Hey everyone! I decided to make a thread to post all of my photos I take around Youngstown. The first update to this post is a walk around Wick Park Historic District and parts of Downtown. Make sure to check back at this post in the future for more photos that I will add in the future when I take more! And if you have suggestions for places in town to photograph, let me know!

 

Wick Park January 2nd:

 

I started out on Elm Street - Elm Street is an up and coming neighborhood business district. It has a co-op restaurant (Cultivate Cafe), a few shops, art/music venues, and most recently a coffeehouse. The street connects to some of YSU's dorms, so businesses on the street are mainly supported by YSU students living in the dorms and in rental houses in Wick Park.

 

This is Culturehouse Coffeehouse on Elm Street:

 

A mural on the side of a building on Elm Street:

 

Next, I walked down Madison Avenue because I saw this really cool run down house. It is very overgrown and appears to be a slumlord property. But it is really a beautiful old house - as you will see, most of the remaining historic homes in this neighborhood are very run down and are now student slums:

 

 

Next, these apartment buildings from the early 1900s (on the corner of Park Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue) are some of the only well preserved apartment buildings from that era remaining. The neighborhood was once full of buildings like this, but most are either very run down or gone all together. But these buildings are still beautiful and a glimpse into what the neighborhood once was:

 

 

 

Here are some of the other houses on Park Avenue:

 

 

 

Here's some houses on Broadway (The north side of the park) - this side is visibly more run down and a lot of buildings are in really bad shape - unfortunately I forgot to take photos of a lot of cool houses here. Also, I didn't venture onto any side streets to see the other historic mansions in the area because I'm not familiar enough with those streets and the area is a bit sketchy depending on the block:

 

 

 

 

I then made a quick stop at the Welsh Congregational Church near YSU - it is Youngstown's oldest church. A group wanted to relocate it to Wick Park to save it, but the city is very opposed to any preservation efforts. It will likely be knocked down soon:

 

Downtown January 2nd:

Next I went to Downtown - unfortunately my camera died fairly quickly so I did not get to take anywhere near as much photos as I hoped for - expect me to post more in the future when I take them!

 

West Federal Street is a pretty lively part of Downtown and is usually busy. However, the farthest block of it from Central Square is still not revitalized. These four buildings are largely vacant but I hope they will become something soon - they right by the DeYor Center and the Tech Block (Youngstown Business Incubator) so I feel like there is enough demand for some new business there. Sadly the other side of the road is almost all parking lots so it's not too welcoming of a block:

 

Next, this photo is looking west on West Federal Street. This is the Tech Block - all of the buildings on the left except for the Home Savings Building are owned by the Tech Incubator - they have also expanded to buildings such as the old Vindicator Building on the other sides on this block. Some businesses have come as a result such as Joe Maxx Coffee which relocated from Central Square to here this year:

 

The top of the Home Savings Building is arguably the most iconic building in Youngstown:

 

The other side of this block (left) is dominated by 1990s "urban renewal" - though these brought a lot of jobs to the block, they lack first floor retail and the building sure have not aged well...

 

These are three historic buildings on the "Tech Block" of West Federal - however the building on the left (State Theater) is actually just a facade - the rest of the building is gone. Currently a developer is toying with the idea of developing the lot next to it and the lot with the state theater to utilize the old facade. Another fun fact; it was the first venue outside of NYC where the Ramones played in. The middle building, the Davis Building, was built in 1899 and was restored very nicely in the 2000's making it one of the first revitalized buildings Downtown. The storefront is empty however but is occasionally occupied by pop up stores or used as event space. The building on the right houses a long time dive bar as well as a new and unique barbecue kitchen, Space Kat:

 

 

One of the cool things Downtown has done in the past two years is decorating their utility boxes. Almost every utility box in Downtown and YSU has been redesigned by local artists. It really adds some nice art and color to the city. This is the corner of Hazel and West Federal:

 

The next photo is looking down West Federal from the Hazel St. intersection. The empty lot of the left was the Paramount Theater which was unfortunately torn down 5 years ago or so.The two buildings adjacent to it need some TLC, but other than those, this block is very lively and has seen a lot of development in recent years. It is sort of the hub of the entertainment district Downtown and is pretty crowded on weekends:

