NORWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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Historical Dates for Norwood, Ohio.
1950s

  • 1950 (January 1)
    The 1950-51 Norwood officials, elected on November 8, 1949, are installed this Sunday. They are:
    • R. Edward Tepe, mayor (D)
    • John B. Deiters, vice-mayor (D)
    • Joseph W. Shea, Jr., solicitor (D)
    • Walter E. Steuer, treasurer (D)
    • George P. Kleb, council-at-large (D)
    • David Holland Wilson, council-at-large (D)
    • John Wise, council-at-large (D)*
    • Richard Gatto, 1st ward council (D)*
    • Harvey J. Shirley, Jr., 2nd ward council (R)*
    • Lawrence Shofstall, 3rd ward council (D)
    • Joseph W. Shea, Sr., 4th ward council (D)
    • William T. Cosgrove, 5th ward council (D)
    • Beverly B. Cook, 6th ward council (R)*
    • Andrew O. Haefer, justice of peace
    • Hayden H. Sizemore, justice of peace
    • Walter H. Elstun, constable
      Also, in the middle of a four-year term was
    • George E. Lyle, auditor (R)
      * These are new councilmembers.


  • 1950 (January 1)
    Norwood eliminates the parking fees at its 337 space municipal parking lot on Washington Avenue near Montgomery Road. The costs is absorbed by the city and the Norwood Businessmen's Association. This is considered a unique thing at the time, since the only free public parking lot in Cincinnati is the Public Landing.

  • 1950 (January 3)
    There is an indication that the new Bloody Run sewer installed along Norwood's northern limits is not able to handle the load. The basement of an apartment building at 5002 Montgomery Road has 2-1/2 feet of water and waste backup this morning. City workers pump the water out within an hour. It appears that the waste may have come from the nearby industrial laundry facility.

  • 1950 (January 5)
    A sleet storm hits Norwood this Thursday. The weight of the ice breaks the trolley wires on Forest Avenue near Jefferson Avenue. Since the trolley buses can not run until repairs are made, motor buses are called into duty.

  • 1950 (January 5)
    Shortly after noon, a Milford resident runs his truck into a pole along the north side of Harris Avenue near Montgomery Road, at the edge of the White Castle parking lot. (Note: Years later, the White Castle restaurant moves to its current location between Carthage Avenue, Montgomery Road and Ross Avenue. The section of Harris Avenue connecting with Montgomery Road is removed when the Norwood Lateral is built.)

  • 1950 (January 7)
    The Schmidlapp Motor Car Company (an Oldsmobile dealership) has a grand opening of its new display room and garage at 3813 Montgomery Road this Saturday. The business relocated the previous month from 3804 Montgomery Road — its home from its beginning in 1935.

  • 1950 (January)
    State agents raid the Bronze Lantern tavern at Williams and Edwards Roads (now the site of a Gold Star Chili restaurant), finding evidence of a bookmaking operation.

  • 1950 (January 10)
    Norwood's first traffic fatality of 1950 occurs today at 12:15 p.m. Lawrence Haverkamp, Jr., five years old, is fatally injured when he walks into the side of a Clifton-Hughes bus at Williams Avenue and Smith Road. He dies two hours later.

    As the boy is on his way home at 2548 Duck Creek Road from kindergarten at Sharpsburg School, the bus turns from Smith to Williams. The safety patrolman who usually is at this corner is off sick. Although there is a patrolman at the southeast corner, he is too far away to prevent the accident. This six-point intersection of Smith, Duck Creek and Williams is noted as being complicated.

    1950 (January 16)
    Building Inspector Henry B. Burwinkle reports that one of Norwood's oldest buildings has been condemned and probably will be demolished. The building is a log house at 5243 Montgomery Road, just north of Fenwick Avenue (in today's CVS parking lot). It is unoccupied and in need of extensive repairs. It is believed that the building was constructed about 1863, when there were only five or six homes in what was later to be Norwood.

    Note: The 1953 Rupert book incorrectly gives the address as 5234 Montgomery Road, which would place it on the wrong side of Montgomery Road, near, or at, Indian Mound Avenue.

  • 1950 (February)
    Street Railway officials notify Mayor Tepe that the North Norwood trolley bus might be disconnected.

