Capitol Square is a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. 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 on 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 nav ...

and

High Streets High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

, the main thoroughfares of the city since its founding, forming the city's

100 percent corner The 100 percent corner is the busiest area in a city. Often it is a 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 place for ideal real ...

. The grounds are surrounded by 3rd Street on the east and State Street on the south. The oldest building on Capitol Square, the Ohio Statehouse, is the center of the state government, and in the rough 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 on the square were demolished. A construction boom downtown in the 1970s and 80s led to nearly all spaces being occupied again. The last large empty parcels, on 3rd Street, are aimed to be developed in the 2020s.

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. A ...

* Huntington Center *

Huntington National Bank Building The Huntington National Bank Building is a bank and office building on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. Once the headquarters to the Huntington National Bank, it now includes the company's primary lending bank, the Capitol Square Branch ...

;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, skyscraper on Capitol Square in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The Rhodes Tower was completed and occupied in 1974, and is currently the tallest building in Columbus and the fifth tallest in Oh ...

* 60 E. Broad St. (former COTA office) * 62 E. Broad St. (home to the Columbus Dispatch) * 64-66 E. Broad St. * Key Bank Building ;Third Street * Trinity Episcopal Church * PNC Bank Building * Columbus Dispatch Building * Central Ohio Federal Savings and Loan building ;State Street * Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square * Capitol Square skyscraper *

Ohio Theatre Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

* 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 style ...

* Northeast: Chase Tower * Southwest:

National Exchange Bank building The National Exchange Bank building is a historic building on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The building, at 1 W. State St., was constructed in the 1860s as a bank, making it one of the oldest commercial buildings on Capitol Square. ...

* Southeast: U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Buildings formerly on Capitol Square include the Neil House hotel (three buildings which existed on the square), the Columbus Board of Trade Building, the

Hartman Building and Theater The Hartman Building and Theater was a pair of historic buildings on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The structures were commissioned by Samuel B. Hartman, designed by Richards, McCarty and Bulford in the Renaissance Revival style ...

, the former Columbus City Hall, former locations of the First Congregational Church and First Presbyterian Church, an early Huntington Bank, the Deshler Hotel, a prior location of the

Downtown YMCA The Downtown YMCA is a historic YMCA building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. It is 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 designed in t ...

, and 5 and 7 South High Street, commercial buildings constructed c. 1840.

Public art

* '' Governor James A. Rhodes'' (1982) * '' The Doughboy'' (1930) * ''

Intersect Intersection or intersect may refer to: * Intersection in mathematics, including: ** Intersection (set theory), the set of elements common to some collection of sets ** Intersection (geometry) ** Intersection theory * Intersection (road), a pl ...

'' (1992) * ''

The Newsboy ''The Newsboy'' is a bronze sculpture of a newspaper carrier in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The statue, created by artist Bruce Hanners, is located outside the 8 on the Square condominium building, on Broad Street in the Capitol Square area o ...

'' (2018) * Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial (2014) * Ohio Veterans Plaza * Statue of Christopher Columbus (c. 1890–1892) * ''

The Spirit of '98 ''The Spirit of '98'' is a 1928 bronze sculpture by an unknown artist, installed on the Ohio Statehouse grounds in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Description and history The bronze statue is approximately tall. It rests on a square cream colored ...

'' (1928) * '' These Are My Jewels'' (1893) * '' William McKinley Monument'' (1907) * ''former:''

Dr. Samuel Mitchel Smith and Sons Memorial Fountain The Dr. Samuel Mitchel Smith and Sons Memorial Fountain is an 1880 sculpture and memorial by William Walcutt, installed at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. The bronze and granite memorial is dedicated to Samuel M ...

(1880)

Tourism

As the center of downtown Columbus, the square has high resident and visitor foot traffic. 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 is the location of many protests held in the city. Recent protests have included those against Ohio's stay-at-home order in the COVID-19 pandemic and against the handling of the murder of George Floyd. 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)