Franklin County Memorial Hall

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Designed by noted Columbus architect Frank Packard, Memorial Hall was built in 1906 as the headquarters of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a group founded by veterans of the Civil War. In 1954, Franklin County replaced Memorial Hall with Veterans’ Memorial on West Broad Street in Franklinton (which you’ll hear more about in site number 195), and the building was used by the Center of Science and Industry (COSI). When COSI moved across the river to the former Central High School in 1999, the building was renovated to restore the entrance lobby and murals -- and is now used as a county office building. Nearby once stood the19th century Alfred Kelly mansion, an early Greek Revival house that was called The House that Saved Ohio, when Kelly put it on the New York Stock Exchange to finance the building of Ohio’s canals. Sadly, the House that Saved Ohio was not saved by Ohio. The house (also used as the Cathedral School) was dismantled, the stones eventually dispersed with no hope for rebuilding. Also nearby was the Christopher Inn, a 1960s modernistic, round hotel, designed by Leon Ransom, an African American architect. This was also lost.

Location

280 E Broad St, Columbus, Ohio, 43215
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