Kilbourne Commercial Building

679-681 High Street

Images: (1) HER; (2) West side of HIgh Street c. 1850, Kilbourne Commercial building far right; (3) c. 1900 when occupied by Dentist and Undertaker

This building is noteworthy as the oldest surviving building in Worthington and as the oldest commercial building in Ohio still standing on its original site and in continuous use since being built. The original part of this building, 56 feet long and 22 feet wide, was built ca. 1807 by James Kilbourn. The building was constructed very much as it remains today, with ground floor rooms each having a separate entrance to the main street.

One room had the printing press where the first newspaper in Central Ohio, The Western Intelligencer, was published. Another room had Kilbourn's retail store, which evolved into the Worthington Manufacturing Company and sold "a large and almost universally assorted store of European and India goods." The company developed a chain of stores from Columbus to Bucyrus as well as the manufacturing site along the Olentangy River. The third room was Kilbourn's surveying office. The three sections reflect Kilbourn's three commercial enterprises.

The second floor was originally living quarters where Kilbourn's large family and their boarders lived.

Throughout much of the 19th century the building had grocery, hardware or general stores on the ground floor. It was also home to an undertaking business in the early 1900s. It is still in use as a commercial building today.