While Black History Month may be nearing an end, that does not mean your curiosity or learning about Black history in Columbus must.
Black residents have called Columbus home since its beginning, author, tour guide and Columbus historian Rita Fuller-Yates said in a recent interview. At first, they lived in tight-knit communities in downtown Columbus alleyway residences while white residents lived along the city’s main thoroughfares.
The Black community expanded east beginning in 1830, settling in what is now known as the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood.
Many sites are no longer standing, razed to make way for new construction and, in some cases, parking lots. Fuller-Yates used her knowledge and understanding of Columbus’ history to help The Dispatch develop a comprehensive list of sites around Columbus with deep connections to the city’s Black history.
From churches to theaters, businesses and homes, here are what she believes are Columbus’ most important Black History sites.
The Lincoln Theatre
Address: 769 E. Long St.
The Lincoln Theatre (originally called The Ogden Theatre and Ballroom) was opened by Black businessman James Albert Jackson and his partner James Williams in 1928 as a state-of-the-art space for the Black community, according to Fuller-Yates.
“They created this out of a need because the Black community was being treated poorly by the white theaters,” she said. “They were segregated often where they were made to sit in the balcony or made to be charged an extra cost. Sometimes on Black days, they would allow the Black people to use the theater, but then the theater machinery would have problems, but they wouldn’t refund the money.”
Jazz, dance and music icons like Sammy Davis Jr., Count Basie, James Brown, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Etta James all visited The Lincoln Theatre, according to the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts.
The theatre was renovated in 2009 and is still in operation.
St. Paul A.M.E. Church
Address: 639 E. Long St
St. Paul A.M.E. Church was Columbus’ first Black church when it was established in 1823. It was originally in downtown Columbus but moved multiple times before settling at its current location in 1905, according to Fuller-Yates.
The church remains active.
Second Baptist Church
Address: 186 N. 17th St.
Second Baptist Church was the second Black Church and first Black Baptist church in Columbus. It was created in 1836 when Black parishioners at the white First Baptist Church decided they wanted their own place to “celebrate and honor God,” Fuller-Yates said.
The church’s first Pastor was Rev. Ezekiel Fields, according to the church’s website. The church is still active today.
St. Anthony’s Hospital (Ohio State Hospital East)
Address: 181 Taylor Ave.
St. Anthony’s Hospital, which is now Ohio State Hospital East, was the city’s segregated hospital.
“I grew up going to that hospital. My mother-in-law was a nurse at that hospital. My grandfather would die at that hospital,” Fuller-Yates said.
Most Black nurses, teachers and doctors on the city’s East Side likely worked at the hospital while segregation was legal, she added.
East High School
Address: 1500 E. Broad St.
Columbus City Schools’ East High School was one of the city’s segregated schools attended by Black students. It became an example of Black excellence in 1968 and 1969 when teams won both the state basketball and state baseball championships in the same year.
That era is the subject of the book “Tigerland” by Columbus-born Black journalist Wil Haygood.
The school is still in operation today. In May 2024, the CCS’ Superintendent’s Community Facilities Task Force presented the school board with nine different recommended scenarios where up to 20 school buildings in the state’s largest district could be closed. East High School was among them, recommended for either closure or as the new home for Columbus Alternative High School because of its small student population base. There were only 50 graduating seniors from East High’s Class of 2023.
Several East High alumni and members of the Black community spoke out before the school board in opposition to closing the high school. Ruciana Fleming, an East High School alumnus and district teacher, told the board that East High is “not just a building, it’s a legacy.”
East High was later removed from the task force’s recommended list of nine buildings for closure.
Champion Middle School
Address: 284 N. 22nd St.
Like East High School, Champion Middle School was one of the city’s segregated schools. It was de facto segregated after it opened as Champion Elementary School in 1909, meaning the only students who attended the school were of Black descent or race because only they lived in the community surrounding the building.
It would later be formally segregated, according to Fuller-Yates.
The school remains in operation today.
Elijah Pierce Statue
Address: NE corner of Long Street and Washington Street.
Elijah Pierce was a barber and world-renowned artist known for his Biblical wood carvings he would hand out to children. He is depicted in a statue honoring him near Columbus State Community College, in front of a parking garage where his barber shop used to stand.
