Columbus, OH

Author James Thurber's birthplace and hometown until he moves to New York City in the 1920s, Columbus is the setting for most of the stories in this memoir. The author declares: "Columbus is a town in which almost anything is likely to happen and in which almost everything has." He names in his stories many local streets, buildings, and parks. He claims that in the early 19th century, Columbus wins out as the Ohio capital over Lancaster by a single vote, and afterward acts as though it is in charge of the state.

High St. is the main thoroughfare dividing Columbus. When on March 12, 1913, rumors fly that the dam on the Scioto River is breaking, the West Side, like most Ohio towns, is under 30 feet of water, but the East Side, where the Thurbers live, is 95 feet above being touched by water, even if the dam...