 

 

The next photo is looking down Hazel Street towards West Federal. On the left is the Gallagher Building. There have been multiple developers promising to develop it but nothing has come of it - mainly due to both developers getting caught up in some legal trouble over mismanagement of money. This is a common theme with Downtown redevelopment. In the process however, Cedar's Lounge, a once popular Downtown attraction, was kicked out due to the first developer's plans. I predict the building will be torn down:

 

More views of the Gallagher Building:

 

 

This is the Wells Building on the corner of Hazel and West Federal. It was beautifully renovated two years ago into luxury apartments (which have quite high rent might I add) with office space on the first floor by Strollo Architects. You can also see the empty lot I said Strollo was trying to redevelop in between the State Theater facade and Wells Building. The steam that comes out of the manholes on this corner for some reason make for great photo ops!

 

This is the only photo I got in Central Square before my camera died. You can see Realty Tower which was one of the first apartment building renovations in Downtown by NYO Property Group. The first floor recently became home to a smoothie bar and a recently expanded spa/barber shop. On the left in the foreground is the Stambaugh Building, home to the new DoubleTree by Hilton developed by NYO. It also is home to Bistro 1907. It was supposed to be home to a Tuscany restaurant YOSTERIA and a new location for Boardman based Branch Street Roasters, but NYO ran into some money problems causing those projects to fall through for the time being:

 

 

Lastly, here's a photo of the neon sign on the Federal Building on the corner of Phelps and West Federal with the Wick Tower apartments behind it:

 

These are only some of the photos I took that day - if you want, you can see the rest on my VSCO page.

 

 

Scroll down for more Youngstown area photos!

Thanks for the pics! Looks like Youngstown has some gems :-)

Great tour.  Thanks for this!

Thanks for the tour. There is some great architecture in Youngstown. It's sad seeing so much of the historic stock sitting vacant and in bad condition. I suppose this isn't unique to Youngstown, but it seems like the prospects for revitalization are considerably dimmer there than in other parts of the state. Has there been any real dent made in the economic depression of the Mahoning Valley? I know GM just announced a major closure there. Seems like the region just can't catch a break.

On 1/15/2019 at 2:49 PM, edale said:

Thanks for the tour. There is some great architecture in Youngstown. It's sad seeing so much of the historic stock sitting vacant and in bad condition. I suppose this isn't unique to Youngstown, but it seems like the prospects for revitalization are considerably dimmer there than in other parts of the state. Has there been any real dent made in the economic depression of the Mahoning Valley? I know GM just announced a major closure there. Seems like the region just can't catch a break.

I think I made Downtown look more bleak than it is because I didn't get the chance to photograph the most busy areas. Downtown itself is very much on an upswing and is usually quite busy depending on the block. The bars also make it a big entertainment destination, especially during the warmer months. For all intents and purposes, Downtown is revitalized, it just needs some love on the outer sections for the most part. The other neighborhoods in Youngstown on the other hand are not doing great - however they look much better than 5 years ago due to the YNDC which has renovated countless houses across the city and works to clean up and beautify neighborhoods.

Wick Park Feb. 4, 2019:

 

I stopped by Wick Park today and took a few photos of some buildings since it was warmer out today. All of these pictures are from the area around the corner of Elm Street and Broadway.

 

 

 

This Queen Anne style home on the corner of Elm & Broadway is one of the best preserved houses in the neighborhood. It was renovated in recent years and remains a single family house unlike most of the other houses in the neighborhood which have been subdivided:

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite buildings in Youngstown. It is an abandoned apartment building from the 1910s. I didn't have much time today, but I plan to go back and take more photos of this building soon - especially since I suspect it will unfortunately be torn down soon. It's probably beyond saving:

 

Such potential!

Wick Park Feb. 21, 2019:

More Wick Park photos once again! I promise I'll eventually branch out into other neighborhoods ? Hopefully in the coming months I'll have some photos from Crandall Park, Indian Village, and Newport Village/Forest Glen in Boardman.