The children who received Pierce’s carvings are likely grandmothers and great-grandmothers themselves. His carvings are worth anywhere from $500 to $50,000, Fuller-Yates said.
“It’s important if you recognize Elijah Pierce’s work that you recognize how important it is to preserve it, because now it turns into generational dollars,” she said.
Home of Blanche Van Hook
Address: 526 Boone St.
Blanche Van Hook was a journalist for the Ohio State News, a Black newspaper in the early 1900s, and the first Black person hired as a stenographer in Columbus, according to Fuller-Yates and the Columbus Black Heritage Collection.
Her family home still stands in the middle of a parking lot at the Columbus College of Arts and Design. In fact, the area surrounding her home used to be a Black community home to thousands, Fuller-Yates said.
“We not only lost these amazing homes that could have been reflective of history all by themselves and the architecture, but we lost it to a parking lot,” she said.
The Call and Post
Address: 109 Hamilton Ave.
The Call and Post was a Columbus edition of a popular Black newspaper in Cleveland. It was founded by Amos H. Lynch Sr., who was known by some as “the godfather” in Columbus’ Black community. He edited The Call and Post for 33 years before founding the Columbus Post in 1995.
Lynch was also a mentor to former Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, The Dispatch previously reported.
While the Call and Post is no longer in operation, a sign for the paper can still be seen on its original building.
The Adelphi Loan and Savings Company
Address: 828 E. Long St.
The Adelphi Loan and Savings Company was the first Black-owned bank in Columbus. Its original facade has been preserved as a part of the Adelphi Quarter apartment complex.
Just a short walk away from the original Adelphi is the modern Adelphi Bank, Ohio’s only Black-owned bank. It was founded by several prominent local Black leaders in 2023, The Dispatch previously reported.
The Theresa Building
Address: 823 E. Long St.
Across the street from the original Adelphi bank is The Theresa Building, which served as an office building for professional Black men in the community, according to Fuller-Yates.
Like the Lincoln Theatre, The Theresa Building was founded by Black businessman James Albert Jackson. The building is named after his wife.
“James Albert Jackson was a no-nonsense Black man. He didn’t believe in alcohol. He didn’t believe in drugs,” Fuller-Yates said. “He was an astute Black man who understood that if the Black community wanted more, we had to give more, and we had to stand for more. So, he was a strong individual in the community.”
St. Cyprians Catholic School
Address: 1399 Hawthorne Ave.
St. Cyprians Catholic School was Columbus’ segregated Catholic school. Fuller-Yates’ great grandmother worked as a cook at the school, and her grandmother, mother, and all her siblings attended and graduated from there, she said.
The school used to open up on Saturdays and host dances for the community. It’s there that Fuller-Yates’ father met her mother.
St. Cyprians is still standing near Ohio State Hospital East.
“I’m so happy that they preserved it,” Fuller-Yates said.
The Litchford Hotel
Address: 90 N. 4th St.
The Litchford Hotel was founded by the Litchford family, whose patriarch was wealthy blacksmith and freed slave Pleasant Litchford. Litchford and his family used to own the land where Upper Arlington High School sits today, according to Fuller-Yates.
The hotel was a nightclub, cabaret and gathering spot for members of the Black community, according to archived copies of The Dispatch.
Spring Street YMCA
Address: 202 E. Spring St.
The Spring Street YMCA in downtown Columbus was a “place of growth” for the Black community, according to Fuller-Yates.
“Many of the men that live in the community, to this very day, grew up there, learning not only sports, but leadership skills, development skills — even when it came to helping them prepare for a role in the community or even working in a job,” she said.
Today, a parking lot sits where the Spring Street YMCA once was. But its successor, The Eldon and Elsie Ward Family YMCA, 130 Woodland Ave., is still in operation.
Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Martin Luther King Branch
Address: 1467 E. Long St.
Named for national civil rights icon the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Martin Luther King Branch is actually the third library on the East Side for the Black community, Fuller-Yates said.
It first began as a library for Black students in the 1920s. Then in the 1960s, Black architect Leon Ransom Jr. designed a new library that would be named after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It was the first library in the nation to be named after him.
The library was modernized in 2018, becoming the building that stands today, according to Fuller-Yates.
