The south side

A few examples from Columbus' south side. This area is an older, more industrial area of the city, especially south of about Thurman Avenue and definitely around S.R. 104. Settled mostly by Appalachian "immigrants" from southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky..it sorta reminds me of Pittsburgh or even the older factory dominated areas of Boston. It also was a separate municipality called, appropriately, South Columbus, until it was absorbed and annexed by Columbus sometime during the previous century. It is though, the least and slowest developed section of town as far as businesses and homes go. German Village and the Brewery district are densely populated, though not usually considered part of the "south side". High Street south of Thurman..Parsons..Frebis..Innis..that is what is usually referred to as the south side. Not a lot of unusual or interesting neon here, BUT, like always, some excellent exceptions to the rule, including what is in my opinion one of the top ten or fifteen installations in the city. I also discovered a lot of neon whose glory days passed many decades ago. When I do another tribute to those that have gone dark, some from this area will undoubtedly be featured. Another thing this post, as well as my previous downtown post reminded me of, is that I will have to return, for makeup day. Remember when you were a kid there was picture day in school? But for kids who were absent that day, not properly dressed, or their parents didn't like the fact that their kid didn't smile , the photographers came back a month or so later for 'retake day'. Well I have to do some retakes. Not necessarily of stuff I already have taken and posted, but for those that were dark or hard to photograph. Quite a bit of that in downtown and the south side. And of course as businesses come and go, so goes their neon signs. What was here a year ago may vanish, especially in this economy. But that is why I always have a camera on me. A hidden gem may be just blocks away, or out of the way! All the south side pics were taken the early evening of Sat., 11/1, except the Goodwill pics, which I took a few weeks ago in October.


Planks Café, on Parsons Avenue. The other Planks, the Bier Garten, is on High Street in the Brewery District just around the corner from my house.

OK, a plain old text sign reading what the restaurant has. That's cool. Not a bad sign. I am sure the food is good too. But I wonder if there is any correlation between sign interestingness and quality of the food because...



Nice huh?? One of the very few classic Chinese food signs in Columbus. While the Peking Dynasty in Grandview probably takes top honors in that category, this is a beautiful example. This has been on my to do list for a while, since every time I have been past it the hour has been to late or too early. I had a rare Saturday night free so I figured the place has to be open around 7pm on a Saturday. I would have liked to have snapped it with a bit darker sky, but this will work. I will get back when it is darker but I am just glad to have captured what I consider one of the top ten or fifteen signs in the city. By the way, I have eaten here before..the food is excellent!



Like it's northern counterpart, South High abounds with places to get inked.




The Salvation Army thrift store. I can almost guarantee that this is the only place you will find the term 'bric-a-brac' in neon in Columbus.

Well kids , that is it for now. Look for south side updates, and any updates for that matter. Also watch for more bar/restaurant specific features..been a while since I have done that! I am thirsty. And congrats to our new President of the United States, BARACK OBAMA! I need to find some Barack neon!