Posted September 1, 20159 yr Last weekend I got a tour of Sedamsville by the Sedamsville Community Development Corporation and the Cincinnati Preservation Collective. Sedamsville is the second smallest neighborhood in Cincinnati by area (behind Pendleton). There are only about three neighborhoods with fewer people (Queensgate, English Woods, and California). As of the 2010 census it is home to 680 individuals, most of whom live in poverty. Approximately 1/3 buildings are occupied by renters, 1/3 by homeowners, and 1/3 are vacant. Sedamsville is most notable for being where Pete Rose learned to play baseball. He technically lived in Riverside a couple miles down the river, but spent the summers with his grandmother (and her pet monkey) on Steiner Ave in Sedamsville. The teams were much better in Sedamsville, and he wanted to play the best. There are two historic districts in Sedamsville: The Sedamsville River Road Historic District and The Sedamsville Village Historic District. We will be exploring the Village Historic District in this thread. Unfortunately most businesses are gone from Sedamsville because of a combination of factors. Flooding (especially 1937) ruined a lot of businesses and caused people to move from the low-lying neighborhood. Expansion of River Road destroyed much of the business district that was on River Road. And the closing of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The other thing someone might recognize from Sedamsville is Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Steiner Ave. P8304732 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr This is a former Catholic Church that included a school, parsonage, and a haunted rectory (more on that soon). The church was built in 1889 and was later merged with another church in East Price Hill in 1989, believe. The steeple is visible from a long way downstream and ship captains use it as a landmark to note when they are approaching Cincinnati. P8304730 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304751 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr If you look closely, you can see that the steeple is bent at the top. Common belief is that when a tornado went through Sedamsville in the 1970s either a piece of debris or high winds bent the structure. P8304739 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304740 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304749 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The church is stable and needs about $500,000 of investment to make it workable again. If anyone wants to start a brewery or something there, you should go for it. This is the haunted rectory. P8304750 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The two biggest horrors were documented molestation by a priest and a large dog fighting ring bust by the FBI. P8304752 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304753 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Across the street P8304754 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304755 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304756 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304759 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304761 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr This is the Benjamin Harrison Schoolhouse. It was converted into apartments after the school closed, but the apartments have since closed. P8304763 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304762 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304770 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304766 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304764 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304765 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Public stairway with a house on it. P8304772 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304774 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Now we are on Delhi Avenue. P8304776 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304777 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304778 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304779 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304781 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr This is Boldface Park, where Pete Rose learned to play baseball. P8304787 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304789 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304790 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304791 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Firehouse turned nursery (gardening) with a watch tower on top. P8304797 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304800 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304798 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304799 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304801 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Our Lady of Perpetual Help School P8304803 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304806 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304807 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304809 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parsonage P8304812 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304815 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304816 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304821 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Now we are on Sedam Street P8304823 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304825 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304826 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304827 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304831 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304832 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304834 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304836 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr With the steep hillsides this used to be a prime location to make wine. Cincinnati had a very large wine production until just after the Civil War. P8304837 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304839 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304841 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304844 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr P8304846 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Hope you enjoyed your little tour of this little neighborhood!
September 1, 20159 yr I don't think I've ever been through Sedamsville. Looks like it could use a little love, but there are some gems there. Thanks for posting these pics.
September 1, 20159 yr Here is an aerial view of Sedamsville on Google Maps for reference of its location and size.
September 1, 20159 yr Nice tour. I've been meaning to go explore these west side river neighborhoods since I've never even so much as passed through them. Wasn't there something stated recently about that school being purchased by a developer that came out of the blue? Is that still happening? That building looks like a sibling to the one up in Mt. Adams that was converted and could be a cool project that spurred investment in this neighborhood.
September 1, 20159 yr Here is an aerial view of Sedamsville on Google Maps for reference of its location and size. Oh, I recognize that area now. As a Kentuckian that used to travel fairly often to Delhi and Western Hills, I always wished that the main road through there (Fairbanks) continued as a bridge to Ludlow/Bromley. That would have cut at least 20 minutes each way off of that drive. could be a cool little enclave... Agreed. Seems like one or two big projects (like the church and Benjamin Harrison Schoolhouse finding second lives) could kickstart the whole neighborhood since it's small and has good bones.
September 1, 20159 yr The CDC is currently promoting the church for redevelopment. They actively rehab individual homes one at a time, but don't have the funds to take on something that big. They are also very excited about the possible extension of the Ohio River Bike Trail West along River Road. It should make the area more attractive because you would have a separated bike trail leading to Smale Riverfront Park downtown.
September 1, 20159 yr I think the idea of CVG light rail to the Banks on the Ohio side is interesting. Coming from the Banks, Light Rail could be combined with a new local traffic bridge around Anderson Ferry to get over the Ohio River and then rail could enter a tunnel to get up the hill to CVG on the Kentucky side. At the airport station you could have shuttles or bike share to get people to the ever growing number of industrial and logistics jobs located around the airport. Sedamsville and Lower Price Hill could have stations on the line. At the Banks the Light Rail line could either enter the Riverfront Transit Center or run on the surface of Second and Third Streets to connect to the streetcar. www.cincinnatiideas.com
September 2, 20159 yr Interesting photos and info - thank you! clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
September 2, 20159 yr If you want to see the biggest reason Sedamsville has fallen into bad fortune, just look at these "street improvement" photos from when they widened River Road c. 1950. Pretty much the entire business district, and thus livability, was destroyed. Before: 1949 After: 1951
September 2, 20159 yr Before: 1949 After: 1951 Bird's Eye After: 1951 (There used to be a thriving business district here)
September 2, 20159 yr I lived in that neighborhood when I was 10-12. I can't say I have any fond memories of it at all. I got robbed a couple times at the bus stop on my way to school and got jumped a couple times on my way home from school. It really sucked having to be in fear of my life every day. One time, the neighborhood kids actually chased me all the way inside my own house, beating me down with hockey sticks. I still get nightmares about it to this day. As an adult, I don't think I'd be scared to walk through there day or night but it was definitely tough being the new kid on the block there. Did they ever do anything with Our Lady of Perpetual Help? I think someone bought it with the intent to turn it into apartments or condos. The windows do look pretty new.
