Ohio's capital city of Columbus is a vibrant and bustling metropolis, full of culture, history, and entertainment. But many people outside Ohio may not be familiar with this Midwestern gem. So here are some fun facts about Columbus to help bring this wonderful city to life. Let's start with some of the basics.Columbus's flagship university is Ohio State University, “it's firmly entrenched as part of the university's name”.
Ohio State is the third largest university in the country by number of enrollment. The city is also home to Columbus State Community College, Columbus College of Art and Design, and Franklin University, a private university for adult students. Every summer, the Ohio State Fair is held in Columbus. Visitors from all over Ohio come to the fair to eat carnival food, ride the Ferris wheel and swings, play, show off cattle and homemade products, win prizes and much more.Columbus has also been an integral part of the U.
S. UU. When slavery was legal in the United States, Kentucky, south of the Ohio River, was a slave state, while Ohio, to the north, was free under the Northwest Ordinance. Many slaves crossed the river to Ohio in the hope of obtaining their freedom.
Cincinnati, located on the Ohio River, welcomed many of these slaves and saw several sites of underground railroad activity.A prominent resident of nearby Ripley, Presbyterian minister John Rankin, was pointing with a flashlight from his hilltop property when it was safe for slaves to cross the river to his house. Ohio historian Wilbur Siebert once calculated that approximately 3,000 miles of underground railroad routes crisscrossed Ohio in the mid-19th century. Although Columbus is located in central Ohio, farther from the river, city residents still found opportunities to help. Columbus had 22 stops on the Underground Railroad.Fernando Cortez Kelton and Sophia Stone Kelton were a couple who served as drivers on the underground railroad, hiding fugitive slaves in their basement until the former slaves could travel north, to Canada, across Lake Erie from Ohio.
Today, the Kelton House in Columbus is a museum and a historic monument. The Neil estate on Indianola Avenue, now the home of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, also served as an underground railroad station.The state of Ohio itself was an important part of the war effort during the Civil War and supplied more Union soldiers than any other state, except New York and Pennsylvania. Columbus factories also manufactured many Union uniforms during the Civil War. Today, the Columbus National Hockey League (NHL) team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, is named after the blue jackets in that Union uniform.During the Civil War, Columbus also housed Confederate prisoners at Fort Chase.
During the first years of the war, Confederate officers were given the freedom to roam around the city after giving their word that they would not flee. In the last, darkest years of the war, Confederate prisoners remained confined. At the end of the war, in 1865, Fort Chase was home to 10,000 captive men.So far, eight presidents have come from Ohio. The Ohio House of Representatives in Columbus has honored them all: William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S.
Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding, naming each of their courtrooms after one of them. Harrison was born in Virginia but moved to Ohio as an adult and served in state government here.Clarence Hoover was Columbus' chief chemist as well as a bacteriologist working in wastewater treatment. Charles Hoover was the chemist in charge of the water plant.
In what became known as “The Columbus Experiment” these two brothers helped develop world's first water treatment plant whose design is still in use today and reduced number of deaths from typhus due to dirty water.Nearly half of U. S population (48% of country's population) lives within 500 miles radius from Columbus. Columbus is about day's drive or less from main U. S cities such as New York City , Philadelphia , Chicago , Atlanta , Charlotte , Detroit , St Louis.
Canadian cities Toronto and Ottawa are also within that 500-mile radius and Montreal is just outside.Thanks to city's convenient location it's easy for residents to go out and travel to other locations or receive out-of-town guests. Columbus is also an ideal location for tourists or people traveling by road. Goodale Park donated to city of Columbus in 1851 was designed to give workers opportunity to rest in relaxing vegetation. The 40-acre expanse is oldest park in Ohio and one of three oldest parks in United States.
It almost also had city's main library located in it .For twelve years from 1927 to 1939 , Columbus housed headquarters of NFL which was located in Hayden Building one of first skyscrapers in Columbus. At time , Columbus had NFL team , Columbus Panhandles which made history by being first NFL team in United States to play against another NFL team .Nickname Cowtown comes from early 20th century when Columbus was home to 3 , 000 - acre Hartman Stock Farm which at time was largest cattle farm in world. Farm also included resort and school. An older nickname for Columbus , Arch City dates back to late 19th century when city built arches on many its streets to provide power for new electric streetcars.
C - bus , Columbus' latest nickname has become popular over past decade or so .Every Fourth July , Columbus hosts its Doo Dah parade which celebrates “freedom” and madness free speech. Parade participants create satirical posters , wear funny costumes and hats , dress their cars for example with mustaches. Every year Marching Fidels group which everyone disguises themselves as Fidel Castro is one highlights parade .The masterpiece French post - impressionist painter Sunday Afternoon on Island La Grande Jatte 1884 first work which he used technique pointillism represents French picnics on banks Seine. In topiary park ...
