A Historical Guidebook to Old Columbus. Bob Hunter

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      13. Southeast corner of Broad and Sixth Streets—The city’s only high school moved here from State Street, later the site of Sullivant School, in 1862. The city purchased the lot from Trinity Church, which owned the property and had installed a foundation for a church but later decided to build the church at Broad and Third, where it still stands. The new high school, which became Central when other schools were built, was constructed on the existing church foundation. The original building was 60 by 100 feet and was buttressed by an imposing 150-foot tower; a 100-foot addition to the south in 1866 doubled the school’s capacity. Artist George Bellows graduated from this school in 1901. The school’s name was changed to High School of Commerce in 1911, and it remained so until it closed in 1924, when a new Central High School on the west side of the Scioto River took its place. The former high school building was used for city offices until it was demolished in December 1928. The offices of the Columbus Mutual Life Insurance Company later rose on this site. Bricks from the old school building were used in the construction of the former Players’ Theatre building on Franklin Avenue.

      14. Southwest corner of Broad Street and Grant Avenue—The Samuel Strasser Rickly House stood on the site of this parking lot until the building was razed in 1960. Rickly was a banker who bought what had been the city’s “circus lot” in the 1860s and built a two-story brick home. Rickly founded Heidelberg College, where Rickly Chapel is named for him. He became superintendent of Tiffin schools before moving to Columbus, where he was elected clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives. He founded a bank with his brother in 1857 and organized Capital City Bank in 1875. When the first bank failed during the Panic of 1873, he paid every depositor in full. In 1880, a customer demanded money for a worthless security; when Rickly refused to pay him, he pulled out a gun and shot out both of Rickly’s eyes. Rickly survived, though, and lived twenty-five more years. Rickly’s son, Ralph, succeeded him at the bank and lived in this house with his young wife, Ida Harrison. But Ralph died in 1919, only thirteen years after his father, and his young widow became associated with this spot among later generations of Columbus residents. Ida Rickly married Walter Beebe Sr., and after he died, she married Sage Valentine. But the house became known for Ida, “the tulip lady across from the Seneca [Hotel].” Every spring, she planted massive, gorgeous beds of tulips that drew crowds of onlookers. She supposedly gave away all of the bulbs each year. Ida died in 1960, and sadly, her will stipulated that the beautiful house be razed. The spot has been vacant ever since.

       15. Northeast corner of Broad Street and Grant Avenue—The three-story mansion of Thomas Johnson stood at this address, 368 East Broad. Johnson and his brother, Edward, founded the New Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1886 and organized the Lorain Coal and Dock Company in 1900. The brothers owned 35,000 acres of coal mines.

      16. Southeast corner of Broad Street and Grant Avenue—This twelve-story red brick structure with white terra-cotta was designed by Frank L. Packard and opened in 1917 as the Seneca Hotel. A four-story addition was constructed on the east side, fronting on Broad Street in 1924. This luxury hotel, which catered to long-term residents, had ninety-one suites, lavish ballrooms, and a rooftop garden. In May 1959, shortly after Fidel Castro toppled the Cuban regime of Fulgencio Batista, Castro’s sister and mother checked in at the Seneca and stayed until September, apparently because the new dictator wanted to keep them safe from his enemies. Front desk clerk Beatrice Rhodebeck told Dispatch columnist Mike Harden that Castro’s mother “always wore a complete black outfit, black veil, shawl, gloves; they went to Mass every morning.” She also said that Castro’s sister was spending money like water and “when Raul [Fidel’s brother] came to pick them up and saw the bill, he about had a heart attack. He jumped all over me and I jumped back.” She said that after the trio reached Port Columbus, Raul telephoned her and said “I have never had a woman talk to me like that, and one of these days I’m going to come back and take care of you.” Raul, who became the Cuban president in 2006 because of his brother’s illness, never did. For years, Woody Hayes’s Ohio State football teams stayed here on the night of home games. Woody sometimes paced the hallways to enforce the curfew. The hotel was once the home of the University Club, and after the Seneca closed the building was converted to office space for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. It stood empty for years after the Ohio EPA moved out in 1987 and was close to demolition a couple of times but has now been remodeled into luxury apartments.

      17. Northeast corner of Broad Street and Cleveland Avenue—William СКАЧАТЬ