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NORWOOD ANNEXATION NO. 1, 1889


The Village of Norwood was less than a year old when it decided to extend its borders beyond Section 34 of Columbia Township. The plan was to annex the remainder of the land within the Sharpsburg School District not already within the Village. The following is a record of the Council's Ordinance No. 26 as copied in Hamilton County Deed Book 803, page 352.
"Annexation" (Ordinance No. 26.)
Sharpsburg School District
To
The Village of Norwood, Ohio, Ordinance No. 26,
"Annexation"
An Ordinance to provide for the annexing contiguous territory to the Village of Norwood not embraced in said Village.
        Whereas, in the opinion of the Village Council of Norwood, it is advisable that all that part of the Sharpsburg School District, in the County of Hamilton, State of Ohio, not now embraced within the Village Limits, should be incorporated therein, and annexed thereto for municipal purposes. Therefore in order to accomplish such annexation in manner provided and prescribed by law,
        Section 1. Be it ordained by the Village Council of the Village of Norwood, that all that part of the Sharpsburg School District in the County of Hamilton, State of Ohio, not now embraced within the Village of Norwood, in the County of Hamilton aforesaid be incorporated and annexed to the said Village of Norwood, and that after such annexation and incorporation to be a part and parcel of said Village.
        Section 2. That John Weyer, Aaron McNeill and Gustav Schmidt are hereby appointed agents to present to the County Commissioners of Hamilton County, Ohio, a petition praying for the annexation of said territory above named, in manner and form as is prescribed by law.
        Passed Feb'y, 18th 1889.
Attess: (Signed) John Weyer.
        E. G. Bolles, Mayor.
Clerk
I do certify that the foregoing ordinance was duly published by posting copies thereof at five of the most public places of the corporation, as follows, viz:-
1 at C. W. & B. Ry. Station Norwood, Ohio,
1 at C. W. & B. Ry. Station East Norwood, Ohio,
1 at C. W. & B. Ry. Station South Norwood, Ohio,
1 at the Post Office, Norwood, Ohio
1 at C. L. & N. Ry. Station Hopkins Ave., Norwood, Ohio
Feb 20,1889.
E. G. Bolles
Clerk of the Village of Norwood
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the Ordinance passed Feb. 18th 1889.
E. G. Bolles, Clerk
I, W. E. Wichgar, Clerk of the Village of Norwood, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true copy of the original.
W. E. Wichgar,
Clerk of the Village
of Norwood, O

Since the Village did not have a newspaper at the time, the notice of the proposed annexation was placed in five public locations. Four were railroad depots at the following locations: Norwood — Foraker Avenue at the end of Station Avenue; East Norwood — at Harris and Pine; South Norwood — at Lafayette and Smith (the designation of C. W. & B. Ry. is incorrect ... it should have been C. L.& N. Ry), and Hopkins Avenue — at today's Ashland and Lafayette.


The above description was considered to vague by the County Commissioners, so a detailed layout of the new boundary lines was made. The Commissioners were satisfied and Norwood took its first growth step.

The revised description was documented in Plat Book 10, page 33 (the 1899 book of General Ordinances recorded it as page 53. Also, this book referred to the ordinance as No. 56—not No. 26!), and Deed Book 803, page 454 (the record actually started on page 452). This amended description was in one paragraph, but the following copy has been broken into parts, with headings and notes (in black) added, to make it easier to follow.


Amendment to Ordinance No. 56

(EAST SIDE BOUNDARY - Sections 34 & 33)
"Commencing at a stone at the northeast corner of Section 34, Town 4, fractional Range 2, Miami Purchase (this was also the northeast corner of the Village of Norwood at that time and currently would be in the middle of Highland Avenue, between Beech Street and Orchard Avenue); thence east with the north line of Section 28 1,800 feet (along Highland Avenue); thence south 900 feet; thence north 72½° east 225 feet; thence south 85¾° east 80 feet; thence south 40° east 120 feet to the center line of Duck Creek (because of the many changes of direction, this indicates it may have been roughly following a stream feeding into the Duck Creek); thence southwesterly with the center of said creek 4,997 feet to the east line of Section 34 (this boundary directly followed the center of the Duck Creek to a point south of what is now Robertson Avenue and probably at a point where a line draw directly east from Leslie Avenue would intersect I-71 ); thence with said east line south 992 feet to the southeast corner of said Section 34 and the northeast corner of Section 33; thence south along the east line of said Section 33, 2670 feet to the half section line (this was along the center line of the current Edwards Road and to a point across from Hyde Park's Wasson Avenue, just south of the old N. & W. R. R. tracks.);"
(SOUTH SIDE BOUNDARY - Sections 33 & 3)
"thence west along said line 1,978 feet to Besuden's east line (the H. Besuden property is now that part of Hyde Park, west of Rockwood Commons); thence north along said line 1,192 feet to the north line of Hudson Avenue of Elsmere Subdivision; thence west with the north line of Hudson Avenue 3,274 feet to the west line of Regent Avenue 125 feet to the north line of Hudson Avenue, Cleneay's subdivision; thence west with said section line of Hudson avenue 1,110 feet to the center of Ivanhoe Avenue, Durrell's subdivision (apparently that part of South Norwood south of, and including, Hudson Avenue was not part of this first annexation — Hudson, Cleneay, Lexington, Morten, and some of the southern sections of Regent, Spencer, Elsmere, Hazel, Floral, Forest, Cavangna (South Madison), Elvin (South Jefferson) and Besuden (Grove) were excluded); thence north with the center of Ivanhoe Avenue 442 feet to the center of Wayland Avenue, thence west with the center of Wayland Avenue 1,550 feet;"
(WEST SIDE BOUNDARY - Sections 3, 4 & 35)
"thence north 1,055 feet to the south line of Section 4, Millcreek Township; thence west along said section line 60 feet (this is the western end of Williams Avenue); thence north 16° west 1,820 feet; thence east 950 feet; thence north 1,685 feet; thence east 515 feet; thence north 1,770 feet; thence north 86½° east 1,755 feet to the northwest corner of Section 34, Columbia Township; thence north along the line between Columbia and Millcreek Township 3,710 feet;"
(NORTH SIDE BOUNDARY- Section 35)
"thence east 2,740 feet; thence south 195 feet; thence east 1,400 feet; thence south 270 feet; thence south 45° east 640 feet; thence south 43° west 345 feet; thence south 70° east 1,175 feet to the east boundary line of Section 35, Columbia Township;"
(EAST SIDE BOUNDARY - Section 35)
"thence south along said east line 2,140 feet to the place of beginning;"
(ORIGINAL NORWOOD INCORPORTATION BOUNDARIES - Section 34)
"and starting again from the place of beginning; thence south along the east line of Section 34, Columbia Township, to the southeast corner of said section; thence west along the south line of said Section 34 to the southwest corner of same; thence north along the west line of said Section 34 to the northwest corner thereof; thence east along the north line of said Section 34 to the northeast corner thereof and the place of beginning. (Drawing around the original boundary line in this manner was just a way of not including the original Village of Norwood's incorporated land, which was the entire Section 34 of Columbia Township, Hamilton County.)"

—From pages 17 & 18 of The General Ordinances of the Incorporated Village of Norwood, Hamilton County, Ohio - In Force October 1, 1899.
Note
We can tell by this description that by early 1889, the subdivisions of Elsmere, Cleneay and Durrell were in existence. Also, the streets of Hudson, Regent, Ivanhoe, and Wayland Avenues were in place.


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