March 2026.
The New Indianola Historic District is a rather unique historic district in Columbus. It is composed entirely of houses and apartments built as rental properties and still used for that purpose today, instead of residences with long-term owners. Additionally, the architecture is more vernacular and builder-grade than high-style, architect-designed houses.
The New Indianola Historic District is located in the University District neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio (though it extends southward into Weinland Park). It is bordered by the alley between Chittenden Avenue and 12th Avenue to the north, roughly 7th Avenue to the south, Grant Avenue and the alley between 4th Street and 5th Street to the east, and High Street to the west.
History
This section of the University District was platted in the late 19th century by Henry Chittenden, but only a few wooden structures were built in the area by the turn of the 20th century. In 1916, developer Charles F. Johnson purchased the land and divided it into three subdivisions--the New Indianola Parcels north of Chittenden, the New Indianola Addition south of Chittenden, and a small part of Dennison’s Summit Addition on the far north side. Johnson commissioned every single historic structure in the district, which were all completed by 1921. Notably, and very rare for a historic district (which typically contain commercial buildings or single-family homes), the structures within were built as and have always been used as rental properties. Although other similar areas exist in Columbus, none have the same quantity and integrity as the New Indianola Historic District.
The New Indianola Historic District was part of a larger streetcar suburb in Columbus, one of the earlier expansion efforts of the city beyond downtown. It preceded the post-war suburbs made possible by the interstate highway system and maintained a higher density. 4th Street and Chittenden Avenue, along with nearby Summit Street, had streetcar lines connecting the area to downtown. This enabled workers to live further away from downtown Columbus. Along with downtown businesses, local employers that spurred development here were The Ohio State University and the nearby Jeffrey Manufacturing Company in Italian Village. Earlier residents were working-class people, but as the rental properties were built, the area became largely middle-class.
The NRHP listing identifies six principal building types in the district--brick duplexes, brick single-family homes, frame (wood construction) single-family homes or duplexes, brick “four-family” apartments, brick “rows” (examples of Columbus rowhouses), and paired brick rowhouses known as “courts.” The “courts” were the most desirable and expensive of the structures, typically set back from the street and with finer architectural details than the others.
The south end of Chittenden Avenue at its intersection with 4th Street in 1984. (NRHP listing)
Despite objections from the Western Reserve Historical Society due to their belief that the area was not a cohesive district, the New Indianola Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, as well as the Columbus Register of Historic Properties in 1987. The structures remain in use as rental properties today, mostly occupied by locals due to its distance from the university. They are in good condition and have in large part been maintained on the exterior.
Photos
I started at the northwest end of the district, at 4th Street and Chittenden Avenue, and proceeded southward from there. Since Chittenden and 11th have longer strips of contributing buildings running along them, I started there.
305-311 Chittenden Avenue & 1556-1562 North 4th Street
This complex of two rowhouses, one facing Chittenden and another on 4th, is an example of the common Columbus rowhouse typology. The exterior is of simple brick construction, with rectangular window openings and stone or concrete lintels and sills. Two small shared porches are centered on the entrances. The cornice features detailed brick crenellation and corbelling, a common method of detailing these designs.
As I recall the people on the porch were pretty curious about what I was up to, and they seemed shocked to discover that this was a historic district. Like I’ve stated before, most people think of historic districts as “Main Street USA” or residential streets packed with gigantic Queen Anne houses.
The second rowhouse on 4th:
313-315 Chittenden Avenue
This orange brick apartment building is an example of the “four-family” type identified by the listing. The brick exterior has small, subtle details built into the walls, such as the soldier course along the half-wall of the porch and the plus-shape designs along the parapet. Its wooden porch has Beaux-Arts columns, though it looks a bit slumpy nowadays.
323-325 Chittenden Avenue
Although it appears that the exterior brick on this house has been painted, it is still a good example of the brick duplexes that are common both in the district and the entire University District. It has a wide porch and second-floor balcony, and the brickwork and wood details seem Craftsman in style.
329-331 Chittenden Avenue & 335-337 Chittenden Avenue
As seen in these two houses with identical plans but varying decorative details, floor plans were reused across buildings in the 20th century just as they are today. These two have original features remaining that are commonly lost during landlord ownership as well, such as the wooden front doors and wood-sash windows.
