- 1890 (March 3)
By Ordinance 69, the Council of the Village of Norwood votes to purchase the eight-year-old Town Hall from
the Norwood Hall Association. The actual sale takes place on June 20.
- 1890 (March 9)
On a Sunday, Peter J. Schneider's home at 1702 Sherman Avenue, west of Carter Street, burns down,
frustrating the efforts to save it by his neighbors and fellow members of St. Elizabeth's Parish.
- 1890 (March 12 - some sources give date as March 10)
The West Norwood Volunteer Fire Department is organized after
Mr. Schneider's home burned down three days previous. Although it is commonly thought to be the first fire brigade in the Norwoods, a
volunteer fire brigade was created and in operation two years previously in South Norwood.
- 1890 (March 17)
Only eight days after the West Norwood fire, an even larger blaze hits the east side of Montgomery Pike,
north of the B. & O. S.W. tracks and across from Carthage Avenue. Destroyed are the livery stable of L. G. Joyce (maybe later known as
the F. Schafer & Company livery and boarding stable), the blacksmith shop (maybe at 4920 Montgomery Road) and dwelling house (maybe 4926
Montgomery Road) of Frank Gerde, and the dwelling of a Mr. Littleton. All the horses are burned and the total monetary loss is $20,000
with only $8,500 covered by insurance.
This is probably a very frightening and memorable time for Mrs. Gerde. At the time of the disaster, she has two young children:
Mamie, 4½, and Charley, 2½. Coincidently, nine months later, according to at least one record, she gave birth to another son, Arthur.
This disaster leads to the establishment of the Norwood Volunteer Fire Company, which locates on Montgomery Road at Smith Road,
just south of the bridge. (Some sources give the date of organization as January 23, 1892—almost 2 years after the fire!)
- 1890 (April 13)
The Board of Improvements is created.
- 1890 (June) Jackson Slane, Norwood pioneer, dies. On February 18th, 1868, he was one
of the signers of the call for a vote on the establishment of a separate Sharpsburg school district. He was one of three chosen to be
members of the first independent board of education of the new district.
- 1890 (June 20)
The Village formally purchases the Norwood Town Hall from the Norwood Town Hall Association. This building
is used by Norwood's government until it is replaced by the present City Hall in 1915.
- 1890 (June 21) The Duckcreek Baptist Church's held its last meeting at the low brick church overlooking Duck Creek, at
Edmondson Road. It was a celebration of the Columbia Baptist Church's 100th anniversary. The congregation had already moved to Mt.
Lookout. The church started at the Columbia pioneer settlement, moved to Duck Creek, to Mt. Lookout, and finally near Hyde Park Square.
- 1890 (July 4)
The West Norwood Volunteer Firehouse is dedicated. The firehouse was destroyed by fire in 1894. It was
replaced with a brick structure. By the early part of the 20th century the old firehouse has become a tavern and restaurant.
- 1890 (July 21)
The purchase of the Montgomery Turnpike, within the village limits, is approved by council with Ordinance
101. This is the first step in the construction of the electric car tracks. Since the county was reviewing bids back in June 1888, one
wonders if, for two years, there was a legal tie-up with Henry Martin's assertion that he owns the right-of-way on the pike.
- 1890 (October 15)
In celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of Presbyterianism in the Ohio Valley, a special chartered train leaves Cincinnati at 9:15 A.M. for addresses and a luncheon at Pleasant Ridge. In the afternoon, the train returns to Cincinnati for more meetings and services. The train likely travels on the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railroad tracks through the 2½ year-old Village of Norwood.
- 1890 (September 3)
Nineteen-year-old Walter Bell dies near the East Norwood train station, after he hops onto a east-bound freight train. He was on his way to work in East Norwood, at the Bullock plant (today, the site of Siemen's). He had moved to Norwood with his brother Howard a year ago. When their mother, Jennie Bell of Avenue, Ohio, near Columbus, heard of her son's death, she died, too.
- 1890
The third municipal election in Norwood takes place.
- 1890
According to "Historical Collections of Ohio: An Encyclopedia of the State: History Both General and Local, ..." by Henry Howe, 1891, the 1890 census population numbers for Norwood (composed of the major subdivisions of South Norwood, East Norwood and "old" Norwood) is 1,390 and for West Norwood, 612.
- 1891 (February)
The first building for the Norwood Presbyterian Church was constructed at Smith Road and Floral Avenue. Before the church was built, religious services were held in the schoolhouse and then the town hall, taking turns with other denominations in planning the services.
- 1891
Its the fourth municipal election and a new mayor is elected - Aaron McNeill.
- 1891 (July 4)
The electric rail car starts its route from Eden Park to Norwood, reportedly creating the strongest growth of any local community at the time. The tracks are placed on the east side of the road, but, years later, are moved to the center.