  • 1950 (May 31)
    Norwood receives a double dose of bad news when both former three-term Norwood Mayor Louis Nolte (1920-25) and former Norwood Chief of Police Carl Wenzel die.

  • 1950 (2nd week of May)
    Permit is issued to build a wading pool and shelter house at Burwood Park for an estimate cost of $14,000.

  • 1950 (May)
    A new traffic light timer system is installed at the six-point intersection at Montgomery, Smith, Harris, Norwood & Carthage. The 74-second cycle is allocated: 10-second period, all red; 22-sec, green for Smith & Carthage; 18-sec, Montgomery; 12-sec, Harris & Norwood and 12-sec, three 4-second amber lights.

  • 1950 (June 22)
    The second consecutive annual Norwood Civic Exposition opens as around 15,000 persons pack the Norwood High School athletic field for the ceremonies. The three day exposition includes a parade, exhibits, educational programs, entertainment and merchandise booths.

  • 1950 (June 1)
    John B. Wirth takes position as Norwood Recreation Director, replacing acting director Albert W. Geslebracht, who was in the office since Harold C. Dillon resigned on April 15.

  • 1950 (June 26, Monday)
    Starting today, General Motors' two Norwood plants will need 1600 more workers. The addition of a night shift for the first time in fifteen years was the reason. GM planned to increase output from about 550 cars and trucks a day to around 800. This would increase employment from 2,500 to 4,100.

  • 1950
    The "Civil War House" at 5243 Montgomery Road is demolished. The house, built around 1864, was used as a meeting place for veterans of The Grand Army of the Republic for around fifty years.

  • 1951 (May 3)
    The Wolf's Club, an organization dedicated to the physical and social welfare of its members, is incorporated.

  • 1951 (May 26)
    Early this Saturday afternoon, violent windstorm blows through Norwood bringing rain, hail the size of mothballs, and 60-mph winds. Two-thirds of Norwood's homes and business lost electrical power, until CG&E restored it less than an hour after storm ended. Large trees were toppled at Wesley and Norwood, Marion and Norwood and Park Avenue, causing street blockages.

  • 1951 (May 28)
    A large turnout of South Norwood residents attended a Zoning and Planning Commission hearing to protest the request for rezoning of property at Smith and Forest for the new Kroger store. The property was zoned residential at the time.

  • 1952 (February 8)
    The new Williams Avenue elementary school and adminstration building was dedicated by superintendent of Norwood schools, Dr. Harold S. Bates, this evening.

  • 1952 (February 15)
    Vera-Ellen visited her old school at the Norwood High School (now Middle School) auditorium to a warm reception. She posed with the current majorettes for photos. She had been a majorette at Norwood H.S.

  • 1952 (March)
    The First National Bank of Norwood merges with The First National Bank of Cincinnati and becomes known as the Norwood Office of that bank.

  • 1952 (June 18)
    Kroger opens a larger new store at 2515 Leslie Avenue, near the Smith Road/Forest Avenue intersection. (That building is now a UDF storage building.) Probably at the same time, the Kroger store on the 1st floor of "The Sharpsburg" building, next to the fire station, is closed.

  • 1952 (September)
    The Norwood Savings Bank (formerly the Commercial Savings Bank of Norwood) merges with The First National Bank of Cincinnati and becomes known as the Norwood Savings Office of that bank.

  • 1952 (September 26)
    Former Norwood Mayor (1912-1913) and City Solicitor (1937-40) William Fridman dies at the age of 89. He is one of the state's oldest practicing lawyers at the time of his death.

  • 1953 (February)
    City Council announced that residents south of Duck Creek Road would be billed for water by Norwood instead of Cincinnati. In July, work began to connect that area with the Norwood water lines.

  • 1953 (February)
    Fifty-five union workers at Schulte Brass Manufacturing Company went on strike.

  • 1953 (April)
    City Council began review of the plans for the Norwood Lateral highway that would connect Reading Road with the planned Northeast Expressway (I-71).

  • 1953 (April 30)
    The Enterprise publishes a Golden Jubilee Edition with articles recounted the city's history. This was Norwood's 50th anniversary as an incorporated city.

  • 1953 (May 6)
    Norwood celebrates its 50th anniversary as a city. An estimated 100,000 spectators view the two hour parade.

