February 2026.
Poindexter Village, a former public housing project in Columbus, is arguably one of its most important historic sites. Despite its early success, it nonetheless fell victim to the same ills that plagues many housing projects across the United States. Much of the buildings were demolished in 2013 aside from two that will become a museum, and it has been redeveloped with more modern units. This has its benefits and drawbacks--read on.
Poindexter Village is located at 240 (Wikipedia says 290) North Champion Avenue in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The entire site is bordered by Mt. Vernon Avenue to the north, Long Street to the south, Hughes Street (Winner Avenue today, though that street formerly did not extend north of Hawthorne Avenue) to the east, and Ohio Avenue to the west.
History
Richards, McCarty, & Bulford’s site plan of Poindexter Village. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
Poindexter Village was founded as the first public housing complex in Columbus, as well as only the third in the entire country. With the creation of the Federal Housing Administration in 1934, public housing was beginning to be built across the country for poor people who could not afford rent. Architect Howard Dwight Smith was commissioned as consulting architect. (However, the above drawing was done by Richards, McCarty, & Bulford, so they may have been involved with the project, too.) The buildings were of early Modern design and cost $2,098, housing 426 individual units. Poindexter Village was dedicated on October 12, 1940, in a ceremony attended by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Historic photo of the Blackberry Patch. (WOSU)
At the time of Poindexter Village’s opening, housing projects were occupied according to the neighborhood’s racial composition, and its residents were entirely Black. As was also common for later public housing projects, it stands on the site of a demolished slum, the “Blackberry Patch.” Many former residents of the Blackberry Patch tried to move into Poindexter Village, but there were not enough openings for them all. Those who were unable to obtain a unit were forced to find limited replacement housing, which of course came at higher rents yet remained overcrowded. If you want to read more testimony about the Blackberry Patch’s history from former residents, this 1982 book on the Columbus Metropolitan Library website has some interesting tidbits.
Portrait of Rev. Poindexter. (Ohio History Connection)
Poindexter Village was named after James Preston Poindexter (1819-1907), a Black Columbus native who was a notable Baptist preacher and abolitionist. He arrived in Ohio at the age of 12, quickly becoming involved at Second Baptist Church, where he was baptized in 1840 at the age of 21 and was ordained as a priest in 1849. In 1862, Poindexter became the congregation’s pastor, a role in which he served until 1893. He decried slavery in his sermons, and outside of the church, he was one of Columbus’s citizens active on the Underground Railroad. Later in life, Poindexter became very active in politics. First, he became the first Black man nominated for Ohio’s seats in the House of Representatives in 1873, though he lost in a landslide. However, he successfully held several other offices, such as Columbus City Council, trustee of the Ohio School for the Blind, the Board of Directors of the Ohio State Forestry Bureau, and a trustee of Wilberforce University.
Poindexter Village under construction. (Ohio History Connection)
Early in its history, Poindexter Village was a successful and peaceful community. Residents included doctors, teachers, artists, and other community leaders. It even achieved its intended purpose of helping its tenants purchase their own homes, very unusual for housing projects (which tend to perpetuate poverty). Former resident Sonny Burgess, who lived in Poindexter Village as a child, said this about his experience: “Poindexter Village to a lot of Blacks was a gold mine. When we moved here, we thought we were in heaven. It was so new and modern. They had a bathroom, a shower, a tub, the bedroom was so neat and clean. We weren't used to that.” There was a strong sense of community, and residents reported an atmosphere of trust and support.
Historic photo of Poindexter Village. (Ohio History Connection)
However, it is important to note that Poindexter Village was still placed in a neighborhood that was largely Black due to redlining and discrimination from downtown businesses. Housing projects were necessary because of the widespread racism at the time, restricting many Black people from the same opportunities that their white neighbors had, and the projects only perpetuated the issue due to their location and racial/class makeup. Even though a good portion of the residents had the financial means to afford a conventional middle-class house, neighborhood restrictions prevented Black citizens from renting or buying one.
Snippet of the 1921-1961 Sanborn map depicting Poindexter Village. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
The low-rise units built by Howard Dwight Smith were supplemented by a high-rise tower (Poindexter Tower) in 1961, a classic move by housing authorities to save money and cram as many families as possible in an area. (It was built on the site of the 23rd Street School.) The Sanborn map from that year states that it was built as the “Poindexter Home for the Aged,” and that it was built that year. Although the map documents the entire site in detail, it adds the “Colored” suffix to the project’s name, a pretty telling inclusion. Also note the Champion Avenue School (demolished) and Union Grove Baptist Church (still standing) that were lumped into Poindexter Village.
In the later years of its life, Poindexter Village’s reputation tanked, and it soon became known as a haven of drug dealing and violent crime. In architectural discourse, it was very common to blame the Modern design of these housing projects for their failure, when in fact it was actually a wide variety of larger administrative issues. A 1991 essay called The Pruitt-Igoe Myth makes a very interesting case for the true cause of that infamous St. Louis housing project’s decline, which I am referring to as a source here. However, it is important to note that this was more prevalent with the Corbusian “towers in the park” method of design that became popular about a decade after Poindexter Village’s construction, and the increased federal meddling that began at that time. Howard Dwight Smith’s design adhered to the earlier philosophy of public housing, which used low-rise buildings and green space more effectively.
Community sources attribute the decline of Poindexter Village to a shift in the housing authority’s formerly high standards, probably mixed with the usual combo of deferred maintenance, lax security, and the departure of the middle-class residents. The latter was certainly the case in the 1950s and 1960s, as discriminatory housing laws were repealed, and new subdivisions for the more affluent Black citizens of Columbus were built. These included Livingston Heights Place (1952), Teakwood Heights (1960s), and Berwick. Along with these new houses on the Near East Side, others became available via the fleeing white people in neighborhoods like Olde Towne East and the Short North. This left the poorest residents behind, who could not afford to move anywhere else.
