Piqua: An Ohio Travel Destination

Proud Piqua puts itself on tourism map
By Steven Rosen
From the Cincinnati Enquirer
August 9, 2009

It takes a lot of gumption - and a lot of pride - for a small Ohio city to post a huge billboard near its interstate exit, announcing to the thousands of otherwise-preoccupied daily passersby that it's the place "where vision becomes reality."


But that's what Piqua has done. It has about 20,000 residents and is just far enough north of Dayton, a bit less than 30 miles, along Interstate 75 to seem rural rather than urban. Farm town, in other words. Hardly a tourist destination, it would seem.

But Piqua lives up to its slogan, which is also painted on a train trestle as one leaves Interstate 75 and drives into town along Ash Street. It's a fascinating day-trip destination, featuring one of the most ambitious historic-preservation projects in the region. It also has some unusual stores in its surprisingly colorful downtown.

The primary attraction is the renovated five-story Fort Piqua Hotel, now known as Fort Piqua Plaza, the city's downtown landmark on West High Street near Main Street. The hotel originally opened in 1891, an impressive structure for such a hamlet. Built of stone in a style known as Richardson Romanesque, it exuded a sense of grandeur with its curved arches and rooftop towers. Among famous people who stayed there were Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Houdini and John Phillips Sousa. In 1947, the NAACP staged an early sit-in at the hotel's lunch counter, resulting in a groundbreaking desegregation victory.

After being vacant for more than 20 years, it reopened last year as home to the Piqua Public Library, which occupies roughly half of its 85,000 square feet of space. In May, Heritage Ohio recently awarded the project Ohio's Best Public Improvement.

The local Hotel/Library Legacy Alliance raised almost $4 million for the project, an incredible amount given Piqua's size. The remainder of the $21 million project came from federal, state and city funding.

The building also functions as a history museum, since many architectural features were preserved and restored, including a fourth-floor grand ballroom, a beautiful interior skylight and a grand staircase with stained-glass windows connecting the old main lobby - with its fireplace and decorative molding - with the second floor "ladies' lobby" and parlor rooms.

There also is a display case showing artifacts recovered during the $21 million renovation project - a matchbook from the Hotel Favorite Cigar Stand, a rusty meat cleaver with its handle missing, a sign advertising Egyptian Deities cigarettes, a commemorative plate from a 1910 convention of Ohio hotel clerks.

Winans Fine Chocolates and Coffees, a Piqua-based company that roasts its own coffee and makes its own candies, has an espresso bar/chocolate shop at street level that opens into the library. A restaurant may open soon.

If Piqua is proud of its preserved and restored hotel, it's equally proud of its famous favorite sons, the Mills Brothers. This African-American vocal group, which became internationally famous in the 1930s, is remembered with a monument in the public square.

Dedicated in 1990, it cites the group - brothers John, Herbert, Harry, Donald and father John Sr. - as "musical ambassadors" and lists such hit recordings as "Paper Doll" and "Glow Worm." Inside the library, there is a display case devoted to the act, which got its start performing on Cincinnati's WLW Radio, featuring artifacts from their early days. There's also a photo of Mills' downtown childhood home, now regrettably demolished.

While not huge, downtown Piqua is a fun place to stroll and shop. It even has its own Web site, www.mainstreetpiqua.com, to promote it. There are speakers attached to the streetlights - Electric Light Orchestra's "Evil Woman" was playing when we parked and started walking.

One business, which occupies three storefronts at 314-318 N. Main St., is Barclay's Men-Women Clothiers, whose old-fashioned wood floors, pressed-tin ceiling with fans, and displayed antiques belie the upscale clothing lines it carries. Z-Coil Pain Relief Footwear, at 431 N. Main, is an outlet for a still-small Albuquerque-based franchise that sells personally fitted shoes.

And there's the amazing Dobo's Delights Bake Shoppe at 417 N. Main, open since 1909, displaying cakes in a window that could be in a design museum. On our visit, it had a three-layer wedding cake with a beach theme, featuring brown-sugar sand and elaborate rolled-fondant-icing seashells.

At Readmore's Hallmark, 430 N. Main, a massive gift/card/souvenir shop, there are Piqua postcards and mementos of the Fort Piqua for sale, an indication of just how highly this town regards itself - and deservedly so.