The Germans built a number of churches—some Lutheran and some Catholic in the German Village neighborhoods of Columbus, Ohio. German immigrants also established and managed many schools including a kindergarten and Capital University.
When the Civil War came, the largest ethnic group to serve for the Union was German-born Americans many came from Ohio and Columbus. Their service was an opportunity to show patriotism and loyalty to their adopted county.
Louis Hoster became one of the first brewers in Columbus in 1834. He founded the brewery at a dip in Front Street—a ravine from which an artesian well came and flowed down to the Scioto River.
By the late 1800s, there were three distinct areas of Columbus, Ohio’s German Village: the Brewery District Central Market and a new hotel—the Great Southern.