Ask anyone who grew up in Columbus, and they'll tell you about a place that isn't there anymore: where they bought their first school clothes, or watched a ballgame on a summer night.

Here are eight Columbus places people still talk about, and what happened to each one.

1. Columbus Square Mall (1965 to early 2000s)

Columbus Square was the city's first shopping mall. It opened in 1965 on Macon Road. Over the years its stores included JCPenney and, starting in 1975, Kirven's.

Shoppers moved to newer centers over the years. JCPenney left for Peachtree Mall in 1994. The mall was torn down in the early 2000s. Officials broke ground on April 24, 2003, for the new Columbus Public Library on the site, and the library still stands there today at 3000 Macon Road.

2. Kirven's Department Store (1876 to 1993)

For more than a century, Kirven's was where Columbus went shopping. J. Albert Kirven opened his dry goods store in 1876, and in 1886 the family moved the business to Broad Street, where it grew into the city's best-known department store.

When malls drew shoppers away from downtown, Kirven's opened a store at Columbus Square in 1975. The downtown store closed in 1987, and the Columbus Square store followed in 1993. Columbus Bank & Trust bought the downtown building days after it closed. A historical marker now tells the store's story.

3. The Bibb Mill (closed 1998, destroyed 2008)

The Bibb Manufacturing Company's mill was so big that it had its own town. Bibb City was incorporated in 1909 around the mill and its village of worker homes.

The mill closed in 1998. Bibb City gave up its city charter on Dec. 7, 2000, and became part of Columbus. Then, shortly after midnight on Oct. 30, 2008, a huge fire destroyed the empty mill. People watched the flames from across the city. The old mill village is now the Bibb City Historic District, on the National Register of Historic Places.

4. The Columbus RedStixx (1991 to 2002)

For 11 seasons, the Columbus RedStixx played minor league baseball at Golden Park. They were a Class A farm team of the Cleveland Indians, and were called the Columbus Indians their first year. The name came from the Red Sticks, a faction of the Muscogee people.

In 1996 the team played at Columbus State's Ragsdale Field while Golden Park was renovated for Olympic softball. After the 2002 season, the RedStixx moved to Eastlake, Ohio, and became the Lake County Captains.

5. The Columbus Catfish (2003 to 2008)

Baseball came right back. The Columbus Catfish, called the South Georgia Waves their first season, played at Golden Park from 2003. They were a Tampa Bay Rays affiliate in 2007 and 2008, and in 2007 they swept the West Virginia Power to win the South Atlantic League championship.

The team was sold in 2008 and moved to Kentucky, where it's now the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Golden Park hasn't had a full-time pro team since.

6. The Columbus Cottonmouths (1996 to 2017)

The Cottonmouths, nicknamed "the Snakes," brought pro hockey to the Columbus Civic Center for 21 seasons. They won the Central Hockey League championship in 1998, sweeping the Wichita Thunder in four games.

In 2017, after the owner couldn't find a buyer, the team suspended operations. Hockey is back now with the Columbus River Dragons, but for many fans, the Snakes come first.

7. Peachtree Mall's original anchors

Peachtree Mall is still open, but many of the stores people remember are gone:

• Gayfers is now Dillard's.
• Montgomery Ward closed in late 2000 when the company went bankrupt. Rich's took its place in 2002 and became Macy's in 2005.
• Parisian, added in 1985, closed in February 2007. The space sat mostly empty for nearly a decade before At Home opened there in 2017.

8. Hudson's at Main Street (closed 2026)

The newest name on this list is one many people are still getting used to missing. On Sept. 29, 2026, the owners of Hudson's at Main Street, 6298 Veterans Parkway, announced that the restaurant had closed permanently. It had closed for renovations in August.

One that came back: Rosehill Seafood

Rosehill Seafood on Hamilton Road almost made this list. The longtime catfish spot closed in May 2025 after nearly 50 years. Then it reopened under new management in August 2025, survived an arson fire in April 2026, and is open again today.

What did we miss? Tell us the Columbus place you miss most at columbustimes.com/contact. We may feature it in a follow-up.