South High Street Commercial Grouping

This two-acre group of eleven commercial buildings sits at the southern end of downtown Columbus along South High Street. Most are two to three stories and date from the late 19th century, with details such as cast iron storefronts, bracketed cornices, decorative lintels, and stone piers. The Southern Hotel and Theatre, completed in 1896-97 with a Sullivanesque theatre entrance, and the 1895 Schlee-Kemmler Building, with its five-story rusticated sandstone facade, anchor the group. The Fresch Brothers Saloon at 350 South High, built in 1878, is a well-preserved Italianate example. The block matters for two reasons. It is one of the last cohesive, human-scale streetscapes left downtown, surrounded by parking and newer development. It also represents the German commercial district that once lined South High Street, tied to brewers, saloon keepers, printers, and insurance men who built and used these buildings. Most other German-associated landmarks nearby have been demolished.