Squaring a Circle: The Story of Circleville, Ohio

While rereading the phenomenal book “The Making of Urban America” by John Reps, I was particularly interested by the story he tells about Circleville, Ohio. According to Reps, Circleville was the only American city designed with a circular, radial plan, the only city built with respect to the earthworks of native people, and the first city in America to see large-scale urban renewal. That urban renewal took the form of removing the circle from Circleville.

The city of Circleville was founded in 1810 to be the new county seat of Pickaway County. The site was chosen because of the locals’ interest in the geometric mounds created by the Hopewell people of the Ohio Valley 3000 years prior. These mounds were already leveled, cleared, and easy to defend, so they made excellent city sites. City founders chose a circle 1,100 feet in diameter for the center of town, and reflected the mound in the street layout. In the center of the circle the founders placed another circle where eventually they placed an octagonal county courthouse. Streets radiated from the courthouse and the overall effect was quite striking.

Within twenty years, locals grew dissatisfied with the original circular plan. Perhaps they were jealous of all of the right angles found in the plans of countless cities in Ohio and across the country. They were no doubt a peculiar town. Whatever the case, in 1837 the State of Ohio created the Circleville Squaring Company. The company squared Circleville in a series of phases in what is quite possibly the nation’s first urban redevelopment project.

I can’t help but wonder what Circleville would be like today if the circle had remained. Circleville is a relatively small town, so an oddity like their plan would certainly garner some tourist attention (I don’t think their pumpkin water tower is enough of a draw). The drama of having eight radial streets all terminating at the county courthouse would be great; there is probably no better way of emphasizing the town’s importance as the county seat. Maybe someday the residents of Circleville will embrace their heritage and undertake another urban renewal project, this time to reinstate the circle.