349-351 Chittenden Avenue
This duplex appears different from its neighbors in form and style, with a shallower street facade and decorative half-timbering in the gables.
359 Chittenden Avenue
These brick apartments, built in 1959, are considered intrusive to the district’s historic character. The smaller scale, longer setback, and side entrances interrupt the continuity of the streetscape that is created by the historic houses and apartments. It has been modernized in recent years with a coat of white paint.
381-383 Chittenden Avenue, 387-389 Chittenden Avenue, & 391-393 Chittenden Avenue
These apartments share identical plans and decorative details, only differing in the shade of their face brick used. Changes over the years such as new windows and porches have increased these differences, which is interesting.
403-409 Chittenden Avenue
This is another rowhouse, which has been painted an odd shade of brown. It has four units and the ubiquitous brickwork and porches of the typology.
411-415 Chittenden Avenue
It’s unusual to see a rowhouse with an odd number of units--despite the overall symmetry of the facade, the porches are unevenly placed.
Chittenden Avenue ends abruptly at this point as it hits the railroad tracks:
Heading back towards 4th along Chittenden, the north side of the street is very similar, with American Foursquare brick duplexes and a few rowhouses sprinkled in:
I attended an “afterparty” at some house on the north side of Chitt here one time as an incoming sophomore, which to this day remains one of the strangest things I’ve experienced in college. It was mostly at the urging of some acquaintances I went out with that night (at Bulls of course), and since I had never been to one before, I figured I would tag along. I think the people who invited us at Bulls said it was free, but the people at the door wanted a $100 cover per person. Some dude in the group, who I remember only as “AC guy” due to the fact that he sold and installed air conditioners (and mentioned this fact any chance he got), paid this exorbitant rate for us. We were frisked and then brought into the backyard.
I immediately noticed that my acquaintances and I were the only white people at the entire party, and I instantly felt out of place. The party itself wasn’t anything strange, just people milling around and dancing in the yard. As we wandered to find a spot to stand, I also noticed several people with vests marked SECURITY who were open carrying long rifles. In the end, we probably stayed about half an hour, but I recall being pretty shocked at the atmosphere and security level of this party versus the bars on campus.
Yorkie Auto (1550 North 4th Street)
A white shoebox that was once a service station, this is another intrusion in the district, though the site has been used as a gas station since about 1920. Again, though it has a different functional purpose, its setback and form are far different from the other historic buildings.
305 East 11th Avenue
It appears that this apartment building has been modified with the removal of its second-floor porch and the infill of the doors that once led there. You can still see the outlines next to the windows.
312-314 East 11th Avenue & 318 East 11th Avenue
These two types have been covered already and I won’t waste more space yapping about them, but it’s interesting to note that the four-family apartment is exactly the same height and footprint as the duplex.
315-327 East 11th Avenue
11th Avenue has a very high concentration of rowhouses due to the streetcar line that ran along the street. This example has some unique details that aren’t on the more orthodox examples on Chittenden, such as the smoothly undulating parapet, brickwork panels (look closely along the roofline and between the second-floor windows), and larger window openings.
332-334 East 11th Avenue & 338-340 East 11th Avenue
As mentioned before, this housing plan is very ubiquitous in the district, and several can be seen with the same overall design minus certain decorative details. This creates enough meaningful variation in what would otherwise be a rather bland residential fabric. Between the two, they have different shades of brick, porch designs, window sizes and placement, and roof eaves. In particular, the leftmost house has out-of-scale flaring gable ends.
337-339 East 11th Avenue
This four-family apartment doesn’t have the balcony that several others possess on the second floor. It is a very severe and undecorated example, with only a slightly raised part of the parapet and a brick panel as ornamentation.
341-345 East 11th Avenue
Another rowhouse with an odd number of units, it seems that this one actually is divided into six, judging by the two doors on each porch. The asymmetrical window placement is also odd.
342-354 East 11th Avenue
This wide rowhouse is the largest on this stretch of 11th Avenue, with seven units contained inside. As seen before, this results in an uneven porch layout and fenestration.
351-357 East 11th Avenue
351-357 E 11th is a classic Columbus rowhouse with four units and a very spiky cornice. Again, contrast this symmetrical design with the prior building and note the differences.
