Before it was the home of chilled oysters and a suspended sculpture, the intersection of Gay and High was one of downtown’s most important crossroads.
In the early 1900s, this stretch was a hub of retail, banking, and streetcar traffic.
Postcards from the era show horse-drawn carriages, pedestrians in full Edwardian dress, and street arches casting shadows on the busy sidewalks. The iconic Citizens Bank building held down the southeast corner, and just down the block, storefronts sold shoes, wigs, and just about everything in between.
Things weren’t always charming.
In 1977, a four-alarm fire ripped through the area, starting in the basement of a bar called K’s Down Under and spreading to nearby shops in the middle of a freezing February night. The fire destroyed a quarter of the block and left $2 million in damage in its wake. Even in the decades that followed, the district saw waves of demolition, parking lots, and some heartbreakingly close calls with preservation.
Still, enough of the original fabric survived to earn the High and Gay Streets Historic District a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. Its 15 contributing buildings represent more than a century of Columbus architecture, with styles ranging from Italianate and Classical Revival to early 20th-century commercial and Art Moderne. Some buildings — like the White Haines and the former Madison’s department store — are still standing but waiting for their next chapter.
Fast forward to now
Today, the intersection of High and Gay is as much a creative hub as it is a historic gem. Events like the UnderCurrent series have transformed the corner into a vibrant community space, blending art, music, food, and culture beneath Janet Echelman’s iconic “Current” sculpture. Curated by local creatives and hosted by Downtown Columbus, Inc., these open street festivals bring new energy to one of downtown’s oldest intersections.
Gay and High has always been a crossroads. These days, it’s where Columbus history meets what’s next.
Want to see more historic photos? Keep scrolling! If you’re curious about this area of downtown Columbus and it’s history, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter. We’re going to be taking some deep dives into several of the buildings in this area, including the Citizens Building, the White–Haines Building, and William J. Lhota Building!