- 1891 (September 1-12)
A "Mammoth Bazaar" is held at Sanker's Garden to raise money to expand St. Elizabeth's Church. Over $6,000 is raised and on the 24th, the adjoining lot on Lincoln Avenue was purchased.
- 1891 (October 5) Ordinance No. 273, is passed by council to accept the second annexation by the young Village of Norwood. It adds land to the south of the village — south of Hudson Avenue, east of Elsmere Avenue and north of Duckcreek Road and the C., P. & V. R. R. tracks (previously known as the Cincinnati & Eastern Railway).
- 1892 (January 23)
The Norwood Fire Company No. 1 is organized, supposedly after a large fire destroyed several buildings on the east side of the Montgomery Pike, north of the B.&O S.W. tracks. (This date is according to the Norwood Fire Department's History Page.)
- 1892 (March 29)
The State of Ohio passed a law authorizing the Hamilton County Commissioners to purchase all or any
part of the "Cincinnati, Montgomery, Hopkinsville, Sharpsburg, Rochester and Clarksville turnpike, known as the Cincinnati and
Montgomery turnpike" and maintain it as a free turnpike. Text of the Ohio State
House Bill allowing Hamilton County to purchase Montgomery Pike.
- 1892 (April)
Fifth municipal election.
- 1892 (November 7)
The third annexation is accepted by Norwood with Ordinance No. 445. It is composed of properties of Edwin McMillan and others. This land is to the east of Montgomery Road, to the west of Regent Avenue, to the south of Hudson Avenue, and to the north of the C., P. & V. R. R. tracks.
- 1892 (November 8)
Citizens vote to build a municipal water works.
- 1892 (November 21)
Ordinance No. 451 is passed by council. It provides for the construction of the Water Works and the establishment of a Board of Trustees for same.
- 1893 (January 9)
Two ordinances concerning streets are passed by Norwood Council.
The first is Ordinance No. 483. Its purpose is to widen and straighten Smith Road between Montgomery Road and Duck Creek Road. The improvement requires the taking of strips of land, varying from 5 to 15 feet wide, from the properties along the street.
The second, Ordinance No. 487, appropriates property in the "triangle area" between Carthage Avenue and Montgomery Road, so that Highland Avenue can be extended from Montgomery Road to Carthage Avenue.
At some later time that short street is abandoned. However, by 2002, there are preliminary plans to recreate this street segment as the access point from Montgomery Road to the proposed development "Linden Point on the Lateral." Because of concern of increased traffic on Highland Avenue, this plan is modified. In 2007, an extension of Norwood Avenue (another re-creation of an abandoned street) from Montgomery Road to Section Avenue is built as the main entrance (there appears to be limited access from Montgomery Road, across from Highland Avenue, however). In October, 2007, Council passes an ordinance naming the street Joseph E. Sanker Boulevard in honor of a former mayor.
- 1893 (spring) At the sixth municipal election, Mayor McNeill is re-elected.
- 1894
In one day, the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railroad tracks are converted from narrow gauge to standard gauge. This allows freight traffic, as well as passenger service. With the electric street car in operation for the last three years, the railroad may have experienced a decline in passenger ridership, forcing the company to look at freight as an income source.
- 1894 The Norwood Water Works is completed as six artesian wells and a pumping station are operational. Nine more wells are eventually drilled as two old ones are capped. They supply Norwood with water for sixty-five years. Any home built before this date (or, if the builder was forward thinking, late 1892) has to have water pipes installed after the house was constructed.
- 1894 (March)
The Norwood Enterprise newspaper begins publication.
- 1984 (March 6)
The West Norwood Volunteer firehouse burned. It was soon replaced with a brick structure at the same
location—1818 Mills Avenue. The building is still being used today—as a tavern.
- 1894 (March 24)
The Norwood Wheelmen, a bicycle club is organized.
- 1894 (April) The book "Norwood, Her Homes and Her People" by Ren Mulford, Jr. and Wertner G. Betty is published. It is created as a souvenir for the celebration of the completion of the Norwood Water Works System.
- 1895 (July 26)
Former Norwood Mayor Dr. John Weyer and Norwood Presbyterian Church pastor, Rev. J. J. Hopkins, swore out
warrants, that resulted in the arrest this day of 92 men at the nearby Oakley Race Track. Every bookie and their employees were taken
into custody for "receiving bets on the speed of a horse," which was against Ohio law.
- 1895 (October 21)
The Mason's Norwood Lodge No. 576, holds its first meeting in the Norwood Lodge Hall in the Knights of Pythias Building, at the corner of Montgomery Road and Waverly Avenue. Its first meeting, after being granted the right to organize by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, was at the Hall of Pleasant Ridge Lodge No. 282, on July 11, 1895.