 

This is an abandoned apartment building (maybe a school?) built in the 1910s on the corner of Bryson Street and Woodbine Avenue. Sadly it will probably get torn down soon enough as it's in very bad shape:

 

 

Here's two houses across the street from the building on Woodbine Avenue. Besides the apartment building, almost every other house around this corner is kept up well. The first house in particular was very overgrown and in bad shape only a few years ago as seen in this street view:

 

 

 

Lastly, here's a house on Park Avenue directly across from Wick Park:

 

Also, just a reminder, if you want to see the rest of the photos I take of buildings in various cities, you can follow my Instagram page @BuildingsOfAmerica.

 

Edited February 25, 20196 yr by Dblcut3

^Thanks.

 

I agree with your assumption that the first building was residential, not a school.

Doesn't look like that apartment building is in bad shape. Lots of straight lines in the brick and edges. I've seen much worse buildings than that get renovated -- if there is a demand....

8 hours ago, KJP said:

Doesn't look like that apartment building is in bad shape. Lots of straight lines in the brick and edges. I've seen much worse buildings than that get renovated -- if there is a demand....

Sadly there's not much of a demand for anything in Youngstown these days ? It's a shame seeing these apartments go - the houses in the area are starting to be cared for more, but it's such a shame to lose all the denser residential buildings. It's a shame the neighborhood doesn't benefit more from YSU.

I don't have a full "photo tour" today but I got a couple random photos in the past two weeks. 

 

Newport Village Historic District:

Newport Village and Forest Glen Estates make up the Boardman Historic District, Youngstown's first "streetcar suburb". They are located just across the street from Youngstown's South Side. Today the neighborhoods are beautifully maintained and filled with 1900s-1930s era mansions and middle class houses centered around tree lined boulevards. There are especially a lot of beautiful tudor homes. They stand heavily in contrast to the surrounding South Side neighborhoods which are in distress or barely hanging on.

 

Here's an example of one of the many beautiful tudor homes. This one is on Jennette Drive which is full of beautifully preserved tudor houses. Only two blocks away across Midlothian is one of the worst parts of the South Side, yet this area remains one of Boardman's most desirable neighborhoods:

 

Another house on Jennette Drive:

 

I'll 100% be back to take photos of more houses and commercial buildings in Newport Village once the weather gets nicer!

 

Leetonia, Ohio:

I made a quick stop in Leetonia the other day. Leetonia is a small village south of Youngstown. I only took a few photos of the Downtown area which appears rather rundown and desolate. However, there are several streets just north of Main Street with absolutely stunning Victorian era mansions. Again, I will definitely be back to take photos of those! But in the meantime, here's the quite gritty and abandoned Main Street on a snowy day:

 

 

 

Thank you for this.  Keep these coming!

I was driving around the North Side and came across this really beautiful house... it's such a shame that it's in this state. I knew it would probably be torn down soon, so I had to stop and get a picture of it. There's a lot of other houses like this (many in better condition) in this neighborhood, but frankly it's a sketchy part of town so I'm not sure I want to walk around taking photos...The house is on the corner of Juanita and Alameda:

 

 

And also, here's some photos from High Street in Leetonia, Ohio. High Street was Leetonia's millionaire row and still has a lot of old 1800s Victorian mansions. Here's a few of the houses on the street:

 

 

 

Crandall Park North & Parkway Towers:
I took a quick walk to take photos at Parkway Towers, an abandoned apartment building in front of Stambaugh Auditorium and Wick Park. After, I walked along a block of Tod Lane in the Crandall Park North neighborhood to get some photos of the old mansions there.

 

Stambaugh Auditorium:

 

Parkway Towers:

 

 

 

 

Tod Lane in Crandall Park North Historic District:

Crandall Park North was one of Youngstown's early wealthy neighborhoods. It was developed in the early 1900s as an alternative to the Wick Park area. Today the area north of the park (Crandall Park North and North Heights) remain generally stable. Some parts are good neighborhoods, others are making comebacks, and some are still seemingly doomed. South of the park is the older part of the North Side (Crandall Park South and Wick Park). These neighborhoods are in much worse shape and most old mansions are not kept up. This block of Tod Lane that I photographed is surprisingly kept up - I plan to take more photos here and in Crandall Park South.

