USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, Ohio, from the founding of Franklinton in 1797, through the World War period to the year 1920 > Part 23
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The first wheeled mail and passenger service through Columbus was provided by Philip Zinn in 1816: he carried mail once a week between Columbus and Chillicothe. This service soon became semi-weekly and in 1819 he began a coach service to Delaware. C. Barney ran a stage to Mt. Vernon in 1822, and C. W. Marsh maintained a line to Lower Sandusky in 1824. In 1823 Wm. Neil and Jarvis Pike bought out Philip Zinn and began a stage line service between Columbus and Chillicothe, Springfield, Cincinnati and Zanesville. In 1826 Wm. Neil and A. I. McDowell announced that their line of stages would run from Cincinnati via Dayton and Columbus to Lower Sandusky in four days. Two years later Wm. Neil, Robert Neil and Jarvis Pike were associated in the mail coach business, and in 1829 the Ohio Stage Co. made its appearance, carrying the President's message from Washington to Columbus in 34 hours and 45 minutes. In 1831 over 70 coaches arrived in Columbus every week, all with passengers and generally filled. In 1831 Robert Neil sold his interest in the stage business to Wm. Neil, and in 1834 the firm became Neil, Moore & Co. (Henry Moore of Wheeling.) In 1836 an opposition line sprang up and at times rival coaches came into town racing to their destination. Passengers often joined in the sport and made up purses for the driver who should win. George W. Manypenny was agent of the opposition line, the office of which was at Russell's Globe Inn, while the office of Neil, Moore & Co. was at the National Hotel. In 1839 the last named established a line of stages between Columbus and Cleveland, adding to the driver of each coach a guard to look after the baggage and passengers and to sec that the horses were changed promptly at the relay stations. This precaution was due to the fact that robbery of the mail stages had begun. The lines of this company at one time had an aggregate length of 1,500 miles and extended not only to all the principal points in Ohio, but also into the neighboring states of Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan; and the repair shops in Columbus gave constant employ- ment to about 20 workmen. It was a great business transacted over bad roads, in all kinds of weather and amid the perils of robbery and flood. When the Ohio Stage Co. sold out its business in 1853, after the advent of the railways, it had 50 coaches and a large number of horses. Much of its equipment was bought and transferred to Iowa for service there.
In 1849 D. Tallmadge established a daily line of stages between Columbus and Pomeroy by way of Lancaster, Logan and Athens. In 1850 W. B. and J. A. Hawkes engaged in the stage business in central Ohio, with mail contracts to numerous points out of Columbus, and ran its principal line to Portsmouth.
The greatest mail robbery during the stage coach service was in 1850 when one Gen. Otho Hinton, an agent of the Ohio Stage Co., was arrested in Cleveland charged with the theft of $17,000. He was arraigned in Columbus and released on $10,000 bond, which he forfeited, going, it was believed, to the Pacific coast.
While roads were still being projected and built by private corporations under authority of the General Assembly, the project for a series of canals was agitated. Governor Thomas Worthington recognized the virtue of internal waterways, but to Ethen Allen Brown, of Cincinnati, who began the agitation in 1816 and promoted the improvement with vigor after he became Governor in 1818, the greatest credit is universally given as "Father of the Ohio Canals." After much discussion in the General Assembly which in the earlier stages ended in disagreement as to methods and locations, the General Assembly, February 1, 1825, passed an act providing for the construction of the Ohio canal from Cleveland to Portsmouth, via Licking Summit, and of the Little Miami canal from Dayton to Cincinnati. This was a com- promise-the adoption of parts of three available routes, but of none in its entirety. The same act created a board of canal commissioners of seven and a board of canal fund com- missioners of three. The canal commissioners were Benjamin Tappan, Alfred Kelley, Thomas Worthington, Micajah T. Williams, John Johnson, Isaac Minor and Nathaniel
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Beasley. The canal fund commissioners, who were to negotiate loans, make expenditures and keep accounts, were Ethan Allen Brown, Ebeneezer Buckingham and Allen Trimble.
The beginning of the work was celebrated July 4, 1825, at Licking Summit. Governor De Witt C. Clinton, of New York, three of his staff and two New York capitalists who had loaned money for the enterprise were present by invitation. A great crowd was present and Governor Clinton, of New York, and Governor Morrow, of Ohio, threw the first shovelfuls of earth. The Clinton party went to Lancaster under escort, for the night, and came to Columbus on the 6th, being formally received on the 7th, with a civil and military escort consisting of General Warner and staff, Colonel P. H. Olmsted's squadron of Franklin Dragoons, Captain Hazel's company of light infantry, Captain Andrew MeElvain's Rifle Corps and Captain O'Harra's Artillery. There was speaking in the densely packed State House and then a public dinner at the Robinson Tavern, sign of the Golden Bull.
