Fort Hayes (Columbus, Ohio)
Columbus · Ohio · Civil War
History & Significance
Created by an act of the United States Congress on July 11, 1862, the site was also known as the Columbus Arsenal until 1922. The 77-acre military post was originally built and used as a federal arsenal to store and repair Ordnance Corps arms and to equip Ohio regiments called to duty during the Civil War, with the land purchased from Robert and Jannette Neil on February 17, 1863.
Ordnance Corps General C.P. Buckingham selected the site nearly two years after congressional authorization, choosing an oak grove northeast of the city. The first building at Fort Hayes was completed in 1864 and is known as Building #62, a structure used as a "Shot Tower" where molten iron, lead and other metals were dropped through a funnel into vats of ice water, solidifying into cannonballs and other shot used during the Civil War.
By mid-1864, the post had enough arms stored in the temporary warehouse to arm and equip 30,000 men, and shipped to other arsenals two million rounds of elongated ball cartridges, 400 percussion artillery shells, and 600 shells for 3-inch guns in that month alone. In 1922, the name of the post was changed to Fort Hayes in honor of Rutherford B. Hayes, an Ohio Governor and later President of the United States.
After the war, in 1922, the post became headquarters of the Fifth Corps Area comprising the areas of Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky. It transitioned into a major recruiting depot and was redesignated the Columbus Barracks, serving as a training and reception center for soldiers across multiple conflicts, including the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II, where it processed draftees and housed up to 2,000 troops. The 391st Military Police Battalion and the 375th Criminal Investigations Division of the U.S. Army Reserve were among the last to use the facility, but the last military presence on the property was in 2009.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Civil War-era arsenal buildings and munitions facilities preserved on site
- Educational exhibits on the fort's role as a Union supply depot during the Civil War
- President Rutherford B. Hayes historical significance and naming legacy
- Original architecture and grounds reflecting 1860s military construction
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hayes
- https://library.osu.edu/site/mhcb/2011/08/22/post-hospital/
- https://teachingcolumbus.omeka.net/items/show/195
- https://aspace.ohiohistory.org/subjects/15233
- https://grokipedia.com/page/Fort_Hayes
- https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/9947/