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Gc 977.102 C49ma 1385452
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
L
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02279 6558
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/suburbsofcincinn00maxw 0
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
THE
uburbs℃
OF
incinnati:
SKETCHES
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE,
BY SIDNEY D. MAXWELL.
CINCINNATI: GEO. E. STEVENS & Co. 1870.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1870, by
SIDNEY D. MAXWELL,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio.
PREFACE.
HE matter contained in all but the concluding chapter of these sketches appeared substantially in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, during the years 1868-9. The original papers were prepared by the author with much care; and at the time of their appearance, as well as since, many desires were expressed for their publication in a more enduring form.
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Since the original sketches were written, great changes have occurred in the surroundings then considered by the extension of the city limits. On the twenty-eighth of February, 1870, the final transcripts and other papers were transmitted to the Secretary of State and the Recorder of Hamilton county for the annexation of all of Storrs township with the exception of the territory embraced within the incorporated village of Riverside. On the same day similar steps were taken for the annexation of the territory in Spencer township, lying between the eastern boundary of Cincinnati and the western boundary of the village of Columbia, including the village of Pendleton. The last papers for the annexation of Walnut Hills, Vernon- village, Mount Auburn and Corryville, were transmitted on the twelfth day of March. On the ninth day of May the final documents were filed for the annexation of the precincts of Lick Run and Camp Washington, in Mill- creek township, embracing Camp Washington, Clifton Hights, Fairmount, Mount Harrison, Barrsville, Forbusville, Spring Garden, and St. Peter's,
Preface.
and for additional territory in Spencer township, including many of the most valuable improvements in East Walnut Hills.
Then, under the act of the legislature of April the sixteenth, an election was held on the sixteenth of May, at which the question was submitted of annexing territory comprising about twenty-seven square miles, and embrac- ing Clifton, Avondale, Woodburn, Columbia, Cumminsville, St. Bernard, Spring Grove or Winton Place, Riverside, and other suburbs. The vote stood : For annexation, eleven hundred and twenty-five; against, ten hundred and eighty-two. The constitutionality of the act under which the election was held, as well as the legality of the election, has been ques- tioned by some, and it may be tested in the courts. If not affected by judicial action, the territory annexed this year will be nearly thirty-nine sec- tions, and the entire city embrace an area of about forty-five square miles, the length being nine miles and the greatest width seven miles.
The desirableness of preserving the history of these localities, famous now, but soon to become merged into the common history of a great city, moved the writer, more than any thing else, to finally give encouragement to those who desired the publication of this volume.
The original papers have been carefully revised,-in many particulars rewritten,-and such changes made as will bring the history and description of the places to the month of April, 1870. To the original matter have been added a description of Eden Park, to be formally opened on the fourth day of this month, and a concluding chapter, embracing brief histor- ical allusions to and short mentions of other suburbs and surrounding vil- lages. The latter part was an after-thought, not having been anticipated when the publication of the original articles in this form was projected. While this is so much more than was promised when the volume was announced, the author cherishes the expectation that it will be regarded a valuable addition to the original papers.
SIDNEY D. MAXWELL.
CINCINNATI, O., July 1, 1870.
CONTENTS.
-
PAGE
Introduction, - - - - 9
Avondale, - - - 11
Clifton, - - - -
- 27
College Hill, - - 53
East Walnut Hills, - -
- - 66
Glendale,
-
-
-
-
- 76
Mt. Auburn, - - - 100 -
Corryville, - 129 -
Walnut Hills,
-
- - 133
Eden Park, - -
151
Woodburn, - - - 156
Columbia, - 167
Cumminsville, - - 169
Kentucky Suburbs, - 173 -
Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, -
-
-
179
Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad, -
- 180
Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad,
-
182 Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, - 183
- Other Suburbs, - -
- - - - 184
-
-
177 Little Miami Railroad, -
INTRODUCTION.