These next several photos are of its neighbor, 361-369 E 11th, which is exactly the same except for its five-unit width. The east end has had some openings infilled, with an entirely different shade of brick:
The rear has segmentally-arched window and door openings. Also note that the parapet extends way higher than the actual roof, creating a false-front effect.
366 East 11th Avenue
Back in Chicago we’d call this a “two-flat,” as it is two apartments stacked on top of one another. Note the prominent sunroom and several bricked-up windows on the side.
374-382 East 11th Avenue
I like the roofline of this rowhouse, which is similar to others we’ve seen thus far.
379 East 11th Avenue, 383-385 East 11th Avenue, 387-389 East 11th Avenue, & 393-395 East 11th Avenue
A complex of three identical apartment buildings with a fourth two-flat on the corner, these four share identical brickwork decoration and porch designs. The corner unit has an additional bay window on the side with half-timbering.
386-392 East 11th Avenue
This rowhouse has a highly orthogonal form minus the three piers along the parapet. It also has several brick panels with checkerboard patterns.
394-396 East 11th Avenue & 404-406 East 11th Avenue
These two American Foursquare houses are examples of the less detailed fabric of the area.
1521 North 4th Street
This is NOT a contributing building, but I thought the mural on the exterior was pretty sweet. It was a carry-out store until about 2013, and the building has sat vacant since. It had some companions to the south that were demolished by 2022.
1510-1516 North 4th Street
Back to 4th Street we go. This rowhouse has an orange brick exterior, and two detached kitchens can be seen in the rear, a common move to keep the interior cool during the summertime before air conditioning became common:
1500-1504 North 4th Street
We’ve reached the first of the “court” buildings, consisting of two identical rowhouses facing a central courtyard perpendicular to the street. This complex is unnamed, unlike the others nearby, but it has unique gabled bay windows.
1480-1488 North 4th Street
Back at it again with the rowhouses. This one has five units, and interestingly each porch is different.
1462-1468 North 4th Street & 287-293 East 9th Avenue
Sometimes Columbus rowhouses are built in a multi-unit complex, as seen here with these two perpendicular designs. The identical detailing and shade of brick gives their simultaneous construction away.
Southard Court (1440-1444 North 4th Street)
This second “court” is very similar to the first, aside from its lack of bay windows and semicircular projections on the parapet. A vacant lot to the north reveals the north building’s detached kitchens:
1414-1416 North 4th Street & 1418-1420 North 4th Street
These two houses have clearly been spruced up, with trendy modern paint colors and new windows on both. I’m willing to bet these belong to some of Weinland Park’s new middle-class residents.
1404-1410 North 4th Street
This rowhouse is bland and lacks even front porches, the only vaguely interesting detail being the angled parapet in the middle.
Zora’s House (1393 North 4th Street)
Again, this Contemporary building is outside the boundaries of the district and non-contributing, but its design and pink metal stair tower stick out from the otherwise cohesive streetscape. It replaced a commercial building demolished between 2020 and 2021, and the current structure was completed in 2023. Zora’s House is a nonprofit for women of color in the community.
1382-1394 North 4th Street
Another rather large rowhouse, this one also has seven units. It’s hard to make out in the above photo, but there are lots of little details in the brick facade.
Duplex Court (1354-1364 North 4th Street)
The third court apartments have unusually fanciful stonework for the area, including quoins on the corners. They appear to have original wooden porches in the rear as well. The original concrete piers with the complex’s name are visible next to the central stairs:
Willow Court (1332-1342 North 4th Street)
The final “court” is a dark brick complex with minimal decoration, and it lacks the detached kitchens and rear porches of the others.
1318-1320 North 4th Street, 1322 North 4th Street, & 1328-1330 North 4th Street
Looking at this photo now, it is immediately obvious to me that these three buildings are beyond the southern threshold of the district, as two are frame American Foursquare houses and the third is a Folk Victorian with a gambrel roof, much different from the brick rowhouses and duplexes of the New Indianola Historic District. Though they were probably built at the same time, they lack the same craftsmanship and detail of the buildings in the district.
1304-1306 North 4th Street
Also not in the district but indicative of a rapidly-disappearing building type is this corner store, which has lately been boarded up. It’s not clear how much longer this one will stand, as redevelopment in Italian Village has been making its way northward in recent years.
Sources:
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988473
https://www.columbusrailroads.com/new/pdf/Cols%201915-1.pdf
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