Side A: 2210 Summit Street once housed one of Ohio’s longest-running lesbian bars. In 1970, a lesbian bartender at Jack’s A Go Go recognized that while Columbus had bars for gay men, it needed one geared toward lesbian clientele. Patrons knew the bar as “Jack’s,” Logan’s Off Broadway, and Summit Station. Staff welcomed women from small towns, women working in trades, women of color, butch/femme lesbians, and transgender people. Regulars recall that stepping through the door felt like finally entering a place of true belonging. Women could dance, “get together,” break up, sing karaoke, party with friends, and celebrate birthdays and holidays. Summit Station remained a safe public space, despite ongoing police harassment of its gender non-conforming regulars. A sign posted outside declared: “Ladies Night, Every Night. Men $5.” (Continued on other side)
Side B: (Continued from other side) By the 1980s, Summit Station was considered “the largest women’s bar in Columbus.” It regularly hosted lesbian musicians, comedians, DJs, an all female dance troupe, dart and billiards leagues, drag king and dyke queen performers. In efforts to give back to its community, Summit Station held benefits for the Children’s Hospital FACES program to support women and children affected by HIV, Buckeye Regional Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO), Stonewall Union, and the Columbus AIDS Task Force. The bar also sponsored local sports teams as well as the Pacesetters, the longest-running team in the National Women’s Football League. Although the Short North Gazette declared Summit Station the city’s “longest-standing gay and lesbian bar” in 2007, it was closed by 2008. For nearly forty years, Summit Station provided the LGBTQ+ community a welcoming space in Columbus.
Sponsors: William G. Pomeroy, Friends of Summit Station, Stonewall Columbus, Ohio History Connection
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