HE SUBURBS of Cincinnati are its crowning glory. The city, proper, has much to attract the attention of the stranger. Its beautiful river is spanned by a suspension bridge which, in some respects, is without an equal. It possesses business houses of imposing appearance and unusual architectural beauty ; manufactories which are costly and extensive ; tasteful homes that line its thoroughfares ; churches, cathedrals and temples upon which devotion has poured out its treasures ; superb edifices that have been provided for the helpless, the afflicted and the erring, and scores of school buildings dedicated to the education of the youth. These are enough to make a city noted; but they are not the chief attraction of the place. The environs of Cincinnati are its distinguish- ing beauty. They present as striking a combination of the picturesque and the accessible as can be found in the world ; and the topographical features are such as to peculiarly favor, in the development of the landscape, the most artistic plans. The eligible locations are almost innumerable, and their capacity for improvement unlimited.
For a long time the city was confined to the great basin made by the surrounding hills. These bold elevations seemed impassable barriers, and as business and dwellings crowded up and clung to the steep hill-sides, there were few who anticipated the time when these beetling cliffs would be scaled ; when population, like a victorious army, having surmounted
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10
Introductory.
Nature's parapets, would spread over the swelling lands, and build cottages and palaces, churches and school-houses, and set itself to the work of con- verting a rough, broken country into a region of such loveliness, that the most favored might covet there a home.
But at length little communities about the city began to spring up. Some citizen bolder than the rest, and perhaps better able to see what was to follow from the necessity of the case, would take a position a little farther out than his neighbor, to soon find others gathering about him, who needed but a leader to conduct them from the maelstrom of business which was whirling below, and the dust and smoke and heat inseparable from a great city. Mt. Auburn, Clifton, Walnut Hills, Glendale, Avondale, and other villages came into existence, and have increased from a few families to thousands of inhabitants, and yet the great tide that is to set into these suburban places has only just begun. People have but awakened to the fact that the high hills and deep ravines that surround Cincinnati are to become its most attractive features. Facilities for reaching them will multi- ply, population increase, churches grow up, schools be established, the roughest lands be redeemed, and thus improvement follow improvement, until Cincinnati will have, if it has not already, the most beautiful suburbs of any city in America.
3 1833 02279 6558
AVONDALE.
HE whole face of the country immediately north of the city is becoming dotted with residences, which make up rather one large suburb than many small ones. From a prominent position on Mt. Auburn or at Avondale, one looks out over an almost continuous settlement of beautiful homes. Some stand out, to be sure, more promi- nently than others, but it is rather because they occupy the crests of the waves of land that sweep away in beauty as far as the eye can distinguish, than because they belong to different villages. It can not justly be said that any one particular locality is superior to the others in its general features. . Their accessibility is about the same, their altitude alike, their topography similar. In each, one finds something to admire-too much, indeed, to indulge in invidious comparisons. It is true, there is less ine- quality of surface in Avondale than in some other places, but the face of the country partakes of the features that are common to all the districts about Cincinnati. Owing to its remoteness, neither the river nor the city can be seen, but to compensate for this, there is variety without brokenness, and the serenity and sweetness of the country, without a single reminder of the closeness and turmoil of the crowded streets of the city.
Avondale is a few degrees east of north from the court-house in Cincin- nati, and due north from the Garden of Eden. Its southern boundary is said to be two miles from the corner of Main and Court streets, but it is
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Suburbs of Cincinnati.
probably a little farther by the Lebanon turnpike, which is deflected from a right line by the hills between which it passes in reaching the village. It has an area of about eight hundred acres, embracing all of section nine and the north-west part of section eight, which lies immediately south.
The former section was conveyed by John Cleves Symmes to Samuel Robinson, in 1795. In the year following, Mr. Robinson conveyed three hundred acres of the north-east part of his purchase to John Hardin, One year later, Mr. Robinson conveyed one hundred and twenty acres in the south-west part of the section, comprising lands principally west of what is now Main avenue, to William McMillan, a prominent citizen and lawyer of Cincinnati, whose remains for more than a half century reposed in one of the beautiful spots of that village. In 1798, the tract north of the McMillan purchase, and west of that conveyed to Mr. Hardin, passed to John Hunt. The south-east part being shortly afterward acquired by Wil- liam Woodward, the entire section passed from Mr. Robinson, and the work of subdivision began, which has continued up to the present time, and which will not cease until the district becomes part of Cincinnati itself.
