Norwood is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and an enclave of Cincinnati. The population was 19,043 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Hamilton County. Originally settled as an early suburb of Cincinnati in the wooded countryside north of the city, the area is characterized by older homes and tree-lined streets.
History
Early history
The earliest humans in the area now known as Norwood are believed to have been Pre-Columbian era people of the Adena culture. Norwood Mound, a prehistoric earthwork mound built by the Adena, is located in Norwood and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Adena constructed the mound at the location of Norwood's present-day Water Tower Park, which is the highest land elevation in the city. Archaeologists believe the mound was built at this site due to the high elevation and was used by the Adena for religious ceremonies and smoke signaling.
Several Native American mounds were located in Downtown Cincinnati at the time of arrival of the first white settlers. However, by 1895, the Norwood Mound was the only remaining mound in the vicinity of Cincinnati. The mound has never been excavated, but it is reported that many artifacts found in the area by early Norwood settlers in the 1800s made up the original nucleus of the Native American Art Collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum. In the early-20th century, Norwood High School named their sports team mascot the Indians in honor of this local Native American heritage.
Sharpsburg settlement In 1787, the United States Congress established the Northwest Territory, and John Cleves Symmes, Congressman from New Jersey, purchased of the territory (the Symmes Purchase), within which the future Norwood is located. One year later, the first permanent settlement on the banks of the Ohio River in what would later become Cincinnati was established. In 1793, General "Mad Anthony" Wayne led several companies of troops from Fort Washington in Cincinnati to advance against a hostile tribe of Native Americans encamped on the banks of the nearby Millcreek in what is now St. Bernard. Historians believe that a company of troops under the direction of General Wayne made their way through Norwood during this campaign and widened an old Native American trail, which followed the path of present-day Smith Road, Montgomery Road, and Carthage Avenue.
In 1794, a pioneer named Peter Smith settled on Duck Creek in or near the current location of Norwood. It is believed he is one of the earliest Norwood settlers, if not the first. Soon after, a road was built connecting the early settlement of Columbia on the Ohio River near the Little Miami River with the settlement of Carthage, just north of Cincinnati. This road cut through Norwood along the old Indian Path widened by General Wayne's troops. Anthony Wayne's victory over the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers the same year signaled the end of the Northwest Indian War which enabled pioneers to begin settling former hostile lands such as the future Norwood. In 1795, another road was built along the present-day path of Montgomery Road, connecting Cincinnati with Montgomery, Ohio and beyond. Montgomery Road was known as the "State Road" and Smith Road/Carthage Avenue was known as the "County Road."
In 1809, a settler named Samuel D. Bowman purchased land near the crossing of the State Road and the County Road, where he established a tavern and coach stop for travelers. He was soon joined by John Sharp, who built a cabin and country store at the opposite side of the intersection. The community of half a dozen houses soon became known as "Sharpsburg", after Sharp. For the next half century, the coach stop along the road between Cincinnati and Columbus remained small.
Sharpsburg becomes Norwood In 1866, the first tracks of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad were completed, connecting Loveland with Cincinnati. The tracks ran from east to west through Sharpsburg and still exist in the same location today, parallel to the Norwood Lateral Expressway and passing under the Montgomery Road overpass. The village did not initially have a train station when the railway opened, but the possibility of passenger rail access to Cincinnati generated interest in developing a residential subdivision nearby. In 1868, two early developments were platted in the area north of the railroad. The first train station was established that same year.
In 1869, Sylvester H. Parvin, Col. Philander P. Lane and Lemuel Bolles purchased the William Ferguson farm north of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad tracks and platted an eighty-one-acre subdivision they called Norwood Heights. This was the first recorded use of the name Norwood in the area. It is commonly believed that the person who came up with the name was Sarah Bolles, wife of Lemuel Bolles. In the 1894 book, Norwood, Her Homes and Her People, it was stated that the name "Sharpsburg" was "not considered pretty enough for such a spot, and the suggestion of the Bolles' to call it Norwood (an abbreviation of Northwood) met with endorsement, and so it was that the suburb was christened anew."
However, the origin of the name Norwood is commonly disputed. It is also stated that Mrs. Bolles's name for the 1869 Norwood Heights subdivision was inspired by Henry Ward Beecher's popular 1869 novel Norwood: or, Village Life in New England. Others have claimed Mrs. Bolles arrived at the name by combining "North Woods", in reference to Norwood being a wooded area north of Cincinnati. In any case, the new name Norwood was popular enough that the Cincinnati Enquirer reported in 1870 that "the old town of Sharpsburg has been changed to Norwood" and the Sharpsburg post office was officially renamed Norwood the same year. By 1873, a second subdivision using the Norwood name, "The Heart of Norwood", was platted on 50-acres west of Montgomery Road at Maple and Elm Avenues. It was later referred to as "Old Norwood" after newer subdivisions using the name Norwood were built.