 

 

 

A newer house from either the 40s or 50s:

 

 

This house was once owned by the Wick family, a prominent Youngstown family. It fell into despair in recent decades but was luckily saved by a neighborhood preservationist last year after a lengthy campaign to sell it rather than tear it down. It's good to see it be saved since it was the last house on the block that was in bad shape:

 

The Burt Printz Mansion, built in 1915 with an addition built in later decades. It is now being used as a bed and breakfast. It is on the corner of Tod Lane and Fifth Avenue:

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 20196 yr by Dblcut3

^Great stuff!

I just can't seem to get back in the habit of visiting this site more often.  So, I just saw this thread.

 

A few notes on some of the Wick Park photos, since it's my neighborhood:

- The house on Madison is owned (and occupied) by the former owners of Dorian Books.  I don't know much about them, or their house.  There's some gossip about their building, but I don't want to share that here, because I don't even know the whole story.

- The apartments on Park and Pennsylvania Ave. are very nice.  The owner is hesitant to develop the front buildings, for some reason.  So, they remain empty.  But, at least he maintains them.

- The red queen anne and stone house on Park are owned by the same guy who owns the Renner Mansion.  His level of care is a little lower than I'd like to see.

- The house on Broadway with the buff brick and green cornice is owner occupied.  I don't know them, but apparently, they don't have the finances to undertake an exterior restoration.  This is a recurring theme in the neighborhood; these large old houses are expensive to repair and maintain, once they've been neglected.

- The red brick house on Broadway was Charles H. Owsley's home.  It was recently bought and renovated.  It is owner occupied, but is still set up as apartments.  I think the owners' daughter lives in one of the other apartments.

- The stone house on Broadway was hastily/cheaply renovated for a fraternity.   It was vacant for years and years, and was tied up in court, because the owner died, and the house--along with the other houses he owned--had massive amounts of debt and back taxes tied to them.  But, a hasty renovation is better than demolition.  Unfortunately, his other houses weren't so lucky.

- The green and yellow brick house near the corner of Elm and Broadway is currently for sale.  The owner put a lot of infrastructure work into the house, including converting it back to a single residence, but never got around to the cosmetics.  So, it's still a project.  For those interested in buying a house in the neighborhood, talking with him is a good place to start.  He knows a lot more than I do about the status of many of the houses in the area.

- The other queen anne house at the corner of Elm and Broadway, is owned by an older lady.  She also doesn't have the resources to keep it maintained, and is in the process of cleaning the place out, and getting ready to sell.  It looks like she is a hoarder, because she owned a vintage clothing/etc. store, and still has a lot of stock left.  I don't think she really wants to move, so this process has been really slow.

- The "best preserved" queen anne house is owner occupied.  The owner--Rob--owns a few other houses in the neighborhood, including the green and brick house discussed above.

- You like that brick apartment building on Broadway?  There is an interesting story with that building.  The building was going to be demolished, a couple years ago.  But, when the contractor walked through the building, he felt so strongly that it was too good to tear down, he worked out a verbal agreement to buy the building from the city.  He was so sure of the deal that he installed a new roof, and cleaned out the interior.  But, the administration changed, and the new city admin. reneged on the contract.  After some fighting, the contractor walked away.  So, I'm not really sure if the city will find another buyer, or if it will be demolished.

- The apartment building at the corner of Bryson and Woodbine (and yes, it was always an apartment building) is in litigation.  But, demolition is imminent, as soon as it gets out of the courts. (assuming the funding source is still there)

- I don't know much about the houses across the street from the apartment building.  But I believe they are owner occupied.  The brown brick house only looks different from the street view, because it's winter in your photos, and the ivy isn't leafed out.

- The yellow and green house on Park Ave. is multifamily.  The owner hired Rob--mentioned above--to do some work, recently, including rebuilding the front porch.  An interesting historical tidbit about this house.  It was originally built for "Bonesetter Reese".  Look him up, and you'll see that there were some very famous visitors to that house, in the early 20th century.