  • 1953 (June)
    One-hundred and seventy-four Norwood High School seniors graduate.

  • 1953 (week of July 13)
    Work begins this week on seal coating the heavily traveled streets in North, South and East Norwood, east of Montgomery Road. The coating consists of asphalt and crushed rock. It is expected that the operation will take 3-4 weeks. The streets west of Montgomery Road were coated last year.

  • 1953 (July 20)
    This Monday, excavation of Edmondson Road begins for water lines to connect the southeast section of South Norwood with the Norwood water lines. The water is being supplied by Cincinnati at a cost to the Norwood residents of 25 cents per cubic foot of water. With the Norwood connection, the 300 residents on Edmondson Road, Arbor Place, Atlantic Avenue, and Garland Avenue as well as some on Edwards Road, Williams Avenue and Smith Road will soon have water from Norwood's 10" mains for a cost of 16 cents per cubic foot. It is expected that the work will take 60 days to complete.

  • 1953 (August/September)
    The Norwood Enterprise reports that on Thursday, August 20, 1953, Norwood Police Chief Charles W. Fritz announced that 31 police call boxes are to be installed at locations in the city. The phones are to be used by city residences in cases of emergency or trouble. They are said to be similar to the well-known fire and taxi call boxes. Some of the boxes will be moved to more convenient locations. The first box is put into operation Tuesday, August 18, at the B. & O. bridge and the second place, Wednesday, August 19, at Sherman and Allison. A short time after the first is operational, a motorist uses it to report being in an accident. A fine of $500 and a six month jail sentence will be the punishment for deliberate misuse of the units.

    On September 10, 1953, the newspaper gives the location of the remaining call stations. Twelve more to be installed, within the near future, are:
    Quatman and Main Fenwick and Main
    Main opposite Madison Hopkins and Main
    Williams and Main Cleneay and Main
    Harris and Poplar Forest and Kenilworth
    Kenilworth and Smith Hazel and Hudson
    Shanmoor and Grove Crown and Section

    Later, seventeen more are to be installed at:
    Dale and Carthage Norwood and Forest
    Warren and Worth Sherman and Carter
    Hopkins and Carter Robertson and Beech
    Cleneay and Regent Duck Creek and Williams
    Cleneay and Floral Hunter and Lawn
    Sherman and Allison Carthage and Wayne
    Elm and Ridgeway Dacey and Edwards
    Hopkins and Webster Floral and Jefferson
    Adams and Lafayette

    Click for a list of the old fire alarm boxes and patrol boxes.


  • 1954 (early January?)
    Harrisburg Steel Corporation of Pennsylvania purchased the Taylor-Wharton Iron & Steel Company, 5038 Beech Street. The Norwood company produced special trackwork for railroad and industrial use, gas cylinders, gas trailer transports and manganese steel castings.

  • 1954 (August 6)
    The old Cowan Hall building at Main & Waverly Avenues is sold by The Matheson Company (the successor to Coleman & Bell and predecessor to EM Science) to the Sun Furniture and Applicance Company. The building was the second home of the Cowan Lodge and, on the first floor, the store of Thomkins Pharmacy (from which Coleman & Bell may have originated). The building is still standing, although the front has been greatly modified.

  • 1954 (September 22)
    The East Norwood Improvement Association is organized. Its purpose is to promote the betterment of East Norwood.

  • 1955 (April 26)
    Norwood City Council passes an ordinance to resurface Main Avenue (Montgomery Road) from Cleneay Avenue, to the point where it joins Carthage Avenue – a distance of about one mile. The main purpose, according to Safety-service Director Ray Achten, is to cover the no longer used street car tracks, thereby reducing the hazard to auto traffic.

  • 1955 (June 11)
    At 2:01 a.m., Saturday, June 11, all MElrose, JEfferson, REdwood and ELmhurst telephone numbers are changed from two letters and four numerals to two letters and five numerals. This change affects some 22,600 subscriber lines and over 41,000 telephones. The new system will eventually allow for direct distance dialing. After the changeover on this date, callers from distant cities with direct distance dialing were able to complete customer dialed calls into Cincinnati and Norwood.

    (Note: In today's numerical system, these exchanges would be ME=631, JE=531, RE=731 and EL=351.)