A group of men near the housing project’s high-rise. (King Arts Complex on Instagram)
Deferred maintenance was also a major catalyst for Poindexter Village’s condition. Public housing was always a very controversial topic politically, especially in the mid-century climate of McCarthyism and fervent anti-Communism. With funding being decreased in the wake of the Korean War and the 1949 Housing Act’s stipulation that local housing authorities had to derive their income from tenant rent, this meant that as the more affluent residents who paid higher rents left (rent was determined via income), the housing authority had to cut services in order to stay afloat.
By the 1980s, crime peaked in the project, particularly in Poindexter Tower due to its elderly residents. According to a CPD officer, there were hundreds of crimes committed in the tower, including vandalism, burglary, robbery, assault, and rape. Perpetrators were commonly local youth, who were aware that Poindexter Village lacked a security presence.
Poindexter Village also saw three murders during this period. The first was 89-year-old resident Clifford Jackson in 1983, who lived on the ninth floor of Poindexter Tower. In December 1988, 72-year-old Roxie Johnson and her son Irvin were beaten to death. The perpetrator, Tommy Morgan, had a debt dispute with Irvin Johnson. Morgan went on to rob the Johnsons’ apartment, and likely killed Roxie Johnson when she caught him. Morgan was arrested, but he hung himself in jail two days later. Apparently, this was finally enough to get the CMHA to staff off-duty police officers at the complex later that year.
Increasing vacancy and the physically deteriorating buildings led to calls for the complex’s demolition. Poindexter Tower was purchased in 1996 by a developer for $1, receiving $2.4 million in federal grants, which according to residents was not invested into the building. It was vacated by 2008. In the end, most of the complex was demolished circa 2013, aside from two of the buildings from 1940.
The housing project in its last years, as of 2011. (Google Maps)
Despite the demolition of Poindexter Village, the two remaining original buildings were saved via concerted effort from the community. First, the James Preston Poindexter Foundation was established in 2014, which was intended to preserve and share the story of the housing project. Although Columbus Landmarks named it one of their Most Endangered Sites in 2016, the Ohio History Connection voted to designate it a state historic site, which was finalized in 2021. They acquired the two remaining buildings in 2017 and have been restoring them since for museum use, a lengthy process due to their deterioration. Their windows have been painted with art by Columbus City Schools students while the restoration work takes place.
Moody Nolan designed a series of new buildings for Poindexter Village, which were completed in 2018. These included townhomes, apartments, a community center, and a daycare. They also designed African-American Museum in 2025, and ground for that project was broken on May 7, 2026. The museum is expected to open in early 2028.
Photos
I want to preface my criticism of Poindexter Village’s new buildings with a few things. First, I am white. I try to portray Columbus history in a well-rounded manner that includes background from many different perspectives, versus the whitewashed history that has proliferated through the past decades. However, I am aware that I ultimately lived in a different neighborhood and was raised in a much different culture than that of Poindexter Village. My point in this article is not to sensationalize places that have had more complex histories, or ones that are in poorer neighborhoods. I simply intend to document all of Columbus’s architectural history, which includes housing projects.
Next, my criticism comes from a design and formal standpoint, not an urbanist or social one. I think that Poindexter Village’s urbanism and demographics are a massive upgrade from their original form, and it has been proven in many studies that the most successful public housing projects are dense low-rises with nearby community services that integrate people with different income levels, not just shoving a bunch of poor Black folks in a 50-story high-rise. Remember, this was the case when the project first opened, hence its early success.
Let’s start with the two remaining 1940 buildings:
They are a little bare, but I think that they have a passable architectural design. The brickwork and awnings add a touch of character.
I really like the artwork covering the windows today, done by students of all ages in Columbus City Schools:
It seems like it is only pieces of printer paper, though, and some have begun to peel away from the glass or fall off entirely:
Remember, although the design of this project might seem ugly and bare today, it was a welcome sight to those leaving the Blackberry Patch. From an overcrowded, poorly constructed wooden house to a brand-new apartment with modern amenities was a big jump.
The southern half of the building, with Union Grove Baptist:
The auditor’s website claims that it was built in 1889, but that seems very early to me. I’d date it to the early 20th century. Nonetheless, it pre-dates the housing project.
Most of the 1940s homes have been replaced with units of a similar density, which use forms more evocative of a suburban-style house instead:
The appearance of these new units is exactly what I dislike about them. It imposes a middle-class, white, suburban form upon a neighborhood that originally had a different context. In the wake of the Near East Side’s ongoing gentrification, it seems that it has permeated into Poindexter Village as well.
I welcome any comments from anyone who has a different perspective or opinions about the design of Poindexter Village, or if you have any thoughts about the article as a whole.
Sources:
https://www.hud.gov/aboutus/fhahistory
https://alumnimagazine.osu.edu/story/shoe-stadium-architect
https://www.ohiohistory.org/visit/browse-historical-sites/poindexter-village-history/
https://www.unvarnishedhistory.org/local-spotlights/columbus-ohio
https://columbusfoundation.org/at-the-table-blog/poindexter-village-and-the-power-of-place
https://moodynolan.com/projects/poindexter-village-mixed-income-housing/
https://columbuslandmarks.org/critical-advocacy-issue-poindexter-village/
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/columbusmaps/id/4640/rec/8
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/casestudies/study-121323.html
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll28/id/244979
https://rasmusbroennum.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/1991-bristol-pruitt-igoemyth.pdf
https://www.instagram.com/p/DT1B7O1EgBe/?img_index=9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Preston_Poindexter