Mr. Hardin, in 1802, sold one hundred and twenty-two acres on the south of his purchase to William McMillan, who thus came into possession of lands north-east of his former tract. Later in the century, Jonathan Dayton acquired one hundred and six acres in the north-eastern part of the section. This he sold to his father, Elias Dayton, by whose death he again came into possession of a portion as one of his heirs. Such of these lands as descended to Jonathan Dayton, comprising those on both sides of the Lebanon turnpike (now Main avenue), but principally to the east of that road, were subdivided, in November, 1846, by Jonathan Bartlett, the administrator of the Dayton estate. The subdivision is designated on the records, " Plat of house lots at Clinton, three miles from Cincinnati." Though small tracts of land had been sold previously to various parties, this was the first subdivision in what is now Avondale.
But a few years after the McMillan purchase, to which allusion has been made, Mr. McMillan died, disposing by will of these lands, which he denomni-
13
Avondale.
nated the " Home Plantation." They were subsequently purchased of the devisees, by Mr. Corry, to whose heirs they descended. Two years after the Clinton or Dayton subdivision, James A. Corry made a subdivision in the south-west part of the section known as "Locust Grove " subdivision, and not far from the same time, another subdivision of the same name was made by Spencer and Corry, In 1852, Samuel Cloon, who had acquired considerable land in this locality, made a comprehensive subdivision, embracing about one hundred and fifty acres, lying on both sides of the turnpike. This included the " Clinton " subdivision, to the lots of which he affixed numbers instead of letters, by which they had been previously designated. The location of this subdivision will be better understood by stating that it includes the residence of Miles Greenwood,
Of the Corry lands, lying to the north and right of those subdivided up to the period named, and south of those embraced in the Cloon subdivision, forty-five acres were conveyed by James A. Corry to the Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad Company, and were subdivided in 1854. The survey necessary to this subdivision was made by a young engineer, named H. C. Freeman, who, on account of some pleasant associations, gave it the name of " Avondale Subdivision." Whether this was the origin of the present name of the village is a mooted question. While some claim that this sug- gested the name, others are inclined to award that honor to Mrs. S. H. Burton. At any rate, the residents of that locality were not slow to recog- nize the superior beauty of this to Clintonville, by which the place had been known, and by common consent they adopted the name for the future village. If there is any thing in a name, Avondale will certainly not lose in this regard by comparison with any of the suburbs of the city.
Though the Clinton subdivision occurred in 1846, still the improvements which followed were not the first made by persons from Cincinnati. A.s early as 1833, Luke Kendall purchased of Mr. Corry six acres of land, and having subsequently acquired ten acres additional, erected, in 1835, the brick residence, which every person familiar with the Lebanon turnpike and its early history, remembers well. For fifteen years it has been the
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Suburbs of Cincinnati.
residence of W. F. Irwin, who has made many changes in the property ; but the original appearance externally has been so well preserved, that every traveler will recognize it as the outpost of Cincinnati residences thirty years ago. As showing the changes that have taken place in the price of land since that time, it may be remarked that Mr. Kendall purchased this for $100 per acre. The house cost $5,000, a price which, like that of the land, was considered then an extraordinary outlay for a purpose of this kind.
In 1836, David B. Bassett, the partner of Mr. Kendall, erected the brick edifice immediately south of the place of the latter. He had removed from Cincinnati into a small cabin upon the land, in the spring of 1834, and may thus be considered one of the pioneers among those who made valuable improvements, and permanently removed to Avondale to make it a place of residence, while doing business in Cincinnati. Then it was con- sidered in the country. These buildings were spoken of as being three miles from Cincinnati. They were reached shortly after having ascended the long Four-Mile Hill, then covered with a forest so thick that at night travelers avoided its darkness, lest they should be attacked by robbers who found this a hiding-place. Now, when one discovers these forests removed, and cattle grazing upon the green hill-sides, and sees in all directions hand- some dwellings, numbered by hundreds, surrounded by shrubbery and flowers, and approached by beautiful drives, and witnesses the stream of carriages that, morning and night, carry business men from and to their delightful homes, it seems as if forest and field had been touched by some magic hand.
