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Thurber House LbNA #23824 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Walkabout
Plant date:Jul 12, 2006
Location:
City:Columbus
County:Franklin
State:Ohio
Boxes:1
Found by: Brick
Last found:Apr 1, 2017
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFm
Last edited:May 25, 2020
Thurber House
77 Jefferson Street
Columbus OH 43215

Thurber House can be found at 77 Jefferson Street, Columbus OH. Take 71 to the Broad Street exit. Turn west onto Broad Street, and then turn right (north) at the first street—which is Jefferson. Travel around the center median, and park at the first building on northwest end of the median. This will be the newly built Thurber Center; next door (south) is the Thurber House.

James Grover Thurber (1894-1961) was an author, cartoonist and humorist who grew up in Columbus Ohio, and gained his fame writing articles and cartoons that graced the pages of the New Yorker from 1927 until his death in 1961. Perhaps best known for his Secret Life of Walter Middy, he wrote and illustrated many short stories and over 50 books including Is Sex Necessary?, The Dog Who Bit People, and The Night the Bed Fell. He is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery.

The Thurber House is where Thurber and his family lived when Thurber was a student at OSU. It houses the Thurber archive, and the first two floors are open daily for tours. Thurber House sponsors various author events, summer picnics, writing workshops for children, literary awards and the renowned Thurber Prize, which honors outstanding examples of American humor. The Thurber Center, located next door to the house, is where most events are held. It can be a busy place, so please avoid looking for this box when other people are around.

To find your letterbox, amble through the Thurber Reading Garden –between the Thurber House and the Center. The Thurber House is occupied by a visiting artist and also a ghost, so please be quiet and discrete while visiting here! Five dogs, sculpted by Dale Johnson after Thurber's cartoons, scamper amid dogwoods, bayberries, viburnum, and "flars." Pass 4 dogs. Before the 5th dog, there is a bench facing north. In front of the bench (& slightly to the right), you'll see a large Taxus bush . You will find the Thurber letter-pouch beneath the southwest corner of the bush and its stone border, under several pieces of slate.

On your way back to your car, enjoy the unicorn tossing its head as it considers which of the summer lilies it will eat next, in the elliptical park across the street. The unicorn is modeled after the mythical beast in Thurber's story "The Unicorn in the Garden."