1889 German Village landmark whose 1924-onward funeral-home decades left behind a handlebar-mustached embalmer, a weeping woman in yellow, and a cloaked figure unsettling enough that staff have quit.
1045 S High Street, Columbus, OH 43206
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to browse; purchases vary widely with vendor.
Access
Limited Access
Three-story 1889 building with stairs between floors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1889 · South High Commercial Corridor · German Village Adjacent · Funeral-Home History · Adaptive Reuse
The three-story brick building at 1045 South High Street in the Brewery District / German Village edge was constructed in 1889 as the private residence of a Bavarian immigrant who ran a soap- and candle-making business. The Italianate-leaning Victorian massing and trim mark it as a late-19th-century merchant's home consistent with the South High commercial corridor of the period.
The building's funeral-home era began in 1924 when it was converted to the Woodyard Funeral Home, which later operated under the Hughes Funeral Home name. The funeral home occupied the building into the mid-20th century. From 1952 to the 1970s the building housed Elks Lodge #37. In 1979, Pat and Fred Altevogt opened the Greater Columbus Antique Mall in the building, beginning the use that has continued ever since.
The building was the subject of preservation coverage in 2018 when 614NOW reported it as 'Endangered History: S. High Antique Mall' amid demolition concerns. The mall remained open. Multiple paranormal groups have investigated the building in cooperation with management, and the property is one of Columbus's most-discussed haunted retail sites.
Sources
Per the Ohio Exploration Society's investigation file, OhioHauntedHouses.com, and Columbus Underground's local-history feature, the building's funeral-home decades supply the historical anchor for most of the lore. Staff and visitors most frequently report a gentleman in a brown suit with a handlebar mustache — identified in staff lore as a 1920s embalmer who worked the Woodyard Funeral Home.
A second figure is a woman in a yellow gown who has been reported pacing the upper floors and crying. She is said to vanish when approached. A more uncomfortable account involves a floating figure in a black cloak whose presence was reportedly strong enough that an employee left their job after encountering it.
Additional reported phenomena include shadowy peripheral apparitions, heavy breathing in empty rooms, banging and knocking from upper floors, disembodied footsteps, and disembodied voices. A more sentimental story involves two elderly women said to converse on a long wooden bench in the building. According to local lore, a priest who rents space upstairs has claimed to converse with the spirits of children. Four paranormal teams have examined the store over the years.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Wander three floors of antique vendors in a building whose layered history runs through residential, funeral-home, and Elks Lodge eras. Several visiting paranormal teams have investigated the building with cooperation from management.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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