- Finally, Parkway Towers is not strictly abandoned.  The owners are based in NYC, and use the building as a perch for cell phone towers.  They are only interested in collecting the rent from the cell phone companies.  Several years ago, the city tried fining them for their neglect.  But, when it finally went in front of a judge, the judge decided that the build-up of fines was excessive, and dismissed them.  Now, as I understand it, the only tool the city has left, is spot blight eminent domain.  And, the city doesn't want to use that, unless they are absolutely, completely sure there is a buyer lined up to buy the building from the city.  They city can't take responsibility for the building for any length of time.

 

Sorry for the long post.  I didn't comment on all of your photos, though it might seem like it.

On 7/4/2019 at 1:37 AM, JRC said:

I just can't seem to get back in the habit of visiting this site more often.  So, I just saw this thread.

 

A few notes on some of the Wick Park photos, since it's my neighborhood:

- The house on Madison is owned (and occupied) by the former owners of Dorian Books.  I don't know much about them, or their house.  There's some gossip about their building, but I don't want to share that here, because I don't even know the whole story.

- The apartments on Park and Pennsylvania Ave. are very nice.  The owner is hesitant to develop the front buildings, for some reason.  So, they remain empty.  But, at least he maintains them.

- The red queen anne and stone house on Park are owned by the same guy who owns the Renner Mansion.  His level of care is a little lower than I'd like to see.

- The house on Broadway with the buff brick and green cornice is owner occupied.  I don't know them, but apparently, they don't have the finances to undertake an exterior restoration.  This is a recurring theme in the neighborhood; these large old houses are expensive to repair and maintain, once they've been neglected.

- The red brick house on Broadway was Charles H. Owsley's home.  It was recently bought and renovated.  It is owner occupied, but is still set up as apartments.  I think the owners' daughter lives in one of the other apartments.

- The stone house on Broadway was hastily/cheaply renovated for a fraternity.   It was vacant for years and years, and was tied up in court, because the owner died, and the house--along with the other houses he owned--had massive amounts of debt and back taxes tied to them.  But, a hasty renovation is better than demolition.  Unfortunately, his other houses weren't so lucky.

- The green and yellow brick house near the corner of Elm and Broadway is currently for sale.  The owner put a lot of infrastructure work into the house, including converting it back to a single residence, but never got around to the cosmetics.  So, it's still a project.  For those interested in buying a house in the neighborhood, talking with him is a good place to start.  He knows a lot more than I do about the status of many of the houses in the area.

- The other queen anne house at the corner of Elm and Broadway, is owned by an older lady.  She also doesn't have the resources to keep it maintained, and is in the process of cleaning the place out, and getting ready to sell.  It looks like she is a hoarder, because she owned a vintage clothing/etc. store, and still has a lot of stock left.  I don't think she really wants to move, so this process has been really slow.

- The "best preserved" queen anne house is owner occupied.  The owner--Rob--owns a few other houses in the neighborhood, including the green and brick house discussed above.

- You like that brick apartment building on Broadway?  There is an interesting story with that building.  The building was going to be demolished, a couple years ago.  But, when the contractor walked through the building, he felt so strongly that it was too good to tear down, he worked out a verbal agreement to buy the building from the city.  He was so sure of the deal that he installed a new roof, and cleaned out the interior.  But, the administration changed, and the new city admin. reneged on the contract.  After some fighting, the contractor walked away.  So, I'm not really sure if the city will find another buyer, or if it will be demolished.

- The apartment building at the corner of Bryson and Woodbine (and yes, it was always an apartment building) is in litigation.  But, demolition is imminent, as soon as it gets out of the courts. (assuming the funding source is still there)

- I don't know much about the houses across the street from the apartment building.  But I believe they are owner occupied.  The brown brick house only looks different from the street view, because it's winter in your photos, and the ivy isn't leafed out.

- The yellow and green house on Park Ave. is multifamily.  The owner hired Rob--mentioned above--to do some work, recently, including rebuilding the front porch.  An interesting historical tidbit about this house.  It was originally built for "Bonesetter Reese".  Look him up, and you'll see that there were some very famous visitors to that house, in the early 20th century.

