The Elijah Pierce Properties were historic buildings in

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 Inner ...

. They were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983. The properties included the art gallery and barbershop of

Elijah Pierce Elijah Pierce (1892-1984) was a 20th-century wood carver. Pierce was the youngest in his family born from a former slave on a farm in Baldwyn, Mississippi on March 5, 1892. He began carving at a young age using a pocket knife. He first started ...

at 534 E. Long St. and his former residence, at 142-44 N. Everett Alley. Pierce lived in the residence from 1946 to 1970, the longest he ever lived in one location. The barbershop was the first and only shop Pierce built. He was the barber there from 1954 until his retirement in 1980. In 1984, Pierce died and his wife sold the barbershop and art gallery building to Marvin Califf, co-owner of Columbus Time Recorder, a

time clock A time clock, sometimes known as a clock card machine or punch clock or time recorder, is a device that records start and end times for hourly employees (or those on flexi-time) at a place of business. In mechanical time clocks, this was accompl ...

business. He operated the business out of the space for about ten years. In 1986, the property was featured in a tourism campaign about African American culture in Ohio, the first major effort by a U.S. state government to promote minority culture. Other central Ohio landmarks in the campaign included the Martin Luther King Cultural Arts Center, the Dr. Lewis M. Early Residence, the

Ohio History Center The Ohio History Center is a history museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio. It is the primary museum for Ohio's history, and is the headquarters, offices, and library of the Ohio History Connection. The building also houses Ohio's state a ...

, and the Benjamin Hanby House. In late 1986, Pierce's artworks were set to permanently move to the newly-opened King Arts Center.Columbus Library
Around 1995,

Columbus State Community College Columbus State Community College (CSCC) is a public community college in Columbus, Ohio. Founded as Columbus Area Technician's School in 1963, it was renamed Columbus Technical Institute in 1965 and was renamed again to its current name in 198 ...

began to buy up parcels for a new $7.5 million parking structure. By June 1995, he was the only hold-out of about 20 property owners, arguing that the school would not compensate him for his required move. The college was set to use

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

laws to force him from the property. The college eventually won the dispute, and the residence and barbershop were eventually demolished for the 1,000-car garage.Columbus Library
A statue of Pierce stands near where the buildings had stood.Other Columbus when public art isn't so public after all
columbusalive.com Columbus State garage

References

Commercial buildings completed in 1902 Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Columbus, Ohio Demolished buildings and structures in Columbus, Ohio Demolished but still listed on the National Register of Historic Places African-American history in Columbus, Ohio {{ColumbusOH-struct-stub

See also

References