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When the cable car route was electrified in 1898, transportation through the area became more efficient, and Walnut Hills became more desirable. New stores were built to accommodate commuters who found it convenient to shop while waiting to transfer at Peebles Corner. During the early 1900s, high-density, mixed-use buildings were erected to accommodate the increasing population and facilitate commercial and residential growth. These buildings had three or four stories with a storefront on the first floor and multi-family residences above. They reflected architectural styles representative of the period including Italianate, Queen Anne, Classical Revival, and Art Deco. The Peebles Corner Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 for its commercial and architectural significance.
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In 1817 twenty-two men, including future President William Henry Harrison, chartered Cincinnati’s first Episcopal parish, Christ Church. In 1835 members erected a Gothic Revival-style church on this site. The neighborhood evolved as the city grew with the influx of immigrants. Parish women raised funds to teach, feed, clothe, and shelter tenement families, and alleviate suffering during floods and disease outbreaks. In 1883 the women helped establish what became Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. In 1909 members opened the Late Gothic-style Parish House, a community center with kitchen, classrooms, library, auditorium, clinic, gymnasium, and bowling alley. By the parish’s centennial in 1917, music had expanded beyond worship to public concerts. In 1940 the annual Boar’s Head Festival of music and pageantry began. Since the 1960s, members have collaborated with local agencies to advocate for social and economic justice, a mission continuing into the 21st century. (Continued on other side)
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The Ohio and Erie Canal Lock 22, constructed from 1830-1831, is the only canal lock in Groveport. Constructed by W.H. Richardson as part of his $2,937 bid to build section 52 of the canal, the sandstone lock is 117 feet long and ten feet deep and has a sixteen foot wide channel. Its purpose was to raise and lower canal boats to meet the changing terrain. The canal’s presence helped fuel commercial and population growth in Groveport in the 19th century by providing a fast and reliable form of transportation to move people, goods, and services to and from the Ohio frontier. It was also a source of recreation as residents used its waters for fishing, row boating, and ice skating. The canal basin at the western end of Lock 22 was a favorite spot for ice skating parties.
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In January 1836, Barber and Lord sold a six-acre parcel for $160 that was to be used “forever as a public burying ground.” When Ohio City incorporated, the township cemetery became the city cemetery. Ohio City’s council established the cemetery’s rules and regulations, appointed a sexton, arranged for the ground to be platted, and purchased a hearse. After annexation by Cleveland, the cemetery became known as “the west side cemetery” and, later, the Monroe Street Cemetery. Under Cleveland’s charge, the cemetery was landscaped, protected by patrolmen, and fenced to keep out wandering hogs. Until the late 1890s, Monroe Street was the only public cemetery on Cleveland’s west side. Architect Joseph Ireland designed the cemetery’s Gothic Revival gateway arch (1874). Architect Walter Blythe designed the cemetery’s gatehouse, also in the Gothic Revival style (1876).
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Chestnut Street Cemetery is the first Jewish cemetery in Ohio and the earliest west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was established in 1821 when Nicholas Longworth sold land to Joseph Jonas, David I. Johnson, Morris Moses, Moses Nathan, Abraham Jonas, and Solomon Moses for $75 as a “burying ground.” Benjamin Lape (or Leib) was the first buried there with Jewish rites. The purchase of the original plot marks the beginning of an organized Jewish community in the Queen City. Chestnut Street Cemetery, although enlarged by adjacent purchases, closed in 1849 when cholera ravaged the city and filled available space. In all, there are approximately 100 interments on the site. Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati maintains Chestnut Street Cemetery as well as many other Jewish cemeteries in the region.
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Sarah Mayrant Walker was born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina, and sent to New Orleans as a young girl to study under a French hair specialist in the art of hair and scalp treatment, and goods manufacturing. Brought to Cincinnati around 1840, she used her networks to build a hair salon empire that catered to elite and wealthy women. In 1859, Sarah single-handedly desegregated the Cincinnati streetcars when she successfully sued The Passenger Railroad Company after a conductor refused her passage and pushed her off the moving car. As a result, Black women and children could ride inside a streetcar while men could ride on the platform. She and her husband, Peter Fossett, founded First Baptist Church of Cumminsville circa 1870. Both are buried in the Union Baptist Cemetery.
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The commercial area of Mount Vernon Avenue originated in the early 1900s as a safe haven for African-American people segregated from the primarily white community of the time. Not permitted to enter many businesses in downtown Columbus during the 1940s, a distinct economy was created, building on establishments already developed in the area. The construction of Interstate 71 through Columbus and the social upheaval and riots of 1967 injured the community to the point where many moved away. Today, Mount Vernon Avenue survives and is being targeted for economic and historic revitalization.
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The Lincoln Theatre, originally known as Ogden Theatre Lodge, opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1929. Developer Al Jackson was spurred to build the theatre because African-Americans were segregated from the other area theatres. Among the bands that have played at the Lincoln was the Eckstine Band, which launched the careers of a number of legendary jazz stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Sarah Vaughn. The Lincoln Theatre retained a high level of integrity during a period of unequaled African-American cultural, social, and economic strength in Columbus.
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