The man who designed his own tomb

Frank Packard

Frank Lucius Packard was one of Central Ohio's most prolific architects. During his career he designed over 3400 buildings with 100 of those located in Columbus, and many are still in use today.

Born in Delaware Ohio just after the close of the Civil War, began his career as an architectural apprentice for Delaware County. He left Ohio to attend school and graduated from MIT in 1887 and returned to Columbus in 1892 where he teamed up with local architect J.W. Yost.

Throughout his career, he became known as an institutional architect having built some of the cities most notable public buildings.

• Orton Hall

• Memorial Hall

• Toledo & Ohio RR

• Chittenden, Seneca, Memorial Hall, Governor's Manion, Columbus Country

• George Bellows, Sr., father to George Bellows the painter, was a member of Packard's architectural firm.

• OSU's Armory & Gymnasium 1898 - 1959 (the new Wexner Center incorporated the tower motif of the Armory)