herr2ck: Hamilton Park Historic District

February 2026.

The Hamilton Park Historic District is the eastern counterpart of the Jefferson Avenue Historic District in Columbus. (A third street with an identical design, Lexington Avenue, was demolished for the construction of I-71.) Once a well-to-do neighborhood with a central traffic island, the historic district was hollowed out during the mid-century and its original island destroyed. Nonetheless, about half of the original houses still survive.

The Hamilton Park Historic District is located in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by Long Street to the north, Broad Street to the south, Garfield Avenue to the east, and I-71 to the west. It is also kitty-corner from Broad Street Presbyterian Church.

History

Snippet of the 1901 Sanborn map depicting the street’s original appearance. (Kent State University)

Hamilton Avenue was platted in 1870 as part of the East Park Place Addition to Columbus. A very fashionable neighborhood at the time with large Italianate and Queen Anne houses, the street once split into two one-way lanes around an oval-shaped park in the middle. Three such streets were constructed (kind of like The Circles and how there were six, now four, of them)--Jefferson Avenue (west of I-71 and within the Discovery District), Lexington Avenue (which was demolished for the construction of I-71), and Hamilton Avenue. Most of the existing historic buildings were completed by 1890. As indicated by the opulent Victorian homes, early occupants of the area were upper-middle class businessmen. Lawyers, bankers, and business owners were among the area’s residents.

Like Jefferson Avenue, Hamilton Avenue has lost a significant amount of its historic integrity over the years. Its park has had the road punched through its center, bypassing the original meandering traffic flow. Several houses on the east and west side of the oval have been demolished, and the northeast corner was replaced with an apartment building earlier in the 20th century. At the time of the NRHP listing in 1983, many of the houses were generally deteriorated as well. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and on the Columbus Register of Historic Properties in 1987. Some of the houses were demolished even after its listing.

Hamilton Avenue’s condition by the 1980s was the result of the common decay of inner-city neighborhoods due to white flight. As the white homeowners gradually fled to the suburbs, the incoming residents were usually lower-income Black people, who were stuck in neighborhoods such as this one since they lacked the capital to move to a suburb or more desirable neighborhood. Deferred maintenance caught up to the houses, and the construction of I-71 turned this once-fashionable street to a smelly, noisy one, as cars roared past just feet from the backyards of the houses. It also served as a wall separating a formerly united community (this was no accident), and King-Lincoln Bronzeville’s severance from downtown hastened its decline. The area is gentrifying today, but several of the houses are still in generally shoddy condition today, due to their former slumlord owners.

Photos

These photos will be backwards from how I took them, but I organized them in this post south to north. Here’s our beginning point, at the south end where the two side streets split off. Compare this to the photo from the 1983 NRHP listing--seems like we’ve lost some buildings since:

Herman & Martha Hoster House (43 Hamilton Park)

1912 photo of the house as it originally appeared. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

This unusual house is one of the largest in the district and noted by the NRHP listing as one of the best preserved. It was built in 1888 for Herman Hoster, manager of the Columbus Lithograph Company, and his wife Martha. I wonder if he was related to German brewer Louis Hoster?

At present, the house has a Beaux-Arts portico around the entrance, a Tudor Revival half-timbered gable, and a Queen Anne tower (which once had a conical roof). Some of these may be alterations, however, as it seems to have been a Queen Anne design originally. It is currently used by a law firm.

1983 photo of 43 Hamilton Park (right) with its neighbor. (NRHP listing)

The house today:

The tower:

Entrance decor and woodwork:

Foster Copeland House/Prince Hall Grand Lodge (50 Hamilton Park)

1913 photo of the house. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

This house was built circa 1910 by Stribling & Lum for Foster Copeland, the president of City National Bank, Columbus Forge & Iron Company, and Tippett Manufacturing Company, along with treasurer of Columbian Building & Loan Company. It is currently used by a Black contingent of the Freemasons.

West facade:

The porch’s corbels and the main entrance:

The sign above the porch:

From the north:

Emerson McMillin House (54 Hamilton Park) [demolished]

1889 photo of the house. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

This fun Queen Anne was built for Emerson McMillin in 1887, president of the Columbus Gas, Light, & Coke Company and namesake of McMillin Observatory at Ohio State. It was demolished prior to 1983, probably in the 1950s or 1960s.

