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66 East Broad Street is a historic building on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The building was constructed in 1829 as a private residence for William Doherty and his family, and has seen numerous renovations since its construction. Its most major renovation took place from 1920 to 1921, when it took the form of a commercial building, with a new facade.

The building is the oldest known structure in Downtown Columbus, predating the Ohio Statehouse. At the time of the Doherty family's ownership, the surrounding land was sparse, with a berry patch to the west and a small schoolhouse in the side yard to the east.

Attributes

The property presently has a frontage on Broad Street of 37.5 feet, and is 187.5 feet deep, extending north to Lynn Street. It has a brick building constructed in 1829, with an address of 66 or 68 East Broad Street.[3] Originally two stories tall, a third story was later added to the structure.[9] For much of its history, the building stood just west of the First Congregational Church (extant 1857-1932)‎.[20]

The property was built like Southern residences; one newspaper described that Doherty, a native of North Carolina, "apparently forgot" this was Ohio. The property included a separate servants' quarters and kitchen at the rear of the property, connected by a covered passageway, open at the sides. The kitchen had a ten-foot chimney and brick oven, capable of baking 50 pies at one time. Its bricks were "cupped", likely made on the ground and very hard burned. The bedrooms were connected by an open side porch.[20][9] Doherty's wife had a patch of gooseberries and currants near where some of the taller Broad Street buildings stand.[9] 

The house's exterior once bore a plaque describing the building as "the oldest brick dwelling now standing in Columbus", installed during Columbus's 1812 centennial.[13] Its original main entrance featured an arch with a keystone inscribed "A. D. 1829",[13] as well as stone steps, the first ever brought to Columbus.[9] The house's woodwork was of black walnut, except for floors and the oak joists which measured 14 x 4 inches.[3][20]

History

The property was owned by Lyne Starling, sold in 1819. In 1826, it was sold to William Doherty.[20] Colonel William Doherty (1790-1840) was a native of North Carolina and served in the War of 1812. After the war, he came to Ohio and became a lawyer in Chillicothe in 1819. He married and moved to Columbus in 1821, and built the house on Broad Street in 1829.[9]The date of its construction was carved over its front door. Upon completion, a housewarming ball was held; Henry Clay was present for the event. Other prominent visitors included Thomas L. Hamer, Thomas Ewing, Thomas Corwin, General Sherman, Lewis Cass, the Duke of Veragua, and all the state's governors of the time.[20]

In 1837, it became the Asahel Chittenden residence, sold to Chittenden in that year.[10] Chittenden was the father of Henry T. Chittenden, who owned the Chittenden Hotel and the Columbus Railway Company, and later owned the house.[17] Henry Latham Doherty, founder of the Cities Service Company (later Citgo) was reportedly believed to have been born there in 1870, even though the house was owned by Chittenden by that time. In 1884, Kremer & Hart drew up plans for an eastern addition to the house, adjoining the First Congregational Church.[18]

The house remained in Chittenden's family until 1902, when it was sold to George Hoster of the Hoster Realty Company. A lease to the residence was in force by 1903, for a dye house operated by the Kossmann Dye Co. The company cleaned and dyed a variety of garments in a space of approximately 8,000 square feet.[14] In 1907, the company experienced a fire in its cleaning room, a two-story addition at the rear of the main building,[15][16] though it continued operating there into the late 1910s.[2] The Guarantee Title & Trust Co. The Guarantee Title & Trust Co. purchased the building for its new offices in 1913. In January 1914, it proposed constructing a new 25-story building on the site and joining the other banks on East Broad. World War I prompted a change in plans.[1][3] Instead, in May 1920, it was reported that the title company was moving to a leased space at 14 East Broad Street and had sold the building to the Goodman-Hague realty company for undisclosed clients. The building was to be remodeled into a business block in the near future, designed by Richard Z. Dawson.[12][19]

In 1920-1921, the building was remodeled for the Goodman-Hague realty company, which included a new facade of Bedford stone and Italian stucco. The first floor would be lowered to street-level, and the first floor would hold two storerooms, with the second and third floors for offices.[3] The remodel made the building appear to have "lost its identity among other commercial buildings", as written in The Columbus Citizen in 1921. When Henry Latham Doherty heard the building was to be remodeled, he purchased elements of the house, including paneling, trimmings, and the keystone of the old front entrance (or the entire arch), which he either placed in his mansion on Long Island,[13][20] or in his penthouse in Lower Manhattan atop the Chesebrough Building, on Bowling Green.[7]

In 1922 it was announced the Cities Mortgage Company would purchase and relocate to the building, using it as its permanent home.

