Ohio copied its State Capitol at Columbus: a solid two-story building with a broad Doric portico, 131 feet long and 80 deep, set in spacious grounds with terraces. The architect was Albert Pretzinger of Dayton, printed as 'Fretzinger' in Todd's OCR. Its rotunda held busts of the Ohio-born Presidents McKinley, Grant, Harrison, Hayes, Garfield and Taft. Ohio's was the first State dedication of the fair, on February 25, 1915.
Its later life was the most unusual of any State building. In 1916 ferry passengers were amazed to see 'the classic Ohio Building gliding down the Bay on a raft,' bound for the San Mateo County marshes to become a club. Modern accounts say it was bought at auction for about $1,000 and landed on the San Carlos shoreline in August 1916. It went on to serve as a speakeasy, a workshop and a wartime radar plant, and it burned in 1956.
At a glance
- 131 by 80 feet, two stories; contract price $43,980.
- First State building dedicated: February 25, 1915.
- Ground broken June 11, 1914; completed January 4, 1915.
Afterward
Floated down the Bay on a raft in 1916 to become a club in the San Mateo County marshes (Todd V, p. 246). Modern sources: landed on the San Carlos shoreline near Belmont in August 1916; later a speakeasy, workshop and radar plant; burned in 1956. Its exact former site today is unverified.
Where it stood
Ohio Building stood at about 37.80452 N, 122.45271 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →
Sources
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LVIII, p. 311
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LXX, pp. 361-362
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. V (1921), ch. XXXVII, p. 246 (rafted down the Bay)
- Official Guide of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), p. 59
- PCAD: Ohio State Building, PPIE, auction, barged to San Carlos 1916