Camp Chase - Franklin County Historical Marker

Title

Camp Chase - Franklin County Historical Marker

Subject

Camp Chase

Description

Marker Text: Near this site on May 27 and 28, 1861 Camp Chase, a Civil War post, was established as a training center for recruits pouring into Columbus in answer to President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers. The property was located immediately west of Hague Avenue and south of the Old National Road, today West Broad Street. General William S. Rosecrans laid out the camp on a site known as the racegrounds which he had “plowed, rolled, and smoothed” for the drilling of recruits.

Numerous attempts by Confederate prisoners to escape prompted Camp Chase officers to construct a 12-foot fence around the entire camp. By June 12, 1861 the new camp contained 160 houses and by June 20 it became officially known as Camp Chase, honoring ex-Governor Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury in Lincoln's cabinet.

Location: W. Broad and Binns Boulevard

Files

campchase7.jpg

Collection

Citation

“Camp Chase - Franklin County Historical Marker,” Teaching Columbus Historic Places, accessed March 28, 2024, https://teachingcolumbus.omeka.net/items/show/117.