Postcards from the Past: Ohio National Bank

Postcard Caption: The Ohio National Bank, Columbus, Ohio

Postcards from the Past: Deshler Wallick Hotel

Postcard Caption: A8 Deshler Wallick Hotel, R.K.O Theatre and A.I.U Citadel   Columbus, Ohio

Exploring Columbus History: Great Southern Hotel

Postcards from the Past: The Columbus Auditorium

Postcard Caption: A27 - Columbus Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio

Postcards from the Past: Post Office in 1905

Postcard Caption: 5042   Post Office, Columbus, O.

Postcards from the Past: Fire Department Headquarters

Postcard Caption: Headquarters  Fire Department, Columbus, Ohio

Postcards from the Past: Columbus City Hall

Post Card Caption: City Hall, Columbus. Ohio. 

Postcards from the Past: Columbus City Hall

Postcard Caption: City Hall, Columbus, Ohio

Billy Ireland: 1920's Short North Prophet and More

I received an interesting tidbit from a friend of RetroMetro, Doug Motz, on a historical Columbus figure that used to work for the Columbus Dispatch a long, long time ago. Billy Ireland's work seems to have come full circle with regards to Columbus' current focus on attracting and retaining the young and talented college crowd, with addition to his prophecy of the Short North as illustrated in his two cartoons below.

There is so much untapped character and characters from Columbus' past that remain somewhat buried and untapped. As I personally feel that there is a lot to be gained by learning from our past, not only from establishing a sense of who we are and where we came from as a city, but in the form of inspiration from the efforts of the generations that came before us and also called Columbus home:

"...attached are the Billy Ireland cartoons from the Dispatch. They are all from his Sunday commentary page entitled "The Passing Show" and are courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society.

They can be found in the newly reprinted work by Lucy Caswell "Billy Ireland" available at The Library Store, The Wexner Center Gift Shop and the OSU Cartoon Research Library. It sells for $40.00

The amazing thing to me is how relevant many of his works are to issues that are of concern to Columbusites (Columbians?) today including cleaning up the riverfront, engaging/retaining youth and transportation concerns. He was also a "prophet" of the Short North  - if you will - and advocated for an Artists Colony off of High Street in the 1920s.

He was the only non-Wolfe to be a share-holder of the Dispatch and he lived at 264 Woodland Avenue in the Woodland Park neighborhood just East of Downtown."

Along with the tidbit, Doug also pointed out to little gems that I wasn't aware of. One is the Cartoon Research Library at OSU, located in the Wexner Center:

http://cartoons.osu.edu

The other is the The Library Store at the Columbus Metropolitan Library which, amongst its many other items, has a fairly wide selection of books for sale that focus on local Columbus history for fellow history buffs out there:

http://www.columbusfriends.org

Postcards from the Past: High Street

High Street, Columbus, Ohio

Postcards from the Past: Broad St

"Broad Street from High looking East"

Postcards from the Past: The Ohio State Penitentiary

Discovering, learning and promoting local Columbus history has been an initiative that I've wanted to kick off for some time here on RetroMetro. After all, urban revitalization is sort of my thing around here :) There is a lot about this city and its heritage that we all don't know. There is a lot of very rich history that we are missing. I want to do what I can to connect the city with its roots as we move forward into the future, especially coming up on the 2012 Bicentennial.

I'm of a mind that there is a lot we can do to establish a foundation for a part of what I feel is a missing sense of historical identity for Columbus by looking back at where we've come from. I'll dive into a deeper written piece on the topic in the near future, but to get things rolling I'm going to be posting items I'm helping scan into the archives of the Columbus Historical Society's collection as my little effort to promote, preserve and embrace a very rich and what almost seems to be nearly forgotten history.

Right now I'm working on a collection of postcards that was given to the Columbus Historical Society in recent years. You'll get to enjoy the fruits of my labors over the coming weeks. Right now, the plan is to post at least one item a week, at least on Mondays.

The front of the postcard you can see above. To see the back of the postcard, continue on to the rest of this posting.

"THE OHIO STATE PENITENTIARY is located in Columbus, a short distance from the center of the city"

If you have an interest in Columbus history and you have any old photos, memorabilia, artifacts, slides, old letters, postcards or anything of a historical nature, and you are looking to find them a good home, please get in touch with me by e-mailing me here.

Any material I receive will be passed along to the Columbus Historical Society based upon the items (if the Society is interested in them) and your wishes.

Please be sure to check out and support the Columbus Historical Society by visiting their Web site. They are always looking for support, both financially and through volunteering.

You can also keep your eye on RetroMetro as I continue (and look forward to) working with CHS to bring Columbus' history back into the present and integrate it into our future in a more prominent and enduring manner.