- Finally, Parkway Towers is not strictly abandoned.  The owners are based in NYC, and use the building as a perch for cell phone towers.  They are only interested in collecting the rent from the cell phone companies.  Several years ago, the city tried fining them for their neglect.  But, when it finally went in front of a judge, the judge decided that the build-up of fines was excessive, and dismissed them.  Now, as I understand it, the only tool the city has left, is spot blight eminent domain.  And, the city doesn't want to use that, unless they are absolutely, completely sure there is a buyer lined up to buy the building from the city.  They city can't take responsibility for the building for any length of time.

 

Sorry for the long post.  I didn't comment on all of your photos, though it might seem like it.

I can't believe I never saw this reply until now! Thanks for sharing that information! It's a shame to see the state the neighborhood is in but I suppose it's finally starting to take a turn for the better; however I bet we will still see a lot of demolitions unfortunately. However it is good to see the boom of business on Elm Street; it was certainly unexpected to me but having a coffee shop and restaurants in the neighborhood really helps. I think Wick Park has a great future as a neighborhood for YSU students and young adults; I know the whole issue of student rentals is controversial and not ideal in comparison to owner occupied properties, but at least the buildings are being kept alive as rentals. If the city and neighborhood plays its cards right, I could even foresee it becoming a mini version of Akron's Highland Square or something. It's already walkable, close enough to Downtown, next to YSU, has a huge park, and lots of new businesses.

 

I really wish I could restore the apartment buildings on Bryson Street and Broadway! They are absolutely beautiful and I have a soft spot for old apartment buildings like that. And I do know about the Bonesetter Reese house, my high school photography teacher taught me a lot of history about random Youngstown history including the story of that house! 

 

Also, I wrote an article about the current state of Parkway Towers and I may do one about the various houses in the neighborhood.

Indian Village Historic District May 2019

Indian Village is a tiny historic district in Youngstown's South Side between Glenwood Avenue an Mill Creek Park. The small neighborhood has managed to remain stable and well maintained despite being located adjacent to some of the city's worst areas. Unfortunately I didn't photograph the whole neighborhood, just the houses on Kiawatha Drive along the bike trail in Mill Creek Park. In my opinion it's one of the city's greatest hidden gems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a bonus pic of a house on Canfield Avenue in the Idora neighborhood:

It's crazy to me how many more buildings have been torn down in the Wick Park area over the last 15 years or so.  When at YSU in the early 00's Pennsylvania Ave was for the most part still entact, while not necessarily in good shape.  Now it seems to be mostly empty lots.

Nice pics of Indian Village.

1 hour ago, Traveler Joe said:

It's crazy to me how many more buildings have been torn down in the Wick Park area over the last 15 years or so.  When at YSU in the early 00's Pennsylvania Ave was for the most part still entact, while not necessarily in good shape.  Now it seems to be mostly empty lots.

I think I saw from someone in the neighborhood that something like only 3/12 of the original houses on that street remain. The good news is that there's some renovations going on in the neighborhood and there's a solid business district on Elm Street now

Edited October 7, 20195 yr by Dblcut3

Good to hear, though I'm kind of bummed about the bookstores transition.  Wish I would have been more into architecture, preservation and exploring the neighborhood back then. 

On 10/7/2019 at 1:38 PM, Traveler Joe said:

It's crazy to me how many more buildings have been torn down in the Wick Park area over the last 15 years or so.  When at YSU in the early 00's Pennsylvania Ave was for the most part still entact, while not necessarily in good shape.  Now it seems to be mostly empty lots.

The destruction of Pennsylvania Ave. happened all at once, in the last quarter of 2009.

I toured almost all of those houses in May of 2009, looking for a project house to restore.  An arsonist targeted those houses, beginning in October of 2009.  By spring of 2010, they were all gone.

 

In more recent sad news, both apartment buildings, the one on Bryson and the one on Broadway, are both gone.  The Bryson apartment was a simple demolition.  But, the apartment on Broadway burned down, spectacularly.  Unfortunately, the owner of the house next door, closer to the corner of Elm and Broadway, tells me that he doesn't think he's going to be able to save the house, due to fire damage.  It's a long story, but he is suing the city for damages.  But, he doesn't think--even if he wins--that he will get the money in time.