On April 30, 1827, work was begun on the lateral branch of the Ohio canal connecting Columbus with the main channel at Lockbourne. There was a civic and military procession from the State House to a designated spot on the east bank of the Scioto, where Joseph R. Swan delivered an address and General Jeremiah MeLene, then Secretary of State, and Nathaniel McLean, then keeper of the Penitentiary, excavated the first earth which was wheeled away by Ralph Osborn and Henry Brown, amid shouts of the gathered people. The procession then reformed and moved to the brow of the hill where refreshments were served and toasts drank to Ohio, the canal, the canal commission and the citizens of Columbus.
The contractors for the dam across the Scioto and the Columbus locks were William and Andrew McElvain and Benjamin and Peter Sells. The first mile of excavation was done by 45 prisoners in the Penitentiary, their punishment being commuted to work on the branch canal. In 1829 Nathaniel Medbury and John Field took charge of the work on the branch and pushed it rapidly to completion. Water was turned into it for the first time, Septem- ber 13, 1831, and on the 23rd of the same month, the firing of cannon announced the arrival of the first canal boat, the "Governor Brown," with a party of citizens from Circleville. The boat was visited by a party of Columbus citizens and greetings were exchanged in the well appointed craft, painted white, with green shutters and scarlet curtains. There was a cabin in the center and a stateroom at either end for women.
The first collector of canal tolls here was Joseph Ridgway, jr., with an office in the Ridg- way warehouse at the foot of West Broad street, to which all boats ascended to discharge or receive freight. Others during the next 30 years were M. S. Hunter, David S. Doherty, Charles B. Flood, Samuel McElvain and Benjamin Tresenrider.
The canals served a most important purpose in establishing communication between dif- ferent parts of the State, opening up trade and making travel more comfortable. They helped to build up communities and to develop the resonrees of the State. The growth of Columbus from 1,500 in 1827 to 25,000 in 1857 may in part be attributed to the canals, and so with every other community that was touched. As there was an increase in population, so also there was an increase in wealth-more rapid in the canal counties than the others. The railways quickly celipsed the canals as common carriers, but the presence of the canals long kept the railway charges in check.
The canals are no more, but the people of Columbus and central Ohio have a pleasant reminder of them in the preservation of the Licking Summit Reservoir under the name of Buckeye Lake, now a body of water of irregular shape, measuring about six miles from tip to tip and an average width of three-quarters of a mile. The lake has been dedicated as a public park by the General Assembly and for years has been a popular resort. Many Columbus people have leased ground from the State and built cottages along its border. The lake is reached by interurban electric and steam roads.
From Tavern to Hotel.
As in Franklinton, so in Columbus, tavern-keeping was an early occupation. In 1813, Volney Payne opened a tavern in a two-story brick building on the west side of High street. the second lot south of State. It was called "The Lion and the Eagle" till Robert Russell bought it in 1818 and named it "The Globe." Russell, either personally or by proxy, con- dueted the tavern till 1817, when the building was devoted to mercantile purposes and sub- sequently replaced by the Johnson building.
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David S. Broderick opened what was called "The Columbus Inn" in 1815 in a frame building at the southeast corner of High and Town streets. It was later known as "The City House" and as Robinson's tavern and at different times had as landlord James B. Gardiner, (the facetious "Cokeley"), James Robinson, Samuel Barr, and Col. P. H. Olmsted. The first sessions of the borough Council were held in this tavern, hence probably its earlier names. Hotel-keeping ceased there about 1850. In 1854 the building was torn down and D. W. Deshler ereeted a business block on the site.
"The White Horse Tavern" was early established in a story-and-a-half frame on the east side of High street between Town and Rich, by Isaiah Voris. In 1829 David Brooks beeame its landlord and made it a popular stopping place for a dozen years, under the name of "The Eagle Hotel."
"The Swan Tavern," which was a development of a bakery conducted by Christian Heyl, was located on the east side of High street between Rich and Main. Later it was
WAMCCOYA CO
THE TERRYENG LO
COLUMBUS,O
The First American House, Northwest Corner High and State Streets.
known as "The Franklin House." Colonel Andrew MeElvain bought the hotel from Mr. Heyl in 1841, selling in the following year to J. W. Dryden. For years after its abandon- ment as a hotel the building housed small and temporary business.