Mr. Kendall remained in this property until 1851, about which time it passed into the hands of Captain Davis, who retained it a short time and sold to Henry Pike. In 1852, W. F. Irwin came into possession of the property and removed to it; at once entering upon a course of improve- ment which greatly increased both its beauty and value. Mr. Pike, at the same time, was erecting four beautiful cottages, immediately north of the premises which Mr. Irwin acquired, and some additional improvements had been made in other places. Thus Avondale entered upon the sys-
15
Avondale.
tem of improvement which has made it one of the beautiful suburbs of Cincinnati.
One by one persons came to this place and purchased improved property or erected houses, until it attained its present splendid position. It has been a steady, healthful growth, which has been sustained because supported by substantial citizens who came to permanently reside.
Avondale became an incorporated village for general purposes about six years ago. The matter had been agitated a number of years. The citizens desired to protect themselves from stock running at large, to improve their streets, and enforce order. This they could not effectually do without an incorporation. Enough opposition was manifested to the project to prevent its consummation for a considerable time, but this was ultimately overcome, much to the promotion of the general good. Their first Mayor was A. R. Dutton, who served two years.
AVENUES.
The principal thoroughfare of Avondale is Main avenue, really the Leb- anon turnpike, which runs diagonally through the territory embraced within the corporate limits. Along this the first improvements were made. The avenue is macadamized, and for the greater part of the distance has, on one or both sides, good sidewalks constructed of stone or wood. Inter- secting this at right angles, or nearly so, are two avenues-Rockdale and Forest. They run east and west, parallel with each other, and terminate on the east in Main avenue. These avenues are new, sixty feet wide, and well macadamized.
Leaving Rockdale avenue and running northwardly, is Washington avenue, somewhat narrower than the others, but well macadaniized, On orre side of this avenue, throughout the entire length, as well as on Rockdale and Forest avenues, is a plank sidewalk about four feet wide. West of the intersection of Washington avenue with Rockdale, a new street, called Harvey avenue, is open to Shillito street, the latter running east and west near the southern limit of the village. The western boundary of
16
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
Avondale is the Carthage road, which is also the eastern line of Clifton. Still farther west is Burnet avenue, but partially opened, running parallel with Harvey avenue, which intervenes between it and Main avenue. Clinton is a short avenue running east from Main avenue. Upon it, as yet, there has been but little improvement. Glenwood avenue is a well macadam- ized street running east from Main avenue, upon which there are several good dwellings recently erected. Dennis and Duffield streets, in the upper part of the village, leave Main avenue at different points and sweep around until they meet each other and form Cloon street that runs westerly to Washington avenue. Ridgway street and Linden avenue, in the southern part-the former creeping around a ravine to the east of Main avenue and the latter climbing the elevation between Main and Harvey avenues-are both of them well improved.
In addition to these are several streets, which are more or less improved, and upon which dwellings have, at remote points, been erected. Spring street is one which leaves Main avenue a short distance beyond the toll- gate ; and Mound street, another, enters Main avenue from the west, about the center of the village.
The northern boundary of the village is but a short distance south of the summit of the Four-Mile Hill, there intervening a part of the Rose Hill Farm, recently subdivided and sold in lots of a few acres each. In the (lirection of Cincinnati, the first improvements are on the east of Main avenue. Here Robert Mitchell erected, on lots each of about seven acres, two capacious brick dwellings with Mansard roofs, that have since become the property of his sons-in-law, A. J. Redway and S. R. Burton. These are of the Italian villa style, with roomy verandas both in the front and rear, and are among the best residences of this suburb. Behind the houses is a vigorous growth of original forest trees, while in front a broad lawn declines to the avenue, and is intersected by circular graveled drives, by which the dwellings are approached. These are well removed from the avenue and present a good appearance. Next on the same side is the residence of William H. Dominick, built about eight years ago. The building is brick,
17
Avondale.
with veranda on entire south and south half of front, and is situated on ground that gently swells into a beautiful location. Upon his lot of eight acres, trees are favorably grouped, and through them the residence, which is remote from the avenue, is reached by a circular drive. It is a place of much simple beauty.
Immediately south of Mr. Dominick's is the home of William Sellew. The building has been erected about twelve years. It is a square edifice, with a light iron veranda along the front. His grounds have on them a few forest trees and a profusion of evergreens and shrubbery, which are very handsome. The land declines from the road to within a few hundred feet of the house, where, in a considerable depression, there are a spring of pure water and a miniature lake. Thence it rises very rapidly until reaching the position occu- pied by the dwelling, which is a very desirable one. Mr. Sellew's premises are among the most attractive in the village.
Next is the E. G. Leonard property, of four acres, and an excellent blue limestone residence. The house was built about nine years ago, and presents a very fine appearance. The grand old forest trees and the beautiful situa- tion combine with the dignified looking edifice to give these premises unusual attraction.
S. H. Burton has a handsome dwelling, with a veranda embracing three sides of the building. The grounds are thickly shaded, and the lawn beautiful.
A. O. Tyler and M. W. Stone have here erected elegant residences on lots of about four acres each.
Seth Evans has about five acres of land and an attractive mansion with veranda on three sides, and pleasant surroundings.
South of Mr. Evans is the residence of A. H. Mitchell, erected last season, a two-story brick edifice, with capacious basement and Mansard roof, and as complete in its inside appointments as it is tasteful in its exterior design.
Not far from the northern boundary of the village is the former residence of James M. Glenn, now occupied by James McKeehan, a massive edifice of stately proportions that is quite unlike the architecture of any other building
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Suburbs of Cincinnati.
in the suburbs of Cincinnati. It is constructed of brick, and surmounted by a French roof. A circular tower that rises from the basement, terminates in a pinnacle above and is closely embraced by a circular veranda at the base. There are about fifteen acres of ground, a lawn of surpassing beauty, and a location from which is enjoyed a landscape of rare interest. Avondale, with its dwellings peering above rich foliage, or resting amid spacious grounds, is at the feet of the beholder ; while away to the west and north, the Millcreek valley and highlands beyond furnish quite another, yet no less beautiful, prospect. Mr. McKeehan has about him a feast to which nature is continually contributing with a lavish hand.
On the north of Dennis street are the dwellings of Charles Wells and Theodore Royer, erected about seven years ago, the latter upon a lot of an acre and a half, thickly set with shrubbery.
Opposite is the dwelling of Captain Daniel Collier, erected several years ago. He has a lot of about three acres, filled with shrubbery, with which his white house is in pleasing contrast. The former residence of Charles E. Marshall, recently purchased by James Bugher, on the north-west corner of the avenue and Dennis street, is a tasteful cottage, surrounded by a profusion of shrubbery, which is regarded safe without the protection of a fence of any kind. The home of S. W. Hartshorne, on the west side of the avenue, south of Dennis street, is a very pretty one, erected on a good sized lot, about ten years ago.
Immediately south are the premises of Miles Greenwood, which are entered through a broad iron gate, the pillars of which are each surmounted by a graceful iron eagle. The house, erected in 1847, is a plain two-story one, with an iron veranda supported by a floor of white limestone. The grounds, consisting of fourteen acres, which rise gently from the avenue to the dwell- ing, are filled with shrubbery, and have numerous pieces of iron and marble statuary.
Robert Mitchell, next on the south, has about three acres of land. His dwelling is a two-story brick with a French roof and spacious verandas on both front and side. It was erected about four years ago, and is one of the
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Avondale.
many tasteful homes of Avondale. About one-third of his lot is a garden, while the remainder is abundantly supplied with fruit and shade trees. The grounds are neatly kept, and no fence mars the beauty of the prospect.
On Duffield street, which passes along the southern boundary of Mr. Mitch- ell's premises, is the present residence of James M. Glenn, a commodious, two-story, brick edifice, erected five years ago. The lot is five acres in extent, and the situation quite desirable.
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