11 hours ago, JRC said:

The destruction of Pennsylvania Ave. happened all at once, in the last quarter of 2009.

I toured almost all of those houses in May of 2009, looking for a project house to restore.  An arsonist targeted those houses, beginning in October of 2009.  By spring of 2010, they were all gone.

 

Thanks for the information!  Very sad that it is.  How is the area coming along these days?  I read that the bookstore is becoming a performance space.  Hope it works out as I love browsing for books there!

15 hours ago, JRC said:

The destruction of Pennsylvania Ave. happened all at once, in the last quarter of 2009.

I toured almost all of those houses in May of 2009, looking for a project house to restore.  An arsonist targeted those houses, beginning in October of 2009.  By spring of 2010, they were all gone.

 

In more recent sad news, both apartment buildings, the one on Bryson and the one on Broadway, are both gone.  The Bryson apartment was a simple demolition.  But, the apartment on Broadway burned down, spectacularly.  Unfortunately, the owner of the house next door, closer to the corner of Elm and Broadway, tells me that he doesn't think he's going to be able to save the house, due to fire damage.  It's a long story, but he is suing the city for damages.  But, he doesn't think--even if he wins--that he will get the money in time.

Oh god. I can't stand the fact that the green house will probably get torn down now. I hope he just tries to keep it standing and hope someone comes along to fix it. I also really liked that burnt down apartment building but it was bound to come down sooner or later. There's good things happening in the area on Elm Street and the park itself, but that's it. I can't stand watching all these houses come down. I wish the YNDC or something would start renovating houses like this. Maybe the owner of the green house should contact them. Worth a shot. Also, very sad about Philadelphia Ave, I wondered why it was so blighted, even compared to the surrounding blocks. The slow death of the Wick Park neighborhood just depresses me.

13 hours ago, Traveler Joe said:

 

Thanks for the information!  Very sad that it is.  How is the area coming along these days?  I read that the bookstore is becoming a performance space.  Hope it works out as I love browsing for books there!

I think the neighborhood is progressing.  But, it's hard to gauge; there's a lot of "two steps forward, one step back" going on.

 

The guys who ran the bookstore, lost their building. (I've heard rumors, but don't know the real story of how)  Instead, they are going ahead with their plans in a different building.  The Methodists have decommissioned the Richard Brown church, on Elm Street, and this is where the event center will be.  They leased the church building from the UMC for a year, to see how things go.  If it goes well, they will buy the building.

 

9 hours ago, Dblcut3 said:

Oh god. I can't stand the fact that the green house will probably get torn down now. I hope he just tries to keep it standing and hope someone comes along to fix it. I also really liked that burnt down apartment building but it was bound to come down sooner or later. There's good things happening in the area on Elm Street and the park itself, but that's it. I can't stand watching all these houses come down. I wish the YNDC or something would start renovating houses like this. Maybe the owner of the green house should contact them. Worth a shot. Also, very sad about Philadelphia Ave, I wondered why it was so blighted, even compared to the surrounding blocks. The slow death of the Wick Park neighborhood just depresses me.

Yes, the possible loss of that house makes me ill.  Unfortunately, YNDC has little interest in this neighborhood.  They don't aim to make a profit, but the real estate market in this neighborhood is too dysfunctional for them to even come close to breaking even on houses that they would renovate.  Although, that may be changing.  Two move-in ready houses recently sold in the neighborhood pretty quickly.  The more recent sale happened 3 days after being listed.  I think there is a market for housing in this neighborhood, but most people can't--or don't want to--take on a huge renovation/restoration project.

 

Also, the owner of the green house has no use for YNDC.  He expected more help from them, and when they didn't give it, he gave up on them.

13 hours ago, JRC said:

I think the neighborhood is progressing.  But, it's hard to gauge; there's a lot of "two steps forward, one step back" going on.

 

The guys who ran the bookstore, lost their building. (I've heard rumors, but don't know the real story of how)  Instead, they are going ahead with their plans in a different building.  The Methodists have decommissioned the Richard Brown church, on Elm Street, and this is where the event center will be.  They leased the church building from the UMC for a year, to see how things go.  If it goes well, they will buy the building.

