herr2ck: The Old Landmark

October 2025.

Medary Avenue Elementary School is a massive Richardsonian Romanesque design that lords over the smaller houses and rowhomes nearby. Its unusual fenestration and massive arches always interested me, and I saw it practically every day when driving to my Columbus house from the east. Unfortunately, it has been abandoned and its future may be in jeopardy.

Medary Avenue Elementary is located at 2500 Medary Avenue in the Old North neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by East Hudson Street and a Columbus rowhouse to the north, Tompkins Street to the south, Mute Alley to the east, and Medary Avenue and many houses to the west. It is about three blocks southeast of North High School (Dominion Middle School today).

History

Though Old North Columbus was annexed into the city in 1871, the area that Medary Avenue Elementary School stands on now was sparsely populated in the 1890s. The 1901 Sanborn map, dating to nine years after the school’s construction, depicts the streets as being paved, but there were very few houses nearby.

South facade in 1908. Note the intact cupola, different second-floor windows, and original vaulted entrances. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

Medary Avenue Elementary was designed by Columbus architect David Riebel in a unique interpretation of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It was completed in 1892, one year before he was appointed architect of Columbus Public Schools. (Riebel also built the Avondale Elementary School in Franklinton at the same time, which has an identical plan.) With three stories, it served the growing Old North neighborhood east of High Street. According to the 1922 Sanborn map, the area began to reach its present density by that time.

Historic photo of the north facade in the 1940s or 1950s, prior to the addition. It seems like renovation work was occurring at this time, as there is debris across the rear and scaffolding on the truncated west chimney. (Old Ohio Schools)

A few alterations have occurred to the school over time, but it is largely intact. The windows have been updated with modern replacements, and some of the smaller openings and the large arched central windows have either been replaced with metal panels or painted over. The most notable changes are the enclosure of the grand vaulted entrances on the south facade, and the removal of a small central cupola. A small mid-century addition extends northward from the first floor, but its single-story footprint does not detract from Medary Avenue Elementary’s monumental stature.

In 1897, Medary Avenue Elementary’s new principal was Black, making it the first school in the entire state with mixed-race staff. However, the school was segregated after William Oxley Thompson’s requests in the early 20th century, and Black students were taught on a separate floor. At one point, the school had a single Black student, who was taught in her own classroom in the basement near the janitor’s closet and storage rooms.

In 2007, the school closed due to low enrollment. It served 140 students at the time, which was much fewer than Columbus’s other elementary schools. Naturally, the community was disappointed, as many Old North residents considered it the core of the neighborhood. The area had lost North High School in 1979 (though now reopened as Dominion Middle School) and would be losing Indianola Elementary in 2008 (also reopened as Graham Elementary and Middle School).

The sheriff’s office used Medary Avenue Elementary for school shooting drills in 2008. The school building was then used by Bridgeway Academy, a school for students with special needs, beginning that year, but they moved out in 2021. The school’s remaining playground equipment was removed between 2024 and 2025, and it remains vacant today.

Photos

I chose a sunny day just for a better-lit view of Medary Avenue Elementary’s details, but I feel like the school has a more interesting effect on one of Columbus’s innumerable cloudy days. Its large scale and thickness suits a moody atmosphere. Here is an oblique view from the southwest:

Very bold and Romanesque in its scale. The form is dominated by various gables across the building, which give it a sort of branching shape in plan.

The nearby cars, trees, and buildings made it difficult to get a shot of the full facade. This one is angled and cuts off certain parts, but you get the gist:

The facade here is defined by those four gables mentioned earlier. The original entrance was the arched portion at center, but the vestibule has since been enclosed.

Medary Avenue Elementary achieves its Richardsonian polychromy through red brick and lighter stone details. Stone is used for the rusticated base, arches, and various string courses across the building.

I think these large vaults are my favorite part. They’re unusually smooth, but the layered vaulting and denticulation achieve a nice three-dimensional effect:

Naturally, I took a million shots of them.

Detailed impost block where the two arches meet:

String course carved with the building’s name:

One of the corner wings--note the detailed parapet:

These first-floor windows are more conventional for a Richardsonian Romanesque design…

…but the ones above are NOT. The amount of individual lights in this massive window is highly unusual:

Another oblique view at the southeast corner:

East facade:

The secondary entrances are visible here at center, which have a smaller vestibule that is intact today. The sides of the front gables are conventional and straight, but the portal section and gable on this side continue the theme of odd fenestration.

Nice detail of the gable here and its small vaulted windows:

Northeast corner:

I focused on the chain-link here, not the north facade, but I think the end result is interestingly abstract:

You can see it better here:

This area is definitely simpler, lacking the fancy vaulted windows and parapets of the south, east, and west facades. Note the original finials along the roof’s peak and the denticulated gutters.

An assemblage of flowers, dating to around 2024, possibly a memorial:

Mid-century addition:

Better-lit west facade, which is identical to the east:

Medary Avenue has some potholes which reveal the original brick beneath, which is what the streets were made of at the time this school was built:

Although not technically related to this post, this little Gothic Revival church is immediately south of Medary Avenue Elementary, and it was built between 1901 and 1922 as a Mormon church: