herr2ck: Columbus - University District

Photos vary, but most are from February 2025, November 2025, & January 2026.

The University District neighborhood in Columbus, hence the name, is centered on The Ohio State University. Its architecture and urban fabric is tailored for college students, making it unlike most other neighborhoods in the city. I didn’t live there (I only lived on campus itself and in Old North), but I obviously spent a ton of time there over the years, so I’ll have lots of personal anecdotes as a result.

University District is located on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. It is true that the neighborhood is essentially a collection of smaller neighborhoods, such as Dennison Place, Weinland Park, Indianola Forest, etc. However, many other sources consider the Old North to be part of it, which I wouldn’t. My understanding of the boundaries, which I believe most students would agree on, are Lane Avenue and Old North Columbus to the north, Smith Place and the Short North to the south (I’ve mentioned in my Short North articles that I feel that that neighborhood’s urban fabric begins on Smith), the railroad tracks and fairgrounds to the east, and the Olentangy River and west campus to the west.

History

What is now the University District and The Ohio State University was largely farmland through much of the 19th century. Ohio State itself was established in 1870 on what was formerly the Neil Farm (where Neil Avenue gets its name), owned by William Neil, a banker from Urbana. However, the land surrounding the university was still rural until the turn of the 20th century, sandwiched between the growing Short North and Old North.

An unidentified street in the University District circa 1920. Many duplexes and rowhouses similar to these still stand today. (WOSU)

The University District began to grow in the 1890s, as streetcar lines were extended further northward that connected the area to downtown Columbus, and the university’s student population increased. Remember, downtown was pretty polluted from the numerous factories and breweries that sat nearby at the time, so many people with the means to leave did not want to live there. Most of the residential portions were developed as “streetcar suburbs” for commuting workers or faculty at the university from roughly 1900 to 1920, such as what is now the New Indianola Historic District. Students mostly lived on campus or in specific boarding houses nearby, so much of the areas that were not immediately adjacent to campus were occupied by middle-class renters or homeowners. (I also found a Columbus Free Press article written by a former professor that explains this as being a myth, however.) The well-known Long’s Book Store opened in 1902, serving the area for more than a century. Current students may be familiar with the Long’s sign mounted on the present Barnes & Noble, the last vestige of that venerable campus institution.

The Big Bear store. (WOSU)

Although the automobile maintained this growth through the 1920s, the Great Depression curtailed it beginning in 1929. In 1934, the first self-serve grocery store in the Midwest, the Big Bear grocery store, opened in the former Crystal Slipper dance club and roller rink (where Riverwatch Tower stands today).

The corner of High Street and 10th Avenue looking north in the 1970s. This intersection is unrecognizable today. (University District Organization)

After World War II ended, Ohio State had a much larger student population, leading to increased population density in the University District. The university also built Buckeye Village north of campus for married students to accommodate this demand. Often, older houses were either subdivided into apartments or demolished outright for new buildings. This meant that far more residents in the area were students. It’s also important to note that the University District had restrictive covenants against Black people, as famous athlete Jesse Owens could not rent an apartment near the school he attended.

A protest on campus in May 1970. (University Libraries)

In the 1960s, the area’s growth continued, and the “hippies” of the time brought alternative businesses and organizations to the University District. These included food co-ops and the newly established Columbus Free Press. The student population also began to hold protests for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. In 1970, one of these protests devolved into a riot, as more police and even the National Guard were present on campus. This led to the closure of the university for two weeks. After the protests ended, High Street and its businesses remained focused on the counterculture, namely bars and music stores. A strip south of 11th Avenue grew to have a very high density of bars and concert venues at this time and soon became crammed with students on weekends.

Along with the expected rowdiness, an often-naive student population attracted crime. As many factories in the Weinland Park area closed, it took away jobs from the area, and gangs such as the Short North Posse had established their turf there. The rise of crack cocaine in the 1980s further increased crime. By 1994, Ohio State president Gordon Gee established a task force to address this issue, spurred by the abduction and murder of student Stephanie Hummer at 14th Avenue and High Street.

Several community organizations were created to revitalize the area and control its future, namely the University Community Association, University District Organization, University Community Business Association, and the University Area Commission. The latter was created by City Council in 1972 with an elected board that oversees planning and development of the area surrounding Ohio State.

The south campus bars prior to their demolition. (WOSU)

The University District has seen extensive gentrification efforts beginning in the 2000s, particularly centered around High Street. The earliest of these began with the demolition of the “south campus strip” of bars and businesses south of 11th Avenue in 1999 for the construction of the Gateway business center. This process has consumed many historic buildings from 8th Avenue to the south to Norwich Avenue to the north, which have been replaced with luxury apartment buildings and restaurants/businesses catering to an upper-class student population. In particular, the eastern end of High Street between 12th and Lane has almost entirely had its original fabric demolished for contemporary high-rises. With news of more demolitions coming practically every month (Little Bar was demolished right before I left and now Ohio Stater and PJ’s are not long for this world), I expect to return to campus in a decade to see a unified super-block of modern apartment buildings instead of the few remaining brick structures that gave the area its character.

Photos

When taking these pictures, I mostly focused on the historic buildings in the University District. I regret that now, considering I have tons of stories to tell about uglier modern buildings with more cultural than architectural value. If only I could expound upon my tales of Bullwinkles…

As usual for these “dump posts,” this post covers a greater distance in less depth. Other places I have covered in more detail in this area include the Bier Stube, Graham Elementary and Middle School, Indianola Park, Metro Early College High School (Indianola Junior High), and Newport Music Hall.

The Thirsty Scholar

This is a lesser-known campus bar on Neil. I took this picture while workers were in the midst of painting the half-timbered exterior an ugly shade of millennial gray. Since then, a large roll-up window has been installed on the side facing the gas station, a giant awning was built above the patio, and a horrid AI slop sign replaced the red one on the railing. Despite its proximity to my house, I only went once on a bar crawl.

1570 Highland Street

I was flummoxed as to what this odd little brick structure’s former use was, but apparently it has always been a dwelling of some kind. It was built circa 1900-1920. Turn-of-the-century tiny home, huh?

Ruby’s on Summit/Ruby Tuesdays

A bit far removed from campus but nonetheless one of its bars is Ruby’s, housed in a circa 1920 commercial building. It is remarkably very intact on the exterior, with several features remaining that are commonly removed on structures of this vintage.

I like the portrait of Ruby as a flapper, along with the original wooden door and portal:

The building has intact transoms with its address, too! This is rare:

The windows have wooden trim above:

From 19th and Summit:

There is an art glass transom over the side entrance, too, which is vintage but not original to the building:

Here is the interior as it appeared on the senior bar crawl in 2026:

There’s even an original safe in back:

1999 North 4th Street

Sometimes I just snap pictures of things if they catch my eye. This lovely Queen Anne house has Romanesque Revival vaulting and even a bit of stonework (mostly hidden by the tree branches), along with its original windows, slate roof, and roof finials.

Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity House (234 East 17th Avenue)

I didn’t do a “frat row dump” despite the innumerable photo-worthy houses that line the area since it would just bum me out too much. TKE’s gorgeous 1927 Tudor Revival house was too picturesque to pass up, but there’s all sorts of garbage in the lawn, which is common. Triangle (my former frat) was impeccable by frat row standards, and that house was pretty nasty.

Oldfield’s North Fourth Tavern

Oldfield’s is my favorite campus dive. Unlike the other University District bars, which I patronized a bunch as an underclassman but avoided like the plague once I was a junior, the opposite happened with Oldfield’s. It’s just a few blocks from my girlfriend’s house, so we went there countless times. I’ve taken my parents there, gone for football games (most recently a visit for the Fighting Illini’s time in Columbus), and had so many nights playing cards at the repurposed-church-pew booths. Its current owner, Dan Starek, acquired the bar in 2012.

Here is the interior:

1555-1561 North 4th Street

I’ve always liked this picturesque Tudor Revival commercial building right next to Oldfield’s. It still has its original slate roof, along with pointy half-timbered gables.

Detail of the dormers:

Chapman Building/Sugar Shack (1537-1553 North 4th Street)

A 1922 mixed-use building, it was built with storefronts on the first floor and apartments above, and apparently was constructed for the Chapman Grocery. In the 1960s, part of the building became a groovy bar known as the Sugar Shack, which has since closed. The building has been entirely vacant since at least 2007. Its storefronts were painted black between 2024 and 2025, and at some point between May and July 2026 (which I made a note of) the ENTIRE BUILDING was painted a uniform black color. As such, my photos are now out of date, and the building looks just horrid today.