Since 1995, the building's storefront has been occupied by Broad Street Bagels & Deli.[8]

Gallery

The Doherty house in 1898 during the Ninth Ohio Battalion's march through downtownView from southeast of the house, 1898C. 1907 postcard view1909 postcard view; "Kossman Dye House" is legible above the second-story windowsAugust 1919 viewView of renovations underway during the "Day of Youth" parade, October 18, 19201922 illustrationAt right, in or after 1927The building in 2021

References

  1. "Recent Deals that Augur Business Prosperity for the Year 1914". The Columbus Dispatch, January 4, 1914.
  2. "Dye House Burglarized". The Columbus Dispatch, April 25, 1917.
  3. "Old Chittenden Home on Broad Street is Sold". The Columbus Dispatch, May 26, 1920.
  4. "Best Located Offices in Columbus". The Columbus Dispatch, August 25, 1921.
  5. "Newly Purchased Cities Mortgage Company Building". The Columbus Dispatch, January 8, 1922.
  6. "Observations: As it Stood in the Old Days". The Columbus Dispatch, January 1, 1926.
  7. Galbraith, J. H. "Ohio Stories: the Old Chittenden House Again". The Columbus Dispatch, June 11, 1928.
  8. Elliston, Vicki L. "Restaurant Listings". The Columbus Dispatch, September 15, 1995.
  9. Taylor, William Alexander (1909). Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., pp. 368-371. ISBN 9780832828300.
  10. "Doherty House". Central Ohio Building Index, Columbus Metropolitan Library.
  11. Hunter, Bob (2012). A Historical Guidebook to Old Columbus: Finding the Past in the Present in Ohio's Capital City. Ohio University Press, p. 45. ISBN 978-0821420126. OCLC 886535510.
  12. "Broad-St Site is Purchased". The Columbus Citizen, May 26, 1920.
  13. "Old Landmark is Passing". The Columbus Citizen, March 18, 1921, p. 26.
  14. "Gloves Cleaned Free of Charge". The Columbus Dispatch, December 6, 1903.
  15. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3ACOLUMBUS%21Columbus%2520Dispatch%2520Historical%2520and%2520Current&sort=_rank_%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22kossman%22%20dye&docref=image/v2%3A1467499E363272B3%40EANX-NB-16327D7B5FF05ED9%402417883-163278B85C03226A%406-163278B85C03226A%40
  16. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3ACOLUMBUS%21Columbus%2520Dispatch%2520Historical%2520and%2520Current&sort=_rank_%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22kossman%22%20dye&docref=image/v2%3A1467499E363272B3%40EANX-NB-1634C15022AAD3B0%402418152-163413539E4A76D9%400-163413539E4A76D9%40
  17. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3ACOLUMBUS%21Columbus%20Dispatch%20Historical%20and%20Current&sort=_rank_%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22chittenden%20residence%22&docref=image/v2%3A1467499E363272B3%40EANX-NB-16321332CB3714B5%402408357-163062C360DFC7D9%403-163062C360DFC7D9%40
  18. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3ACOLUMBUS%21Columbus%20Dispatch%20Historical%20and%20Current&sort=_rank_%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22chittenden%20residence%22&docref=image/v2%3A1467499E363272B3%40EANX-NB-1631B7304757E239%402409237-163062520A021C3D%403-163062520A021C3D%40
  19. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3ACOLUMBUS%21Columbus%20Dispatch%20Historical%20and%20Current&sort=_rank_%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22chittenden%20home%22&docref=image/v2%3A1467499E363272B3%40EANX-NB-163C460291A9116A%402422475-1639F75409DA0ABF%4025-1639F75409DA0ABF%40
  20. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3ACOLUMBUS%21Columbus%20Dispatch%20Historical%20and%20Current&sort=_rank_%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22chittenden%20residence%22&docref=image/v2%3A1467499E363272B3%40EANX-NB-163D659A2D67483E%402423063-163C080C820ED6D1%4021-163C080C820ED6D1%40
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