  • 1955 (June)
    Albers Super Market, the first store of which was in Norwood, is purchased and merged into Colonial Stores.

  • 1955 (October 20)
    The Norwood Enterprise reports that the school board will start condemnation proceedings against the Brichetto property at 4325 Forest Avenue (corner of Forest and Smith) within about six weeks. The owners would not accept the board's $25,575 offer. Three appraisals had valued the property at $23,250, $23,725 and $26,000. The owners wanted $47,500.

  • 1955
    Globe-Wernicke Company is purchased by the City Auto Stamping Company of Toledo, Ohio.

  • 1956
    City Auto Stamping Company changes its name to Globe-Wernicke Industries, Inc. The Globe-Wernicke Company continues making office furniture. A subsidiary company continues using the City Auto Stamping Company name.

  • 1956 (January 19)
    The Norwood Enterprise reports that the Brichetto property at 4325 Forest Avenue is to be condemned by the Norwood School Board for the expansion of Sharpsburg School. The present plan is to build a temporary structure for Kindergarten classes.

  • 1956 (September 7)
    The Norwood High School Boosters' Club has its first meeting.

  • 1956 (December 1)
    The Kaesemeyer & Sons Dairy announces to their customers that the business had been sold to the French-Bauer Company. The building at 5612-14 Carthage Avenue, Norwood, and the 258 dairy farm in Warren County are not sold. The building at Cartage & Dale is to be offered for lease to other businesses and the farm will supply other retailers. Basically, then, French-Bauer takes over the delivery routes.

  • 1956 (December 6)
    The Mead Company of Dayton buys Norwood's Jackson Box Company.

  • 1957 Globe-Wernicke Industries acquires Aluminum Seating Corporation of Akron and changes its name to Globe-Wernicke Chair Company. Although it is separate from the Globe-Wernicke Company, it does capitalize on the Globe-Wernicke name.

  • 1957 (April 11)
    A Enterprise article with map describes the proposed "Norwood lateral." It was to be the connecting link between the "Northeast" (I-71) and "Millcreek" (I-75) expressways. Some of the negative aspects mentioned were: loss of about 200 homes, loss of property tax revenue and the resultant increased property taxes in the city due to the revenue loss and Norwood's 5% share of the project. Of the estimated $9.6 million total cost, $6 million was for acquiring property.

    The map showing the proposed route differs from the final location. The entire layout would be north of today's route. The projected route came into Norwood from the west, between Ross and Lawn Avenues, then go under Carthage Avenue and under Montgomery Road at Buxton Avenue. From there it would cross Stewart Park, Wesley, Marion, and Highland Avenues, Ash Street, and Forest and Lindley Avenues, then continue directly east, parallel to and north of Norwood Avenue, to the "Northeast Expressway." The west-bound entrance would be at Montgomery Road, across from Sherwood Lane, with the actual merge near Rolston and Warren Avenues, and the eastbound entrance would be Montgomery Road, directly across from Ross Avenue. The east-bound exit would be at Globe Avenue, and the west-bound exit would be at Montgomery Road, between Buxton Avenue and Sherwood Lane.

  • 1957 (June)
    Five-term Mayor Tepe is killed in an automobile accident.

  • 1957
    The Kemper-Thomas Company, manufacturer of promotional advertisement items, such as calendars, glassware, fabric goods, paper products, etc., changes its name to Osborne-Kemper-Thomas. The Osborne Company was purchased in 1953. The offices and factory are on the north side of Park Avenue, between Smith Road and Floral Avenue. (Today the facility is used by the Salvation Army.)

  • 1958
    Former Norwood Mayor Frank J. Ward dies.

  • 1958 (July 4)
    A memorial — a marble shaft with a bronze winged victory and bronze plaques with the names of veterans who died in the World War I, World War II and the Korean conflict — is dedicated at Victory Park.

  • 1958 (November 1)
    The Norwood Branch Post Office on Sherman Avenue is dedicated. Dedication Program

  • 1959 (September)
    The city announces a plan to build a new incinerator in 12-15 months. The current incinerator is said to be "40 or 50 years old."

  • 1959?
    Norwood closes its artesian wells and starts buying water from Cincinnati. As the water table drops it is too expensive to maintain the wells.

    

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