Interior of the Sugar Shack during its use. (WOSU)

The back of the building, which was packed with debris and derelict vehicles, has also been cleaned out. It’s possible that it may be saved, but structures that are vacant for this long inevitably have problems. This part of the University District (Weinland Park-ish) has seen enough attrition of its historic buildings.

Detail of the stone tablets set into the parapet, which read “THE CHAPMAN”:

The north side has a little pediment, and the side facing the alley is oddly uneven:

Yeah, the design of the building is rather clunky, but it matches the scale and character of those immediately north. It should be saved.

11th Avenue facade:

The massing here is just so strange. I’m sure it’s been altered and portions have been demolished.

Village Idiot

I’ve actually never been to this bar, but I thought it was worth illustrating since it is presently the lone survivor of the “south campus strip” with Bier Stube’s demolition. It is inside the classic Commercial-style building to boot.

University Place (1652-1666 North High Street)

This is an example of a “terrace” rowhouse, which consists of two units facing a central courtyard and away from the street. According to the auditor’s website, it was built in 1918, and the 1920 Sanborn map labels the two buildings as “University Place.” Interestingly, the sections facing High Street are used as commercial space, with an OSU clothing store and a Jimmy John’s:

Remember, these vernacular Commercial structures were once ubiquitous in the University District, but many have been demolished in the past 25 years.

1698-1702 North High Street

Here’s another one of the historic brick buildings that are threatened with extinction nowadays, though this one is more of an apartment building and is probably here to stay. The portion with Chase and the ATMs is a modern addition based on the brighter brick, which I somehow never noticed until now.

4-20 East 13th Avenue

I don’t have any other pictures of this building and this one illustrates it poorly, but the row of storefronts on 13th facing Ethyl & Tank and Midway was once a Columbus rowhouse that has been painted gray and had a metal awning slapped across the second floor.

1758-1760 & 1762-1766 North High Street

I’ve always had an appreciation for these brick apartment buildings and their sense of character. These buildings also hold/held some of the last of the venerable campus institutions that are so rapidly disappearing. What is now Burger Royale (yuck) used to be Apollo’s, an excellent Greek restaurant that had some of the best gyros I’ve ever had. I only visited once while my parents were visiting, much to my chagrin now. Mid High Market sells super high-quality and well-designed OSU merch for a reasonable price. Gata Magica opened around 2023 and is a small cafe I’ve been to a couple times.

Some friends of mine lived in the building on the left as well, and I recall being shocked at how well-preserved the interior was. They were clearly very expensive apartments when they were built, as the floor plans were absolutely massive. The building is mostly unaltered, down to the original windows, hardware, and built-ins, and what renovations occurred had good craftsmanship. I shudder to imagine how expensive their rent was and how loud it got on weekends.

1782 North High Street

Yuck…another tragedy of a red brick building painted gray. I actually like the new metal framing to the storefront, which was probably installed during its previous use as an Urban Outfitters.

The Ramey (1812-1816 North High Street)

The last of the brick buildings north of 14th clings to life for now, but it is not long for this world considering that the rest of the site is vacant and that University Square (see next entry) is planned to expand onto this site. I’m sure these Beaux-Arts apartments once had a nice front yard, but an addition with stores was built in front of it sometime after 1920.

University Square

A rendering of the project, featuring the planned hotel building on Pearl Alley. (Campus Partners)

This gigantic complex of buildings at 15th and High is one of Ohio State’s most sweeping urban renewal efforts. A swath of buildings spanning two blocks on High Street, including several early 20th century brick buildings and the mid-century structure that held Long’s Book Store, were demolished between 2017 and 2018. In addition, a large number of duplexes on 15th and 16th were razed.

At present, the complex consists of three completed buildings (University Square North and South, and the WOSU building at 14th and Pearl) and two proposed ones (the hotel and an extension of University Square South to 14th). University Square North and WOSU opened in 2021, and University Square South did so a year later. I think RAMSA did some work on these buildings, which I can no longer find a source for, but Meyers + Associates and Lupton Rausch are credited for WOSU and University Square North and South, respectively.

I will concede that the design is far better than many of the other structures like this, but at its core it is still a destruction of the urban fabric that used to define High Street and the social fabric as well. There was once a book store, restaurants, and clothing stores here, but now it is exclusively fast food and offices of different university departments.

There is definitely some New Classical influence to these buildings--check out the arcaded entrance and the pilasters above:

I used the lobby of this building for some architecture project I can’t remember, and so I asked permission to take photos inside. As you can see, it is very contemporary and debonair inside:

The classic modern-wood-shelving-meets-historic-ephemera:

University Square North has two glass patios as well:

The Wellington

This colossal apartment building across from the Wexner Center replaced a series of smaller, denser buildings as well, though they were heavily altered and had several modern additions. The complex is named after a historic Tudor Revival hotel that was demolished for its construction in 2018. It is a rather horrid design that is totally out of scale with its surroundings and for whatever reason features gaudy New Classical decoration:

…what are we even doing?

There was a defaced electrical box nearby that some dude with a bigger and fancier camera was getting abstract photos of. I tried, but the end product was probably not as good:

Along High Street a block north, the roofline of a much older house peeks above the Postmodern storefronts:

University Theatre/University Flick (1980 North High Street)

Exterior of the theater as it originally appeared in 1947. (Cinema Treasures)

Despite the exterior intactness of this building, there aren’t very many indications of its former use. This Art Deco design opened in 1947 as the University Theatre. Owing to its location immediately east of the former Ohio Field, owner Leo Yassenoff was a friend of Chic Harley (both played football together at Ohio State) and sought to open a theater in his honor. Along with the scarlet and gray exterior and a terra-cotta relief of Harley, the interior featured a curtain with a giant Block O and murals of the Armory and University Hall. A Hammond electric organ entertained patrons.

The theater’s interior. (University District History)

The University Theatre opened to the public on March 24, 1947, with a grand ceremony that included the 1916 national champion football team, governor Thomas Herbert and mayor Jim Rhodes, and Chic Harley’s family. The first movie shown was The Jolson Story with Larry Parks.

The University Theatre as University Flick. (Cinema Treasures)

The University Theatre somehow survived the fall of the “movie house” and subsequent replacement with the television, still showing films to students despite the…ahem…change in programming of other theaters nearby. In 1971, it was purchased by the General Cinema Corporation and had its name changed to “University Flick,” which sounds like some sort of freshman hazing ritual. It began to show independent films and art as well, and it was where The Rocky Horror Picture Show was first played on campus in February 1976. The theater closed for remodeling that July and reopened with two screens.

By the 1980s, the theater was on its last legs. It closed on March 15, 1981, operating a few more years as “The Movies” (which sold beer as a concession) but closing for good in February 1983. Roast-beef fast food chain Rax purchased the building that October and converted it to a restaurant, which reportedly still kept the original decor and showed movies. However, Rax closed in the 1990s, and the interior has since been butchered by several other fast food restaurants. As of today, the building houses a Charley’s Philly Steaks and a PNC Bank on the first floor, with Evolved Body Art above.

Obviously the marquee is long gone, but the ribbed terra-cotta facade remains, as does Chic Harley. He had been covered up with an awning through 2009 and punting a sub sandwich through 2016, but he remains as visible today as the day he was built:

Buckeye Donuts (1998 North High Street)

1998 N High in 1971. (Buckeye Donuts website)

At least I got ONE icon of Ohio State history for this post. Buckeye Donuts is perhaps the most famous of all the campus restaurants, having been in business since 1969 and serving up donuts (and other fatty/sugary snacks) to drunk and hungover students for over 50 years. Buckeye Donuts was founded in 1969 by Greek immigrants George Barouxis, Jim Barouxis, and George Sauter, as a Jolly Roger donut shop. In 1978, the owners decided to drop out of the franchise and operate their own restaurant, which became Buckeye Donuts as we know it today.

The building on Google Maps in May 2009.

The building it occupied was pretty shoddy by 2009, and between then and 2011, it was renovated into the current form. The interior has remained largely unaltered and retains its diner-like atmosphere. The menu has expanded over the years to include Greek food and other drunk eats, and it is one of very few places in Columbus that is open 24 hours a day.

I haven’t been to Buckeye Donuts recently, but I went countless times in my first couple years as a student. The line was frequently out the door, especially on game days and after the bars closed for the night. My favorite donut is the peanut donut with peanut bits on top, but the classic buckeye donut is a close second. I also got some of the best cheese fries I’ve ever had on a lark one night. It is popular for good reason.

Speed round time! Chitt Fest in 2026, the block party after the spring football game:

It got crazy in like 2021 or 2022 and someone flipped a car, and now there’s a high police presence. The large group of people were watching the “Porchella” concert.

This graffiti refers to JD Vance dropping Ohio State’s 2024 national championship trophy: