USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The suburbs of Cincinnati : sketches, historical and descriptive > Part 14
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Spencer log-house still stands, the real mansion of a distinguished pioneer. Would that we could believe it might escape the vandalism that in this country every where forgets the ancient landmarks.
Columbia has now about a thousand inhabitants; and though for a long time it seemed to have gone into a perpetual sleep, it has recently aroused, and during the past four years has made great advances toward a first-class suburban position. Good schools are in operation. Two tasteful churches have been erected, and the third is now building.
Columbia avenue, to which allusion has been elsewhere made, is in process of construction from the city to this place. Above the village rises Mount Tusculum, for the improvement of which Joseph Longworth has recently been expending a large sum of money. Over three hundred acres of superb highlands have been intersected by a graded drive-Undercliff avenue-four miles in length, that winds advantageously through the lands, bringing them at once into market, and really making this one of the most desirable locations about the city. These lands, which command extensive views along the course of the Ohio and up the beautiful valley of the Miami, have been laid out in lots of from three to ten acres, many of which have been purchased by prominent business men of the city, who contem- plate the erection of residences during the approaching season.
Columbia, besides being on the Little Miami railroad, four miles from the city depot, has also the advantages of the Pendleton street railway, which connects the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets, in Cincinnati, with the village. Aside from Cumminsville, there is no remote suburb about Cincinnati that has the public facilities for reaching it that Columbia enjoys.
Cumminsville,
Little less interesting than Columbia in its early history, is the locality that has since become the town of Cumminsville. Figuring in the early history of Cincinnati was one who, though well known to the pioneers of the Miami valley, has not the place in the mind of the young that he
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deserves, in consideration of the prominent part he took in laying the foundations of Cincinnati and the adjacent cities of Hamilton and Dayton, and of his sterling public and private virtues. This was Colonel Israel Lud- low, one of the three proprietors of the city-the man who, in the fall of 1789, commenced the survey of the town of Cincinnati. In 1787, Colonel Ludlow had been charged by the Surveyor General of the United States with the survey of a large tract of land which the New Jersey Society had contracted to purchase. Delays incident to the slender resources of the military establishment of that day prevented the completion of this task for some years thereafter, but, in 1792, Colonel Ludlow wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury, stating he had the satisfaction of presenting the survey of the Ohio and a part of the Miami purchase. The discharge of these public duties gave him opportunities of examining the country with reference to its future settlement that were diligently and very judiciously used. In 1790, on the present site of the village of Cumminsville, was established Ludlow Station, which was the nearest secure military post north of Fort Washing- ton, at Cincinnati. Here, immediately in front of the site of the future dwelling of Colonel Ludlow, and the one now occupied by his descendants, a block-house was erected. When the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton railroad was constructed, the site of this fortification was in the line of the road, and in the cut there made the last vestige of this outpost of Cincin- nati in early times was destroyed. Here, in 1791, the army of General St. Clair encamped, on its way to the overwhelming defeat it encountered in the subsequent fall. This, truly, is historic ground. It was a place of favorite resort with the Indians, who, on these beautiful slopes, now peace- ful enough, have at night thrown themselves to sleep, or, perchance, in affected slumber, to devise new schemes of rapine, plunder, and violence upon those who might be caught away from the camps in the thick woods that then covered all these lands.
At this place Colonel Ludlow secured a large tract of land and estab- lished his home. His lands embraced what are now Spring Grove Cemetery, a part of Clifton, and the town of Cumminsville. In 1804 Colonel Lud-
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low died, his lands descending to his family that survived him, James C. Ludlow, his son, finally succeeding to the part upon which the block-house was erected. After the death of Colonel Ludlow, the house was occupied by General Mansfield for a number of years, but the family ultimately returned to the place, and have remained there, with a slight intermission, until the present time. In view of the active part Colonel Ludlow took in the settlement of this locality, it seems strange the name was not so asso- ciated with the place that it might perpetually remind its population of the one who, amid this wilderness, had first built a home and given civiliza- tion a foothold.
After the death of Israel Ludlow, decades passed before a movement was made toward building a town. In 1832, preaching was done in a log school-house. In the locality, about this time, the Rev. David Fergus, of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Rev. Walter Scott, of the Chris- tian Church, and the Rev. David Root, of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, occasionally preached. James C. Ludlow, in 1832, built a house to be used in the interest of education, literature, and religion, called the "Hall of Free Discussion." The house was the offering of a liberal heart, who would have a place where love to God and humanity to man might alike be taught. Mr. Ludlow died in 1841, his family remaining upon the estate.
With the exception of a tavern, tan yard, grocery, and a few scattering houses, there was nothing approximating a town until about the time of the establishment of a postoffice, named Cumminsville, from David Cummins, who kept a tavern at this place, which occurred in 1844. Prior to this the place was known by many as Ludlow Station. Some spoke of it as the Tan- yard, while not a few, from the unruly persons who occasionally disturbed the peace of the neighborhood, gave it a less euphonious name.
In 1845 Ephraim Knowlton, the first postmaster, laid out part of his farm in lots. This subdivision extended from Millcreek to the west of the Cole- rain pike, and from the street south of the present Millcreek House to Hoffner street. In 1850, Jacob Hoffner laid out in lots about twenty
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acres of his farm, extending from Hoffner street to Blue Rock street. Sub- sequently, Timothy Kirby, on the north-west, and Mrs. Janet Langland, the daughter of the Rev. David Fergus, on the north, laid out small tracts, as did also the executors of the estate of James C. Ludlow, on the east of the Hoffner and Langland subdivisions. The representatives of the estate of Elmore Williams also laid out lots south of the Knowlton subdivision.
About six years after the establishment of the postoffice, Mr. Hoffner conveyed for a mere nominal price, it being more a gift than a sale, eleven acres of land for the use of the Catholic orphan asylum, on which both a large asylum and church have since been erected.
Mrs. Janet Langland gave the ground for the Presbyterian church and the public school, while Mrs. Judge McLean, daughter of Israel Ludlow, donated the land upon which the Christian church has recently been erected.
The village grew by steady accessions. It having for a long time been at the end of a drive favorable for the test of fast horses, and a sort of out- post of Cincinnati without the benefits of her police, the place did not in other years enjoy the reputation for peace that others have, but this was cer- tainly far more attributable to the visitation it was compelled to bear from the lawless of other places than to the character of its own population, among which have been numbered some of the most sterling families of Cincinnati's surroundings. With population has come a spirit of improvement and good order. The street railroad from the city to this place has increased the value of property, and other influences have combined to attract many per- sons to this locality as a place of residence. It has two public schools of the same grade and character as the Cincinnati schools. These are under the control of M. S. Turrill, a teacher of twenty years' standing in the community, who is assisted by a dozen subordinate teachers. Among the churches are one Presbyterian, one Methodist, one Christian (the latter a commodious and tasteful brick edifice, recently erected), one Protestant Episcopal, one German Lutheran, and one each of English and German Roman Catholic. The present population is about thirty-five hundred.
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A few years ago the name of the postoffice was changed to Ludlow, but the title had become a part of the place, and such efforts were made as secured the return of the original name, which it will, no doubt, retain until it shall be lost by its incorporation with Cincinnati.
The surroundings of Cumminsville are exceedingly picturesque. Though the place is in the valley of Millcreek, the lands on either side the stream swell into beautiful hills, whose sides are already dotted with tasteful dwell- ings, and whose summits are crowned with some of the most stately resi- dences that Cincinnati enterprise has erected.
Kentucky Suburbs.
These sketches would be incomplete without some allusion to the exten- sive suburbs that have grown up on the Kentucky side of the river, which legitimately belong to Cincinnati, and are as closely allied to her interests as if they were not separated by the Ohio river.
Immediately opposite the city, and connected with it by a suspension bridge which has the longest span in the world, and which, for architectural beauty, scarcely has its peer, is the city of Covington, with a population of about thirty thousand.
It made slow progress before the completion of the bridge, but has of late been making rapid strides in population. Her taxable property is now about twelve millions of dollars, and her wealth constantly increasing. Her increase is prompted by many considerations, but in a very important manner by the light taxes of that side of the river. During the year 1869 the total levy in the city of Covington, for state, county, and city, was but one dollar and ninety-five cents on the hundred dollars.
The city has manifested of late years a very commendable spirit in its improvements. It has one mile and a half of street railway connecting it with Cincinnati, a public library of about five thousand volumes, and will soon enjoy the Holly water works, which are constructing at a cost of
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three hundred thousand dollars. The city has a good system of public schools, under the control of the Rev. Dr. Hall. They have three large buildings devoted to school purposes, two of which were erected, respect- ively, in 1869 and 1870. Each of these is occupied by twelve teachers, and, besides, the system is completed with an excellent high school. The city is well supplied with churches, having two Presbyterian, six Methodist Episcopal, one Protestant Episcopal, three Baptist, one Christian, one Ger- man Lutheran, and Welsh and German congregations. There are in addition three Catholic churches, and the fourth erecting, which is to become the cathedral. It is supplied with five lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and eight different Masonic bodies.
Covington is not a city of large business, yet it has two rolling mills, a large glass factory, and other manufactories. These, however, are not the distinguishing features of the place. The many quiet, tasteful dwellings along cool, well-shaded streets that commerce does not invade, commend the place in a manner that nothing else does. Very many of these resi- dences are owned and enjoyed by persons having business connections with Cincinnati. As an indication of the intimate relation the cities sustain to each other, it may be remarked that twelve thousand persons daily pass the suspension bridge.
Below Covington, and contiguous to it, is Ludlow, a beautiful, retired village of about one thousand inhabitants. There are many very beautiful homes here, not a few of which are occupied by Cincinnatians. Indeed, so largely is the population a suburban one, that, during the day, it is said, the place is almost deserted by the gentlemen, who leave the control of affairs entirely to the gentler sex. The location is an attractive one ; and, besides the lands already occupied, there is plenty of room for expansion. Of late it has very rapidly improved.
In the rear of Covington are highlands of rare beauty. Some of them are already occupied, but thousands of beautiful building sites yet remain that will at no distant day be occupied by costly residences.
Hardly less interesting than Cincinnati in its early history, is the city
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of Newport. It dates back before the beginning of the present century. The land from which the first plat was made was owned by General James Taylor, whose family yet remain in possession of large tracts in this vicinity. It appears one hundred and eighty acres were surveyed and a plat made by John Roberts, for General Taylor, in the year 1795, it having been sur- veyed in an unsatisfactory manner two or three years preceding.
An act of the general assembly of the commonwealth of Kentucky was then passed, in December, 1795, vesting the land in Thomas Kennedy, Washington Berry, Henry Brashear, Thomas Lindsey, Nathan Kelly, James McClure, and Daniel Duggan, as trustees. This was the commence- ment of the present city of Newport, now seventy-five years old. On the sixteenth day of May following, these trustees met at the house of Jacob Fowler and appointed James Taylor clerk.
Seven years thereafter Congress confirmed the purchase of five acres and six poles of land for the purpose of erecting thereon an arsenal and other public buildings. This was the commencement of Newport Barracks, that has since become one of the most important interior military stations in the country.
The growth of the place since that time has not been rapid, though during the years of 1868 and 1869, it received an impetus from the pro- posed bridge over the Ohio river that has made it quite another city. This bridge, which is to span the Ohio river from the foot of Butler street in Cincinnati to Saratoga street in Newport, will, it is believed, be completed by the first of January, 1871. Besides furnishing a railway track, it will be provided with two carriage and two foot ways. The importance of this improvement to all the country in the vicinity of Newport can hardly be over-estimated. It will at once bring the city of Newport nearer the busi- ness of the latter than any suburb on the north bank of the stream.
Of late, additions have been made to the place; many buildings have been erected, and a new phase put upon the whole face of things. In 1866 the population was twelve thousand; in 1870 it is estimated at sixteen thousand. It contains among its churches three Methodist, one Protestant
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Episcopal, one Presbyterian, two Baptist, two Lutheran, one United Brethren, one German church, a Bethel church, besides the Rev. Mr. Jef- fries' independent Episcopal and three Catholic churches. The place has the complement of Masonic, Odd Fellows', and other lodges. There are two roll- ing mills, two blast furnaces, and other manufactories. It is not, however, its business that makes the city, but the large number of private residences, the owners of which are engaged, directly or indirectly, in the trade of Cin- cinnati. Such persons seek it because it is distinguished for quiet com- fort, pure air, and freedom from many inconveniences to which the inhabitants of every large city are subjected.
Above Newport, and almost adjoining it on the east, the village of Belle- vue was laid out in 1866, by A. S. Berry. This new suburb now has about four hundred inhabitants, and is a village of much quiet beauty.
East Newport, of less importance at present than Bellevue, was laid out by Mr. Berry in 1867.
About one mile above Bellevue is the village of Dayton, now with a pop- ulation of somewhat over three thousand. Dayton was organized by an act of the general assembly in 1868, from the two villages of Jamestown, laid out in 1847 by James T. Berry, and Brooklyn, laid out by Walker & Winston, in 1849, the former being the more remote from Newport. The place has one each of Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Catholic churches. They boast of three good school-houses. A ferry crosses the Ohio regularly to the Seventeenth ward, and a project is on foot to build a street railway through Bellevue to Dayton as soon as the new bridge over the Ohio is completed.
In the rear of Newport and the villages above this city are the highlands that rise from the valleys skirting the Ohio river into hills of considerable altitude, and sweep back into the interior for many miles. These high- lands, for private residences, have hardly been touched. East of the Alex- andria turnpike, Highland avenue has been opened and macadamized. A number of good residences have been here erected, and elsewhere, here and there, prominent business men of the city have built tasteful dwellings.
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Those who have taken their position upon the hills look down from elevated places, from clear, pure air that never will be contaminated by the prox- imity of Cincinnati, upon a city struggling in smoke and dust. One square mile after another is inviting the enterprise of suburban pioneers. It requires no prophet to discover that the time is by no means remote, when this whole district will blossom with improvements and become an important suburb of Cincinnati.
Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad.
In all practicable directions population is swelling out into the country villages. It is not that the population is being injuriously depleted in the city, but that it is running over and escaping from crowded rooms and nar- row dooryards to the fresh air that God promises the suburban resident. It is natural that this tide should follow the line of the railroads, for the men of moderate means and the poor must lean on public conveyances.
On the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton railroad this tide has been set- ting in and is rapidly increasing.
First on this road is Brighton, formerly Ernst Station, two and one-half miles from the depot ; then Cumminsville, five miles from the Cincinnati depot, which has been described.
Two miles farther out is Spring Grove, at the location of Spring Grove Cemetery, where a beautiful village has sprung up during the past few years. This is the home of Platt Evans, who has resided here since the location of the cemetery. The postoffice is called Winton Place, and there appears a desire on the part of the citizens that the suburb should be known by this name.
Ten miles from the city, on the east side of the railroad, is Carthage, an old place of about one thousand inhabitants, that has not until recently attracted the attention of suburban seekers to the degree some places more remote have done. There are, however, many persons residing here who
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are doing business in Cincinnati, and the number will steadily increase until it shall become a part of the city. It is the seat of Longview (lunatic) Asylum, a splendid edifice that stands on rising ground to the east of the road, in full view of passing trains.
One mile north of Carthage is the village of Hartwell, the comely child of the Hamilton County Building Association, whose cheery face and brand new clothes are sure to attract attention and leave a favorable impression. It was laid out in 1868. A tasteful depot has been built, streets and ave- nues opened and improved, and more than two dozen beautiful dwellings erected, to bear testimony to the vigor and enterprise of the Association.
Another mile farther out (twelve from the city) are Lockland and Wyoming. The former is an old place of about one thousand inhabitants, east of the railroad, on the Miami and Erie Canal, and well known on account of its manufactures. Within a few years it has attracted consider- able attention from citizens of Cincinnati seeking locations outside the city.
Adjoining it on the east is Reading, which has also, during the past two years, been putting on a new face and awakening to the fact that the dis- tance between it and the city is very rapidly diminishing.
Wyoming, on the west side of the railroad, and immediately opposite Lockland, is a beautiful suburb that was first laid out by Isaac Riddle. There have been here for many years several excellent dwellings, but it was only a few years ago that it began to attract the attention of Cincinnatians generally as a place of residence. It has now some elegant homes, and is a most promising suburban locality.
Midway between Lockland and Glendale, J. G. Olden is now engaged in laying out a village on the elevated lands east of the railroad. He has about fifty-two acres, that will be subdivided into lots of from one-half to three acres.
Glendale, already described, is fifteen miles from Cincinnati. Elliston, named for Jolin W. Ellis, a small suburban locality, is seventeen miles from the city. Jones Station, so called for John D. Jones, the veteran inerchant, a place of a few Cincinnati families, is nineteen miles from the
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city. Schenck's is twenty-three miles. Hamilton twenty-five miles out, and Middletown twelve miles beyond, are both cities of increasing population and wealth, and the home of many persons identified with Cincinnati.
Little Miami Railroad.
On the Little Miami railroad are many places that have already come into prominent notice. Columbia, four miles from the city, has been alluded to.
Linwood, six miles from the depot in Cincinnati, besides making some suburban pretensions, is the station for Mount Washington. The latter lies three miles to the east, on the highlands, from which the splendid land- scapes of that locality are constantly enjoyed. This is a beautiful suburb, with many tasteful dwellings, and the complement of churches and school- houses to which our suburban residents are now giving so much attention. Omnibuses from the village connect with a morning and an afternoon train.
Red Bank, eight miles from the city, is a station, but can hardly be called a suburban place.
Plainville, one mile farther out, is coming into public notice as a suburb, and is, in addition, the station for Newtown, on the left bank of the Little Miami river. The latter is a place of about one thousand inhabitants, and is already the home of a number of Cincinnati families.
Milford is on the left bank of the Miami, and has a population of about two thousand inhabitants. It is fourteen miles out, and of late years has taken a good rank among the many beautiful suburbs of the city. As an evidence of the character of its population, it may be stated that thirty thousand dollars have recently been expended in a school building.
Camp Dennison, of historic fame, the child of the war, at the mention of whose name the hearts of thousands, who there received their first instruction in the manual of arms, will always beat with accelerated speed, is sixteen miles from the city. After the close of the war, the barracks, storehouses, hospitals, and dwellings, built by the government, passed into
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the hands of private parties. These, with dwellings since erected, have made it a village of about four hundred inhabitants-among them a num- ber of persons engaged in business in Cincinnati. The name has recently been changed to Grand Valley ; but it will be a long time before the mem- bers of the armies it has sent out will learn to call it by any other name than that of Dennison, who, among the patriotic governors of the state, first stood the shock of the rebellion.
Miamiville and Branch Hill are stations seventeen and twenty miles, respectively, from Cincinnati, both of which have suburban residents.
Loveland is a well-known suburb of the city. It has a population of about one thousand, numbering among its inhabitants some of the most enterprising business men of Cincinnati. It has Presbyterian and Method- ist Episcopal churches, and a Christian organization that contemplates building an edifice. It is twenty-three miles from the Cincinnati depot, and has the double advantage of two railroads leading to the city.
Foster's Crossing is twenty-seven miles from the city. This is the station for Mainville, a place two miles from the railroad, that is one of the pleas- antest villages in this part of Ohio.
South Lebanon, thirty-two miles from Cincinnati, is the station for Leb- anon, a delightful small city, with which it is connected by omnibus.
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