East of Downtown, Alton

Heading east on Fifth Street from Easton Street (named after Rufus Easton, the founder of Alton), we see some very early housing. We then angle onto the diagonal Court Street, which mysteriously exists for only about three blocks. We then hop onto Fourth Street as we head out of town. I really like this two-car…

State Street and Environs, Alton

Working my way around on Mill Street over to Carroll, I saw some of the wide variety of houses on the steep slopes of the bluffs to the west of downtown Alton. Below is looking up William Street. Finally, I turned up State Street, which is the main artery up to the bluffs above the…

Downtown, Alton

We’re going to swing back through Alton for a few days. Like Hannibal, Quincy or even Cairo, and a bunch of other towns, I can’t help but imagine that except for a few twists of fate, Alton could have been the center of a metropolitan area of two million people, or at least maybe a…

Lemp Avenue Between Pestalozzi and Lynch Streets, West Side

Heading north past Pestalozzi Street, we see this interesting Italianate row, which has six front doors, indicating that it was once a series of flats. But then the street wall goes back to three story Second Empire houses, which is typical for this area. Along with two story versions. This house below on the right…

Lemp Avenue Between Arsenal and Pestalozzi Streets, West Side

I could have sworn I photographed this stretch of Lemp Avenue before, but apparently not. It’s a beautiful stretch of mostly Second Empire houses, with a few other styles thrown in. Crittenden Street, which is much narrower and actually ceases to exist in Tower Grove East, passes through here. It was always practically an alley….

Utah Street Between Missouri and Wisconsin Avenues, North Side

Wow, things sure have been changing along Utah Street in Benton Park! The corner storefront above, which had been baby blue for a long time, has been rehabbed. Amazingly, the ghost sign was preserved when the presumably latex paint was removed. Great job! And this little duplex, when I wasn’t paying attention, was rehabbed a…

Vine Street Over to Race Street, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati

“Lord, on this day of thanksgiving, we thank you for our loved ones, family and friends. We also thank you, oh Lord, that Chris has almost run out of photos from his trip back in August.” Heading down the hill from Clifton, passing through some other neighborhoods, I reached what I call “upper” Vine Street…

Oak Hill Cemetery, Youngstown

Located across the Mahoning River from downtown Youngstown, Oak Hill Cemetery takes its name from the neighborhood in which it is located. Founded in 1853 by a group of prominent citizens, the it fits in nicely with the Rural Cemetery Movement that took off in the years before the Civil War. Interestingly, the cemetery does…

Downtown, Youngstown

Downtown Youngstown is really nice! Now, I’m defining it as the area enclosed by Highway 422, which surrounds it to the northeast, effectively cutting it off from the rest of the city; on the southwest, the Mahoning River forms the other border. Youngstown State University clearly breathes much of the life into the area northeast…

Lake View Cemetery and Little Italy, Cleveland

A little bit of a latecomer in the Rural Cemetery Movement, Lake View Cemetery was founded in 1869, east of downtown Cleveland on rugged, steep terrain. While due to the growth of the city and mature trees, the name comes from what had once been a commanding view of Lake Erie. The grounds are lush,…