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2020 Most Endangered Sites
C&O Roundhouse
Year Built: 1927
Address: 2600 Parsons Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43207
Owner: CSX Transportation
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad built a receiving yard on the South End of Columbus, and a 27-bay brick roundhouse serviced by a 115-foot turntable in 1927. During the 1950s, as diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives, portions of the roundhouse at Parsons Yard were closed and unused bays torn down. Today 15 bays remain and some are used by CSX for storage and garages. The Parsons Yard Roundhouse is one of the last few in Ohio with a turntable.
Why is this site endangered?
CSX Transportation plans to demolish the remaining Roundhouse bays soon.
Help save our architectural heritage and leave a comment about this building!
Help save our architectural heritage and leave a comment about this building!
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6 Comments
Nicole Derifield-West – May 17, 2020
Please do not tear down this unusual and incredible building! I drive past this all the time and marvel at it. What a travesty it would be to loose this piece of history on the south side, an area that’s rich in history and is proud of it.
Allen T. Cox – April 7, 2022
My wife and I came up from South Florida to visit our son here in Columbus in the Spring of 2022. By happenstance we took my son’s car into Harrs Auto glass next door to this structure and I told everybody in the car excitedly that this unusual bldg. was an old C&O steam train house. We went up and took a few photos of it and the revamped turntable and I was dismayed to see CSX demolition placards on the bldg. There are very few of these circular steam train house repair sheds left in the US and it would be really a good thing for posterity to repair this train house for future generations or at worst leave as is. Definitely don’t tear it down!
Our daughter goes to College at Mercer University down in Macon, GA. There is a gigantic and incredible I abandoned Central of Georgia steam train coal house with attached silos sitting there rotting away much like this train house.
These iconic structures are relics of a unique period of time in the United States when steam trains ruled America’s railroads. Sure you can look at photos in a book but much like and old car or an old plane you stand next to you can feel the history personally. Imagine tearing down a lighthouse, no you would never do that! Most of these buildings have in fact been torn down after the steam trains went dormant in the mid 1950’s.
Please please save this building!
Jim Varga – June 19, 2020
This structure is one of the last such buildings in Ohio. I hope something can be done to save it.
Leslie Tilton – July 27, 2020
Please save this piece of Columbus railroad history! Repurpose but do not tear down.
Scott A. Jacob – November 19, 2022
As of November 2022, this building is still extant, but still in danger. Its out-of-the-way location in an underused industrial area is this building’s biggest drawback, yet it should definitely be a building that we preserve for the future. Only a handful of roundhouses with working turntables still exist throughout the whole country! Columbus should be waving flags and rolling out the red carpet for its potential tourist destination possibilities. It would just be plain dumb to lose it due to neglect or a lack of imagination. Trains of the future could even repurpose this structure somehow! Come on developers!; someone with some cash to burn and a creative imagination is out there, I know it!
Patron Engagement – March 16, 2023
Thank you for sharing your insight. We apologize for the delay in our response. We are staying apprised of the changes at this location. If you identify any landmarks we have not already focused on. please nominate now during our 2023 Endangered Properties campaign at https://columbuslandmarks.org/endangered-nomination-form/