Parkview Apartments (55 Hamilton Park)

These Tudor Revival apartments were built in 1928. They match the scale of the neighborhood but are much larger in the rear.

65 Hamilton Park

This poor Queen Anne has suffered recent fire damage. Though it doesn’t seem to have affected the main house very much, the porch has been entirely destroyed. Hopefully it sees a restoration soon.

Several houses north of this one have been demolished, and their sites remain empty:

Frederick Fieser House (75 Hamilton Park) [demolished]

1892 photo of the house. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

Another lost Queen Anne design, this one was built for banker Frederick Fieser in 1885.

Major Wilbur F. Goodspeed House (78 Hamilton Park)

78 Hamilton Park is a Shingle style house due to the various textures of shingles across its facade. It has a bay window on the second floor and a large gable. It was built for Wilbur F. Goodspeed, president and treasurer of Buckeye Malleable Iron & Coupler Company.

B. S. Throop House (84 Hamilton Park)

An American Foursquare design, this house is slightly newer than its neighbors. It was once the home of B. S. Throop, the president of Throop-Martin Co.

J. R. Gobey House (90 Hamilton Park)

Another Shingle style house, 90 Hamilton Park is pretty unique versus its brick neighbors. It has a stronger focus on form through the uninterrupted shingling on the facade, in particular on the large gable and recessed bay window. A former resident was J. R. Gobey, vice president of the Throop-Martin Company.

William & Della Hardesty House (91 Hamilton Park)

A historic photo of the house from Yost & Packard’s portfolio. Note the different porch design. (Don in Westerville)

This unique house was built from 1885 to 1886 by Joseph W. Yost, a prominent Columbus architect. Its Hamilton Park facade is largely Richardsonian Romanesque but has Queen Anne expression, and the rear of the building is actually Italianate in design. This indicates that Yost may have built the facade onto an existing house.

Its original owner, William Hardesty, was born in Malvern, Ohio in 1849. He came to Columbus in 1880 and owned a flour mill on West Mound Street with his brother, later holding stock in other local businesses. Hardesty died of cancer inside the house in 1903, and his wife followed in 1916. A later owner of the house was Dr. Andrew Timberman.

Italianate design in the rear--note the hood molds, brick construction, and cornice:

The tower is very tall with its conical roof and pinnacle:

Arched windows viewed through the porch:

Hard to believe that it actually wasn’t built with Yost’s design. It is very in tune with the original building.

Loving all the masonry and fanciful art glass:

Vaulted window and roof gable:

95-97 Hamilton Park

One of the few duplexes on the block, 95-97 Hamilton Park is a Queen Anne design with an interesting stepping form that relates to the curving street it faces. Though some of its windows have been replaced, it still has its original doors and porch steps, making it one of the more historically intact houses on the block.

You can see the stepping plan better here:

T. J. Duncan House (98 Hamilton Park)

A very square yet unique Italianate design, this house was once occupied by attorney and common pleas judge T. J. Duncan. Its hood molds are very elaborately carved (though I’ve seen the design elsewhere in Columbus), it has a large cornice, and one of the dormers actually interrupts the cornice. It also had a porch that has been removed.

Bernadine Apartments (102-128 Hamilton Park)

1983 photo. Note the Plaza Hotel in the background. (NRHP listing)

These sprawling apartments were built in 1905 in the Beaux-Arts style, probably replacing older houses on the site. Note the since-demolished Plaza Hotel across the street in the above photo.

Pretty regular design, aside from the bay windows here. It reminds me of apartments back home in Chicago.

South facade, which has another bay window:

Detail of an Ionic pilaster and pediment:

105 Hamilton Park

An Italianate house with a bracketed cornice and attic windows, this house has been altered early in its lifetime with a Queen Anne porch.

The porch seems to need a little love, though.

Detail of the Queen Anne woodwork:

109 Hamilton Park

A heavily altered Italianate house with a fun witch’s-hat tower, this one is in poor condition today. Its wood cornice is in disrepair and has fallen off entirely in one area, a window is missing and boarded up, and the original brick has been stuccoed over.

The sign above the transom reads “Call and Post,” a Black-owned newspaper established in Cleveland. It appears to be a private residence, and the newspaper does not seem to occupy the building anymore.