"The Red Lion Hotel" of Jeremiah Armstrong stood on the west side of High street between Rich and Town, nearly opposite the "White Horse." It dates back to 1822 and continued to serve till 1850, when the front part of the building was made over into shops.
In 1816 James B. Gardiner opened the "Ohio Tavern" on Main (then Friend), just west of High street. Jarvis Pike succeeded him in 1818, when he went to the "Columbus Inn." Then came James Lindsey who called it "The Swan" and later "The Sheaf of Wheat." In 1822 Jarvis Pike opened "Pike's Tavern" on West Broad street. Others of the period were "MeCollum's Tavern" (Black Bear) northwest corner of Front and Broad; "Tavern of the Golden Lamb" by Henry Brown (1825) High street opposite the state buildings; "The Golden Plough," west side of High street near Rich, by John D. Rose, later by General
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Edgar Gale, when it was known as "Gale's Tavern"; the "Culbertson Tavern," by James Culbertson, west side of Front street, near State.
Besides these taverns, there were numerous so-called coffeehouses, where eoffee was the least of the beverages drank and where men gathered to gossip and often to gamble. The most famous of these was "The Eagle," which was originally, in 1826, designated as a bakehouse and groeery, a few rods north of State on the west side of High. Under John Young, who eondueted it until 1839, this resort acquired a wide fame. Its subsequent pro- prietors were Basil A. Riddle, Culbertson & Vinal, who ealled it "The Commercial," and Samuel West, whose specialty was billiards. The building was torn down in 1876. Another coffeehouse, favored by Demoerats, as "The Eagle" was by Whigs, was "The Tontine," which was situated on the south side of State street just west of High. Its principal proprietors were Samuel Pike, jr., and Francis Hall. At each of these places, party eaueuses were held, political plans were laid and slates were made up. Drinking was the rule in those days and polities the business in which everybody engaged. According to the best testimony, few, indeed, were the men who were not to be found at some time at these convivial resorts. The first saloon, so-called, is said to have been opened by one Krauss, about 1832, on the west side of High street, three or four doors north of Main. But there were real temperanee resorts, too, the Washington Temperance House having been opened in 1845 by Mr. Alsten and a temperanee restaurant in 1846 by W. Tolliver.
The present Neil House traees its lineage baek to 1832 when Colonel John Noble opened in a building on that site the first place of public entertainment ealled a hotel. The lot and building were the property of William Neil and had previously been used for tavern purposes. Colonel Noble named it the National Hotel and announced that the stages of the Ohio Stage Co., whose offiee was attached, would stop there. The building was a two-story briek, and the office of the stage company adjoining was of one story. The announcement was that the hotel "will be furnished and attended to in a style equal to the highest expectations." And so, indeed, it was done and the foundation for the later popu- larity of the hotel well laid. In 1839, the construction of the original Neil House was begun by William Neil and completed at a cost of $100,000, a great enterprise at that day. Colonel P. H. Olmsted at the same time succeeded Colonel Noble as proprietor. On the night of November 6, 1860, (election day), this original building was destroyed by fire. Mr. Neil at onee proceeded to rebuild and in September, 1862, the new Neil House, 150 rooms, was opened with Walstein Failing in charge. Among the later managers of the Neil have been Frank MeKinney, Samuel Pentland, W. S. Sater, and Ben H. Harmon. The last named has served sinee 1905.
The American House building at the northwest eoruer of High and State streets, was erected by Robert W. McCoy in 1836. The site had been that of his dry goods store. The first proprietors of the American House, opened in November, 1836, were C. F. Dresbaeh and William Kelsey ; then Pike & Kelsey, the latter continuing in the management till 1870, when he was succeeded by Colonel A. J. Blount, who condueted it until 1879. After that the American House had a precarious existence, the front part of the building was made over into store rooms, the office retiring to the State street side.
The site of the Chamber of Commerce building on East Broad street was long oeeupied by a public house, sometimes known as the Buckeye House and at other times as the Broad- way Hotel. It was owned in 1810 by Colonel John Noble, and among its managers were Ira Grover and H. Hurd. As a hotel it was inconspicuous, and was variously occupied until the site was bought for its present use.