- 1895
George Bullock, son of prominent Cincinnati businessman Anthony D. Bullock, purchases the Card Electric Motor & Dynamo Company. He renames it the Bullock Electric Manufacturing Company in 1897 and moves it to Norwood in 1898, as Norwood's first industrial plant.
- 1895 (November 18)
The Village accepts more adjacent territory for its fourth annexation with Ordinance No. 808. The land is south of Hudson Avenue, north of the C. P. & V. R. R. tracks, east of Regent Avenue and west of Elsmere Avenue.
- 1896
Norwood's population is estimate to be around 7,000.
- 1896
Construction begins on a new 12-room elementary school and 8-room high school on Allison Avenue.
- 1896 (July 12)
Longtime Sharpsburg resident and landowner Joseph G. Langdon dies.
- 1896
The Ivanhoe Methodist Episcopal Church changes its name to Grace Methodist Church.
- 1896 (December 2) Late this afternoon, John M. Woolley, 18 year old East Norwood boy, is fatally wounded by an accidental discharge of an old double-barreled shotgun by one of his hunting partners, Ralph Hallam, 17, who lived at Maple and Section Avenues, Norwood. Also, in the hunting party are Louis Cordes and Russell Bachelor, both of the area. Bachelor's grandfather, A. O. Russell, the head of the U.S. Printing Company, owns the farm in Norwood Heights (Indian Mound area) where the accident occurs.
- 1897 (February)
Norwood's first high school is opened on Allison Street. This is the first time that Norwood has offered a full high school curriculum.
- 1897 (March 3)
Mrs. Mary Lotz, 46, of Oakley, is instantly killed by a west-bound B. & O. S. W. train at East Norwood this morning. She was driving into the city in a one-horse carriage when she was hit while attempting to cross the tracks. The train tossed her into the air and she landed along the tracks about 20 feet from the station. Her horse was killed also. The buggy was "reduced to kindling wood." Her husband is a wealthy dairyman of Oakley. Undertaker Behymer of Norwood took charge of the body. Coroner Haerr was notified and held an inquest the next day.
- 1897 (October 25)
The Cincinnati Gas Light & Coke Company receives a franchise to supply gas to Norwood. By the end of the 19th century, the company has 353 gas customers in Norwood. The company is allowed to put pipes under the somewhat new Norwood streets, but has to repair them to the original condition. This indicates that any house built before this date probably has to have the gas lines installed in the building after it is constructed.
- 1897
The Norwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is started.
- 1898
The Bullock Electric Manufacturing Company moves into a new plant on Forest Avenue in "East Norwood" as Norwood's first (modern) industry (excluding the McFarlan Lumber Company on Montgomery Pike and the Cincinnati Brick Company on Duck Creek). The officers are George Bullock, President and Treasurer; J. S. Neave, Vice-president; J. W. Bullock, Secretary, and William Cooper, Superintendent. George Bullock lives on Vernon Place, Cincinnati. By 1902, this company will become part of Allis-Chalmers, and eventually a part of the German company, Siemens.
- 1898
The fifth annexation is accepted by Norwood. This land is basically west of Montgomery Road and Ivanhoe Avenue, south of Wayland Avenue, north of the C., P. & V. R. R tracks, and at the current corporation line on the west.
- 1898
The road surface of Montgomery Road is leveled and macadamized. The largest cut was at Williams Avenue. Before that, traveling on the road was said to be like a toboggan slide, up one hill and down another. The decline was greatest coming into Norwood from Evanston.
- 1898 (December 13)
The U. S. Supreme Court rules that the method that Norwood used to increase the tax on Ellen R. Baker's property, adjacent to a newly constructed street (Hopkins Avenue extension) was unconstitutional. The village used imminent domain to acquire part of the Baker land for the street. It appeared to the court that the village was trying to recoup the price it paid Mrs. Baker for her land by increasing her taxes.
- 1899 (January 6)
The West Norwood Fire Co. selected its officers: President, Lewis H. Gebhart; Vice President,
John W. Hall; Secretary, Joseph Lammers; Treasurer, August Wieman; Custodian of Hall, F. H. Runnebaum.
- 1899 (August 21)
The Village of Norwood passes Ordinance No. 989, for its fifth annexation.
- 1899 (December)
Colonel Philander Parmele Lane, one of the developers of Norwood Heights (from which Norwood got its name), dies.
- 1899
Dr. Frank O. Perry receives his medical license and starts his practice in Norwood. He is Norwood's first health officer from 1910 to 1920. He is the son of William H. Perry, who is elected, in 1903, as one of the first councilmen for the City of Norwood.
- 1899
It is written that the first Norwood library service began in J. L. Vine's drug store at Montgomery Road and Maple Avenue. Eight years later the Norwood Library is built at Montgomery Road and Weyer Avenue.
A fee-based library was housed in Norwood Town Hall over a decade before the Vine library. There were private club libraries in Norwood earlier, also. Perhaps the drug store's library is the first free public library.
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