Capitol Square is a

public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

Downtown Columbus, Ohio Downtown Columbus is the central business district of Columbus, Ohio. Downtown is centered on the intersection of Broad Street (Columbus, Ohio), Broad and High Street (Columbus, Ohio), High Streets, and encompasses all of the area inside the Inn ...

. The square includes the

Ohio Statehouse The Ohio Statehouse is the List of state and territorial capitols in the United States, state capitol building and seat of government for the U.S. state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building is located on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, ...

, its Capitol Grounds, as well as the buildings and features surrounding the square. The Capitol Grounds are surrounded to the north and west by

Broad Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to: People * A slang term for a woman. * Broad (surname), a surname Places * Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth * The Broads, a network of mostly navi ...

and High Streets. These are the main thoroughfares of the city since its founding. They form the city's

100 percent corner The 100 percent corner is the busiest area in a city. Often it is a Intersection (road), crossroads of several major streets, and the place with the highest land value and/or where grid plan numbering is based upon. The term is also used for the ...

. The grounds are surrounded by 3rd Street to the east and State Street to the south. The oldest building on Capitol Square, the Ohio Statehouse, is the center of the state government and roughly in the geographic center of Capitol Square, Columbus and Ohio.

History

The statehouse grounds were donated by four prominent Franklinton landholders to form the new state capitol. As the city's downtown began to empty in the mid-20th century, several buildings around the square were demolished. A construction boom in downtown during the 1970s and 80s led to nearly all spaces being occupied again. Plans are to have the last empty space on 3rd Street developed by 2020.

Attributes

Buildings and structures

* Center:

, Capitol Atrium, and Senate Building ;High Street *

Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts The Vern Riffe State Office Tower is a skyscraper on Capitol Square in downtown Columbus, Ohio. It was completed in 1988 and has 32 floors. NBBJ designed the building, which is the fifth-tallest in Columbus, and has 102,192 m2 of floor area. An ...

* Huntington Center * Huntington National Bank Building ;Broad Street * Broad & High building * 8 on the Square * New Hayden Building * Hayden Building *

Rhodes State Office Tower The James A. Rhodes State Office Tower is a 41-story, state office building and skyscraper on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The Rhodes Tower is the List of tallest buildings in Columbus, Ohio, tallest building in Columbus and the ...

* 60 E. Broad St. (former

COTA Cota or COTA may refer to: People Surname * Ava Michelle Cota (born 2002), American actress * Chad Cota (born 1971), American football player * Chase Cota (born 1999), American football player *Ed Cota (born 1976), American basketball player * H ...

office) * 62 E. Broad St. (home to the

Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since '' The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication i ...

) * 64-66 E. Broad St. * Key Bank Building ;Third Street * Trinity Episcopal Church *

PNC Bank Building PNC Bank Building may refer to: * PNC Bank Building (Columbus, Ohio) * PNC Bank Building (Toledo, Ohio) * PNC Bank Building (Philadelphia) * PNC Bank Building (Washington, D.C.) {{disambiguation ...

Columbus Dispatch Building The Columbus Dispatch Building is a historic building on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The building was home to the ''Columbus Dispatch'' newspaper offices until January 2016, when it moved to 62 E. Broad St. on Capitol Square. A reno ...

* Central Ohio Federal Savings and Loan building ;State Street * Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square *

Capitol Square Capitol Square is a public square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The square includes the Ohio Statehouse, its Capitol Grounds, as well as the buildings and features surrounding the square. The Capitol Grounds are surrounded to the north and west ...

skyscraper * Ohio Theatre * Fifth Third Center ;Street corners * Northwest:

One Columbus Center One Columbus Center is a highrise office building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The cornerstone for the building was laid on October 21, 1986, and it was completed the next year. NBBJ designed the building after the post-modern architectural styl ...

* Northeast: Chase Tower * Southwest: National Exchange Bank building * Southeast: U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Buildings formerly on Capitol Square include the

Neil House The Neil House was a historic hotel on High Street (Columbus, Ohio), High Street in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The hotel operated on Capitol Square from 1842 to 1980. Attributes The hotel buildings were located on South High Street (Columbus, O ...

hotel (three buildings which existed on the square), the

Columbus Board of Trade Building The Columbus Board of Trade Building was a historic building on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The building was built in 1889 for the present-day Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and was designed by Elah Terrell and Joseph W. Yost. It b ...

, the Hartman Building and Theater, the former Columbus City Hall, former locations of the First Congregational Church and First Presbyterian Church, an early

Huntington Bank Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is an American bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Its banking subsidiary, The Huntington National Bank, operates 1047 banking offices, primarily in the Midwest: 459 in Ohio, 290 in Michigan, ...

, the

Deshler Hotel The Deshler Hotel, also known as the Deshler-Wallick Hotel, was a hotel building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The hotel was located at Broad Street (Columbus, Ohio), Broad and High Street (Columbus, Ohio), High Streets, the city's 100 percent cor ...

, a prior location of the

Downtown YMCA The Downtown YMCA is a historic former YMCA building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. It was the largest YMCA resident facility in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The seven-story building was desig ...

, and 5 and 7 South High Street, commercial buildings constructed .

Public art

* '' Governor James A. Rhodes'' (1982) * '' The Doughboy'' (1930) * '' Intersect'' (1992) * '' The Newsboy'' (2018) * Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial (2014) * Ohio Veterans Plaza * Statue of Christopher Columbus (–1892) * '' The Spirit of '98'' (1928) * ''

These Are My Jewels ''These Are My Jewels'' (also known as ''Ohio's Jewels: Grant, Sheridan, Stanton, Garfield, Hayes, Chase, and Sherman'', or simply ''Ohio's Jewels'') is an 1893–1894 monument by Levi Scofield, installed outside the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, ...

'' (1893) * ''

William McKinley Monument The ''William McKinley Monument'', or ''McKinley Memorial'', is a statue and memorial honoring the assassinated United States President William McKinley which stands on Capitol Square to the west of main entrance of the Ohio Statehouse in Downt ...

'' (1907) * ''former:'' Dr. Samuel Mitchel Smith and Sons Memorial Fountain (1880)

Tourism

As the center of downtown Columbus, the square gets a high number of residents and visitors. Programs for tourists include the Columbus Art Walk's Capitol Square tour, taking visitors around historical and architectural sites, sculptures and other landmarks.

Events

Protests

Capitol Square has been the location of many protests held in the city. Recent protests included the Ohio's stay-at-home order in the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the handling of the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

. Riots and protests over George Floyd took place in the city, centered on the square from May 28 into July, with early violent protests leading to damaged storefronts across downtown Columbus, with graffiti, trash and looting around much of downtown.

Gallery

File:1872 Birds Eye View of Columbus Ohio by Bailey LC (cropped).jpg, 1872 bird's eye view facing northeast File:Ohio Statehouse Grounds from Broad Street and High Street.jpg, The square facing southeast in 1893 File:Ohio - Columbus - NARA - 68147024 (cropped) (cropped).jpg, Capitol Square facing northwest, 1936

References

External links

* {{coord, 39.961384, -82.999096, display=title Downtown Columbus, Ohio Geography of Columbus, Ohio Ohio Statehouse Parks in Columbus, Ohio Squares in Ohio Tourist attractions in Columbus, Ohio Odonyms referring to a building Broad Street (Columbus, Ohio) High Street (Columbus, Ohio)