At the northwest corner of Town and High streets, the United States Hotel flourished for a number of years beginning in 1846, when Colonel P. H. Olmsted was proprietor. The building continued to be used for hotel purposes under varied management until about 1880.
The Virginia Hotel at the southeast corner of Gay and Third streets was built about 1903 by the Hartman interests on the site that had for some years been oeeupied by the First Christian church. Subsequently it passed into the hands of F. W. Schumacher. The Hotel Virginia Co., W. E. Biefeld president and A. C. Lloyd seeretary and manager, now oper- ates it.
The northwest corner of High and Spring streets has been the site of a hotel sinee 1889 when a five-story business block was transformed by its owner, Henry T. Chittenden, into a hotel. The change, with the equipment, cost about $320,000. When the hotel had been
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operated about a year, it was destroyed by fire. The loss of that hotel and the burning of the Metropolitan Opera block a little later created a demand for both a hotel and an auditorium and theater. Mr. Chittenden decided to meet the demand, erected a new hotel on the site of the old, a theater called the Henrietta directly in the rear and an auditorium in the rear of that. Both hotel and theater were opened in 1892, while the work on the auditorium was delayed by litigation. On November 24, 1893, all three structures were destroyed by fire, with a loss approximating $1,000,000. Harvey Thompson, care-taker in the employ of Mr. Chittenden, lost his life. The hotel was rebuilt on a more elaborate scale and was opened to the public March 16, 1895, under the ownership and management of a company, A. P. Rusk secretary and treasurer. The manager of the original Chittenden was Joseph Shoup, who was succeeded by John Y. Bassell; then came A. P. Rusk, W. S. Sater and Nicholas A. Court, the present manager, who has served since 1900.
The Great Southern Hotel and Opera House at the southeast corner of High and Main streets was erected in 1894-96 by a company of which N. Schlee was president, Allen W. Thurman vice president, F. J. Reinhard treasurer and J. P. Bliss secretary. The other members of the board were Emil Kiesewetter, George J. Hoster and Ralph Lazarus. H. E. Kennedy was in charge of the construction. The cost of the two structures was approximately $1,500,000. The hotel has been operated by various firms and individuals, among them being William Foor and H. E. Kinney, Halloran & McNamee, Wm. H. Mosely & Co. The hotel building and opera house are now owned by the Rose Realty Co., and the hotel is operated by the New Southern Hotel Co., Simon Lazarus president, John A. O'Dwyer vice president, Frank A. Davis, jr., secretary, Fred Lazarus treasurer, Walter A. McDonald, manager.
The Deshler Hotel, a 12-story building of the Pompeiian style of architecture, at the northwest corner of High and Broad streets, was built in 1915-16 by the Deshler estate. It stands in part on the lot bought by David W. Deshler when he came to Columbus in 1815. the remainder of the site having for years before been occupied by the old Deshler block on High street. The building was the realization of a purpose long entertained by William G. Deshler, the youngest of his sons, and John G. Deshler, a grandson. The work of con- struction covered 500 days, and the hotel was opened August 23, 1916, under lease to L. C. and A. L. Wallick. There was a week of festivities at the opening in which a New York party of 100 participated. A dinner and ball with music and dancing by professionals brought here for the purpose, were followed by entertainments of various sorts. At one of the gatherings John G. Deshler and the Messrs. Wallick made brief addresses, formally opening the hotel to the public.
The Hartman Hotel was opened in the fall of 1902 at the corner of Fourth and Main streets, in a five-story building erected by Dr. Samuel B. Hartman for another purpose, but subsequently remodeled for hotel purposes. Its managers have been John G. Dun, B. F. Welty, J. A. Hadley, R. E. Pellow and W. E. Kinney, now serving. The hotel is operated by the Hartman Hotel Co., Earl S. Davis president, John Spitnagle vice president and Samuel Matthews secretary and treasurer.
The Columbus Hotel, Long and Fifth streets, was built in 1911-12 by the Central Ohio Land Co. The officers and directors are: Daniel J. Ryan president, L. B. Tussing vice president, J. Edgar Butler secretary, J. H. Butler manager and treasurer, A. C. Armstrong and A. O. Glock. It was opened August 20, 1912.
The southeast corner of High and Naghten has been a hotel site for 50 years. There the National Hotel flourished in a three-story building in Civil War times and later. The six-story Davidson Hotel is now there. The Exchange Hotel, owned by William Powell, did business for years on a site about midway of the High street viaduct. The building dis- appeared when the viaduct was erected. The northwest corner of Goodale and High streets was the site of the Park Hotel which in 1905 became the Northern Hotel and in 1911 the Railway Y. M. C. A.