Railroads and subdivisions Despite the initial interest in Norwood generated by the arrival of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, the new subdivisions were premature and failed to immediately take off. Only one home, located on the hill east of Norwood Mound, was constructed in the Norwood Heights subdivision. Norwood still remained largely farmland and orchards throughout the 1870s. Although the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad provided transportation to Cincinnati, it was via an inconvenient circuitous route which followed the Millcreek several miles out of the way to the west.
In 1875, several prominent local property owners in Norwood approached the Lebanon Narrow-gauge Railway Company (later known as the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway) to discuss building a passenger railroad between Norwood and downtown Cincinnati. The property owners offered their land to the railroad for use as free right-of-way. The railroad agreed and began to lay tracks from the northeast to southwest through Norwood and Avondale in the late-1870s.
Around the same time, construction was started on another railroad, the Cincinnati and Eastern Railway, which was built west to east along the present-day border of Norwood and Evanston. The tracks continued along Wasson Road in Hyde Park, connecting Norwood with Cincinnati's eastern suburbs and ultimately Portsmouth, Ohio. This line merged with the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern line southwest of Norwood at Idlewild, which was the name for the area near the present day campus of Xavier University.
In 1881, the northern section of the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern opened, connecting Norwood with Lebanon. In 1882, the southern section opened, providing service from Norwood directly to the central downtown station. Later in the year, the Cincinnati and Eastern Railway opened, providing passenger service from Norwood to Hyde Park and beyond.
The arrival of the passenger railroad proved to be the catalyst for rapid population growth in Norwood, as Cincinnatians could now work downtown and commute to their homes in the suburbs. Travel time between Norwood and downtown was less than 20 minutes.
Within a few years after the opening of the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern, five train stations were constructed in Norwood along the route. These were Idlewild, Ivanhoe, Hopkins, Norwood Park, and East Norwood.
Village of Norwood The 1880s in Norwood were marked by the development of several new subdivisions and municipal improvements throughout the village. The Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern railroad influenced to the construction of the subdivisions.
The first Norwood Town Hall was constructed in 1882. The hall was constructed at the demand of local residents who wanted a village center for community functions. The Norwood Town Hall Association was instrumental in leading the effort to incorporate Norwood as a village in later years.
A small Central School schoolhouse was erected in 1887 to meet the education demands of the growing village. A one-room school house for Columbia Township had existed at this location possibly as early as 1828. Just one year after construction, the 1887 school house was expanded, as the number of students enrolled had already doubled.
Norwood's first fire brigade was organized in South Norwood in January 1888.
As the village continued to grow, the leaders of the Town Hall Association knew the only way to sustain continued civic improvements was to incorporate as a village. One of the main incentives for incorporation was to provide public street lighting. The leaders started proceedings in early-1888 and on May 14, 1888, the Village of Norwood was formally incorporated by approval of the County Commissioners of Hamilton County. The signers of the petition were almost the entire male adult population of a total census of 1,000. Three months later, the first municipal elections were held and Dr. John C. Weyer was elected the village's first mayor.
Norwood continued to expand the boundaries of the village in 1889 by annexing land bordering the original subdivisions. The same year, work was started on a new subdivision called Elsmere. In 1891, Norwood Council annexed Elsmere as part of the village. These two annexations were the first of thirteen conducted by Norwood between 1889 and 1981.
Streetcars and Water Works Around the time of Norwood's incorporation, local leaders began pushing for an electric streetcar route on Montgomery Road to connect Norwood with downtown. Until this time, Montgomery Road (known as "The Pike") was a privately owned turnpike, requiring users pay a toll to use the road. This private ownership became a sore spot for local residents who desired public streetcar transportation. With the help of the County Commissioners of Hamilton County and the State of Ohio, Norwood was able to purchase the road for public use and construction was started on an electric railway.
In mid-1891, the Norwood Electric Railway streetcar line was completed between Norwood and Walnut Hills, with the route extending to a turnaround at the Mount Adams Incline.
Increasing school enrollment resulted in the construction of two new school buildings in 1891. Williams School (later Williams Avenue Elementary) was opened in on Williams Avenue and Marion School (later North Norwood School) was opened on Marion Avenue. Both buildings were later replaced with newer structures.
Clean drinking water was one of the most important issues facing Norwood in its early days. Residents had to rely on private wells, cisterns or streams for their water. In 1892, the citizens of Norwood voted for a public "water works" system to be built. In 1894, the Norwood Water Works was completed, which supplied Norwood with clean water for 65 years.
In March 1894, Norwood's first newspaper, the Norwood Enterprise, began publication. It would stay in print until 1989.