- 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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