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Summit Station patrons didn't think they were making history on those packed Thursday nights between 1980 and 2008 when the weekends would start early with dancing and drinks. They didn't think they were making history, either, when they shared pitchers of beer after softball games, formed a troupe of drag kings and organized coalitions to fight for women's rights and safety.

But Ohio's longest-running lesbian bar, far from forgotten 15 years after its last call, will be etched into Ohio history on June 10 with the dedication of a historical marker outside its old location at 2210 Summit St. in the University District. It's the first of 128 state historical markers in and around Columbus to honor a place important to the LGBTQ+ community and just the third of more than 1,700 statewide. (A marker on W. 29th Street in Cleveland commemorates the location of the city's first Pride celebration, and a marker near Dayton's main library commemorates the birthplace of lesbian writer Natalie Clifford Barney.)

At a time when the culture wars have seeped into how—and whose—history is remembered, the state historical society is moving forward with plans to recognize more of Ohio's LGBTQ+ stories. A $250,000 federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services will go toward identifying 10 more locations around the state for LGBTQ+ historical markers over the next three years.

"We are constantly reminding people: They make history," says Ben Anthony, community engagement coordinator for the Ohio History Connection. "It's for everyone. We are very serious about that."

Longtime friends LuSter P. Singleton and Julia Applegate took the idea for a Summit Station marker, complete with extensive research about the bar's history and importance, to the state, Columbus City Council and the University Area Commission. All endorsed the idea. So did a lot of the people who heard about their effort over the last three years. A Go Fund Me page collected nearly $8,500 for festivities, a documentary project and the marker itself. Among others, Singleton and Applegate heard from a couple who met at Summit Station when it was operating as Jack's A Go Go in the 1970s.

Singleton first entered Jack's as a high schooler from Zanesville when a group of senior girls invited them and two friends. The group would make the trip regularly and still somehow get back home before a midnight curfew.

Singleton, 61, who identifies as nonbinary and transgender and uses they/he pronouns, wasn't out back then. "I would just sit there. I wouldn't dance. Maybe talk a little bit, but not even too much because I didn't want to give away too much information."

After returning to the bar as an Ohio State University student, Singleton bonded with a Black bartender who also grew up in a small town. "Finally, one day, she was like, ‘Kid, what's your story?’" Singleton recalls.

So many of the stories Singleton has heard about Summit Station are similar. Troubles in life outside the bar melted away once people entered the safe space. Women who were finally being accepted into the trades shared training opportunities with others. Women fighting custody battles received advice from those who’d been there before. Butch women and trans men found acceptance and community.

Owner Petie Brown always kept the bar open on holidays. Patrons helped each other out of financial struggles and donated time and money to FACES, the Family AIDS Clinic and Educational Services Program, which Nationwide Children's Hospital opened in 1985.

They’ll gather again at what's now Summit Music Hall on June 10. The historical marker dedication has turned into a weekend of celebrations and events.

"I want people to know what we did here," Singleton says. "I don't want people to have the only opinion of [Ohio] as a place that's scary to live if you’re an LGBT person."

Columbus’ first Pride parade took place in June 1982 along a route from Goodale Park to the Statehouse. There were 500 marchers; today, Columbus Pride draws more than 500,000.

A photo published in Life magazine of patient David Kirby at the Pater Noster House for AIDS hospice on West Broad Street is credited with softening American opinion at the height of the AIDS crisis.

This story is from the June 2023 issue of Columbus Monthly.