification Trends 1990-2015 2017 This post looked at how income and race changes were driving neighborhood gentrification around Columbus. 10. How We Should Develop Around Intel 2022 The most recent on this list, this post deals with how the area around the Intel project should have a development plan, and detailed a hypothetical map of what that development could look like.
Top 10 Pages 1. Columbus Tornado History The most popular by far, this page covers historic tornadic events throughout the entire Columbus Metro Area. 2. Olde Towne East Historic Buildings This has been the most popular of all the Historic Building Database pages to date. 3. Proposed Development This regularly-updated development page highlights the region’s many proposed projects. 4. Other Residential Historic Buildings This page was one of the very first to be included in what would eventually become the Historic Building Database. It is defunct now, as its photos were eventually divided into a much greater expansion of featured neighborhoods. 5. Development Under Construction All the projects currently under construction at any given time. 6. Census Tract Maps Demographics, population and other data at the census tract level are provided in interactive maps going back to 1930. 7. Winter Storms This page chronicles significant winter weather events from the past. 8. Columbus Flood History As above, but dealing with flooding events. 9. Columbus Crime Statistics Violent and property crime data, maps and demographic data related to Columbus crime are provided going back about 40 years. 10. Completed Development Buildings and projects that were completed at some point in the past are highlighted on this page going back to the 19th Century.
Any surprises in what has been the most popular? Any posts or pages you’d like to see more of? Let me know here or on the Facebook page if you are enjoying the content or would like to see something different!
This link is a great repository of historic photographs of the Ohio State Campus area, including High Street and neighboring Weinland Park. There is also a lot of historical information on events, restaurants, buildings and a lot more.
For the Random Columbus Photos 9 edition, we take a not-so-distant look back for a change.
Photo Location: High and Broad intersection, looking north. Photo Date: August 31, 1991 Photo History: The Celebrate Them Home Columbus parade occurred as an event to honor returning Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm veterans, as well as veterans of previous wars. The event was held only one time. National patriotism was unusually high during this short war, and helped to revive Lee Greenwood’s 1984 song “God Bless the USA”, which often played on the radio during the conflict. Contrary to what may be popular belief, the Beetle Bailey character represented in the balloon does not date back to WWII. Instead, he first appeared in comic strips in 1950 and continues to run today.
The same view today. Not much has changed since the 1991 photo. A few buildings have been renovated and the streetscape has seen improvements, but otherwise, the view is largely the same.
