Before Columbus had its current City Hall by the riverfront, the city’s leaders worked out of a massive, Gothic-style building right on Capitol Square. And if you’ve never heard about it, you’re not alone.
Built in 1872, Columbus’s old City Hall was dramatic in every sense: towering stone archways, soaring ceilings, a library, a post office, a massive public hall that could fit thousands of people. It even helped launch the United Mine Workers of America in 1890.
But for all its ambition, the building wasn’t exactly beloved. Over the years, it earned nicknames like a “Gothic nightmare” and an “eyesore.”
And by the 1920s, it wasn’t just outdated. It was doomed.
On a cold January night in 1921, while a city council meeting and a basketball practice were happening inside (because of course that’s how this goes), a fire broke out. It spread fast. Sixteen engine companies rushed in, but it was too late: the roof collapsed, the upper floors turned into a mountain of debris, and Columbus’s original City Hall was history.
Miraculously, no one was hurt. Reporter James Thurber (yes, that James Thurber) was covering the city council meeting when the fire started. As he and everyone else fled, crowds gathered on the Statehouse lawn to watch it burn. Strangely enough, most people weren’t sad about it. If anything, it was kind of a relief. Even city officials were reportedly happy to say “good riddance” to the building.
It also wasn’t insured. And as if losing a whole city hall wasn’t enough, key historical documents burned with it, including early records for places like the Franklin Park Conservatory.
To top it off, it was the third major public building to catch fire in just a few months, after the city prison and part of the state hospital.
In the aftermath, leaders decided not to rebuild on the site.
Instead, they moved operations to a temporary space — and eventually to the Civic Center riverfront where City Hall stands today.
The site where the old City Hall once loomed? It’s now home to the Ohio Theatre. (Yep, the one with the sparkling chandeliers and the gorgeous marquee.)
