131 N. High Street building before the 1903 fire

The Union Co. was a department store company, with locations in Columbus, Ohio. The business was founded in Chicago during the American Civil War; its name reflects the northern states' collective name during the conflict. The store was largely a clothing store, and operated in numerous cities.

131 N. High Street in 1999

131 N. High Street

The Union was first established in Columbus at this address in 1894, in the Thomas Block building. The building burned down in 1903 along with the Brunson Building; both were rebuilt. The rebuilt building, with six stories and a white brick exterior, still stands and holds Southeast Inc., a mental health, healthcare, and homelessness service.

130 S. High Street building130 S. High Street

Morehouse-Martens opened its first store at this site in 1900. In 1911, The Fashion store was established at the Frisbie Building (current site of the Riffe Building). The store merged with Morehouse-Martens in 1950. The building that the Union Co. moved into was constructed in 1921 and held the department store Morehouse Fashion, which changed its name to "The Fashion" in 1962. In 1968, the Union moved down High Street into the building. The move set the Union directly across High Street from its main competition, the Lazarus department store. Before 1980, the Union was sold to various companies, and the store was changed to be named "Halle's". The store closed in 1982 and was purchased by the City of Columbus, which developed the City Center mall on the site; the building came down in April 1986; while being demolished it caught fire.

References

1. "$600,000 Fire in Columbus". The New York Times. April 17, 1903.
2. "What a Downtown "big-box" store looked like in 1955". The Columbus Dispatch. January 24, 2011.
3. "Morehouse Fashion, Downtown Columbus, 1953". The Columbus Dispatch. January 27, 2011.
4. "City Quotient: The Union Department Store". Columbus Monthly. June 28, 2018.
5. "Downtown has high store death rate". The Columbus Dispatch. September 12, 1982.