Among the family hotels are the Seneca, built in 1916-17, nine stories, southeast corner of Broad street and Grant avenue, by the Broadway Co., Cyrus Huling president and Frank Huling vice president and manager; the Lincoln, Broad street and Jefferson avenne, built bv H. H. Barbour in 1900; the Normandie, Long and Sixth streets, built by Wm. Monypeny in 1898.
CHAPTER XVIII. FEDERAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS.
The Postoffices from 1805 to 1920-Postmasters and Postoffice Sites-Automobile Service in the City and Between Cities-Origin and Development of the U. S. Barracks-Federal Storage Depot-County Infirmary-Court House and Penal Institutions-City and School Libraries-Memorial HIall-Children's Home.
The history of the postoffice in Columbus dates from 1805 when Adam Hosaek, of Frank- linton took the first mail eontraet and became the first postmaster. The first mail earrier was Andrew MeElvain, who was employed by Hosaek to carry weekly mail from Franklinton to Markley's Mill on Darby creek, thence to Chillicothe. thence to Thompson's on Deer ereek, and thenee to Franklinton. The trip consumed three days. Telling of the service in after years, Mr. MeElvain said that he was 13 years old at the time and twice had to swim Darby and Deer ereeks with the small mailbag on his shoulders. Between Franklinton and Darby there was one house, and one between Chillicothe and Deer ereek. There was then no regular carrier between Franklinton and Worthington but a elerk in one of the stores-Mr. Mat- thews, he thinks-earried the small mail to and fro. The Franklinton postoffice was main- tained till about 1835, and the other postmasters were: 1811, Henry Brown; 1812, Joseph Grate; 1813, James B. Gardiner; 1815, Jacob Kellar; 1819, Joseph MeDowell; 1820, Wm. Lusk; 1831, W. Risley.
The postoffice in Columbus was established in 1813 through the instrumentality of James Kilbourne, founder of Worthington, then a member of Congress. In recommending the establishment of the postoffice here, Mr. Kilbourne nominated Matthew Matthews as a suita- ble person for postmaster. Mr. Matthews, who was a elerk in the branch store of the Worth- ington Manufacturing Co., was appointed and, without opening an office, distributed from his desk the mail that was brought from Franklinton and Worthington. He resigned in 1814 and was sueeeeded by his employer, Joel Buttles, who retained the office until 1829 when. under Jackson, he was displaced for partisan reasons.
With the Jackson administration eame the "express post." which John L. Gill, in a Board of Trade address thus deseribed :
When General Jackson's inaugural address was sent out (March 4, 1829) it was hy express mail, which had horses stationed at every ten miles from Washington to St. Louis. The mail was carried in a valise similar to those now carried by commercial travelers. This valise was swung over the postboy's shoulder, and he was required to make his ten miles on horseback in one hour without fail. At each station he found a horse saddled and bridled ready for a start, and it took but a moment to dismount and remount, and he was off. The rider was furnished a tin horn with which he used to announce his coming. . His arrival here was about 10 a. m. and it was anmusing to see the people running to the postoffice when the post rider galloped through the streets blowing his horn. The few letters carried by this express bore double postage.
Prepayment of postage was not required, and the recipient of a letter, prior to 1816, paid in proportion to the distance, eight cents for 10 miles or less up to 25 eents for 500 miles or over. In 1816, an additional eharge was made for each additional piece of paper and four rates for cach letter weighing more than an ounec. After 1815 weight and distance combined fixed the charge, which was often more than was charged by private individuals. An announcement by Postmaster Hosaek in 1812 indicates that the recipients of mail were trusted by the postmaster and the arrearages became so great that he threatened to withhold mail till the sum duc was paid.
The mail coach era began in 1816, when Philip Zinn, aided by his sons, Daniel, Henry and Adam, extended his service which had begun in Pennsylvania to inelude Columbus and took a eontract to carry the mail onee a week between Columbus and Chillicothe. Then, as roads were constructed other stage coaches were put on and the service extended and made more frequent. In 1822 there were three mails a week to and from the east; two mails a week to and from the south and north and one a week from the west. William and Robert Neil, Jarvis Pike and A. I. MeDowell were among the early promoters of these
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stage lines that hastened the delivery of mail over excessively bad roads occasionally at the rate of 12 miles an hour.
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