September 2, 20159 yr I believe a different church got torn down next to Mt. Echo Park with intent for condos or apartments. The hill is slowly sliding and a retaining wall is cost prohibitive for such a large project. OLPH is not in immediate danger of collapse. The city put a bunch of money into stabilization a while back and it's in good shape, just needs a full renovation and build out. I doubt it will be torn down, but so far, no concrete plans for it. There were plans to demolish it around 2010, but those plans fell through and preservationists stopped the demolition.
September 2, 20159 yr The road improvement photos tell the story of so many forgotten Cincinnati neighborhoods. Queen City Ave and Westwood Ave in South Fairmont had similar effect. New sewer regulations are finishing the job started 60 years ago and will virually wipe it off the map.
September 2, 20159 yr What happened to this part of town with the road widening was bullshit. How those photos could be labeled "after improvements" is pretty galling. www.cincinnatiideas.com
September 2, 20159 yr I lived in that neighborhood when I was 10-12. I can't say I have any fond memories of it at all. I got robbed a couple times at the bus stop on my way to school and got jumped a couple times on my way home from school. It really sucked having to be in fear of my life every day. One time, the neighborhood kids actually chased me all the way inside my own house, beating me down with hockey sticks. I still get nightmares about it to this day. As an adult, I don't think I'd be scared to walk through there day or night but it was definitely tough being the new kid on the block there. Well thanks for jogging my memory for the first time in at least 10 years to recall the time when I was in 3rd grade and some older kid knocked on the door after school and asked if I wanted to come join a baseball or football game (both of my parents were at work). I said no and he rushed into our house and ran around and up the stairs and down the stairs yelling stupid stuff. I didn't get beaten up or anything, but he waited for my parents to come home and then told them some big lie about how I started the whole thing and by the next week my dad stopped letting me come home after school and put me in a latch-key program where they bused us to some other school where we sat in the cafeteria for 3 hours bored out of our minds. There was no TV, no music, no nothing. Just a cafeteria and we weren't allowed to go outside and run around. Actually what I recall is that we sat in our own cafeteria for about a half hour only to be bused to another cafeteria where a bunch of trailer park kids awaited us a mile or two away. I remember the girl in charge of the latch-key program was about 20 years old, had huge hair-sprayed hair, and professed that 7 different guys had bought her 7 cars. So you had some white trash 20 year-old feeling the need to show off with some huge lie to a bunch of 8 year-olds. People think you're making stuff up when you tell them about growing up on the west side but it really was and maybe still is a totally insane place.
September 2, 20159 yr Yeah, those before-and-after shots are just...ugh. Great shots though Ryan. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 2, 20159 yr Sad to see what was lost, but River Road is basically the only transportation corridor for those Western riverfront communities. Maybe if 50 could have continued West in a terraced fashion ala Columbia Parkway on the East Side, River Rd. could have maintained it's historic width, and the Sedamsville business district could have been saved. It is interesting, though, that low-lying, river adjacent neighborhoods on the East Side don't look a whole lot better than Sedamsville. Until recently, the whole East End and lower Columbia Tusculum looked only moderately better than Sedamsville.
September 2, 20159 yr Actually there absolutely was a plan in the 1940s to build a mirror image of Columbia Parkway called Hillside Parkway. River Rd. would have remained intact in the way Eastern Ave. (Riverside) is pretty much still the same road now that it was 100 years ago.
September 2, 20159 yr It is interesting, though, that low-lying, river adjacent neighborhoods on the East Side don't look a whole lot better than Sedamsville. Until recently, the whole East End and lower Columbia Tusculum looked only moderately better than Sedamsville. That is interesting. Perhaps the 1937 flood impacted the desirability of those low lying neighborhoods not protected by floodwalls more than we realize.
September 2, 20159 yr Actually there absolutely was a plan in the 1940s to build a mirror image of Columbia Parkway called Hillside Parkway. River Rd. would have remained intact in the way Eastern Ave. (Riverside) is pretty much still the same road now that it was 100 years ago. What happened? Why was the plan abandoned? Of the western river-adjacent neighborhoods, Sayler Park is by far the healthiest. They have some cool and intact residential streets, a nice neighborhood school in a restored historic building, and a decent, if small, neighborhood business district.
September 2, 20159 yr The Hillside Parkway was changed to the plan that was actually carried out, the US 50 "expressway". The interesting thing about contrasting the eastern and western riverfronts is that on the west side we see what Columbia Ave. was like before the parkway. So all of those homes were "saved" by rebuilding 50, but obviously it's some pretty damn cheap real estate and the views of the river are marred by all of the noise from River Rd.
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