German Village

In 1796, Congress appropriated the Refugee Lands for individuals who had supported the Colonial cause in the American Revolution. By 1802, an American Revolution veteran named John McGowan claimed 328 acres, most of what would become the German Village. By 1830, massive German immigration to the city had occurred, and by 1865, one-third of Columbus's population was German and the community was flourishing. During the wave of anti-German sentiment following WWI, the teaching of German in public schools was banned, German textbooks were burned (with a book burning on Broad St.