 

Yes, the possible loss of that house makes me ill.  Unfortunately, YNDC has little interest in this neighborhood.  They don't aim to make a profit, but the real estate market in this neighborhood is too dysfunctional for them to even come close to breaking even on houses that they would renovate.  Although, that may be changing.  Two move-in ready houses recently sold in the neighborhood pretty quickly.  The more recent sale happened 3 days after being listed.  I think there is a market for housing in this neighborhood, but most people can't--or don't want to--take on a huge renovation/restoration project.

 

Also, the owner of the green house has no use for YNDC.  He expected more help from them, and when they didn't give it, he gave up on them.

 

I'm aware that the neighborhood has a bad real estate market, but given the proximity to YSU, the large neighborhood park, and the new walkable restaurants on Elm Street, it seems like the YNDC should realize there's some opportunity there. If there was a few solid strategic renovations by them, I think it would make the neighborhood into a nice walkable and desirable area, especially if it is marketed better. Also, that's depressing that they couldn't help him with that house. Broadway is an important street to Youngstown and every house lost on it makes the whole North Side look worse in my opinion.

If anyone cares, I made a blog post/article about Indian Village Historic District, a neighborhood in the South Side, using the photos I posted earlier this year in this thread. I plan to eventually write articles like this about other neighborhoods as well (whenever I'm not super busy with college that is...?)

 

Here's the link to the article

 

My goal for this year is to get some pictures of some of the many beautiful homes in the South Side (around Uptown especially) which are increasingly being lost to demolition, arson, ect. I'll post them here when I get them!

Edited February 10, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

Just some random shots of some classic Youngstown Grit...

(Ignore the bad photo quality, these were shot with an iPhone 6....)

 

 

This is one of only two houses remaining on the entirety of North Hine Street in Youngstown's "Near East Side" - this part of the East Side is even more blighted than the rest of the East Side (yes, that's possible!) This small part of the East Side is sandwiched between Downtown and the Madison Avenue Expressway; as a result, it's heavily blighted and very few structures remain standing in this small neighborhood. This is one of the last survivors and it's a bit of a fixer upper! The only possible future this neighborhood has is in industrial development. With the close proximity to Downtown, I-680, and the new "Chill Can" factory a few blocks over, I'm hoping to see his area get redeveloped. Eventually, that is.

 

 

I'm not really sure what this next building is, but I came across is while exploring around some of the lesser trafficked parts of the West Side; the Steelton neighborhood to be exact. This building is on Waverly Street at the bottom of the hill next to the railroad tracks. I don't know what the building's purpose was, but I assume it had something to do with the steel mills. 

 

 

Lastly, here's two houses on the corner of Broadway & Elm, across the street from Wick Park. Sadly the green house was damaged by an arson next door as another user pointed out earlier.

 

I'm gonna try to get more pictures of houses and buildings in Youngstown... The problem is, I'm not too eager to walk around and take pictures in some parts of town ? However, there's this really cool old gas station on Indianola which seems to be nearing the end of it's lifespan that I hope to get pics of soon. Remember to follow my Instagram (@BuildingsOfAmerica) to see all the pics I take!

Edited February 24, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

Uptown G.C. Murphy Building Demolition:

 

Yet another piece of Uptown's streetwall is gone with the demolition of the old G.C Murphy/Grey Drug Store Building on the corner of Market and Indianola. This building was nothing too special and was bound to be torn down - however, it will be super weird having an empty lot there and it takes away yet another piece of the only real neighborhood main street left. Overall, it will just make the area feel less urban as it will have just another empty lot.... Sadly, I didnt catch it before it got torn down as they must have demolished it earlier than they originally planned.

 

So, here's what was left of it this morning:

 

 

 

Here's the building in the 1940s:

 

Abandoned Indianola Service Station:

 

A building that always intrigued me was this abandoned art-deco style service station on the corner of Indianola and Rush in the Flint Hill neighborhood, across the street from Cardinal Mooney High School. What an interesting building! I'll probably go back another time (hopefully before it gets torn down) to get better pictures than these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sort of making it my mission for this year to photograph as many places in Youngstown at risk of demolition as I can. I always get sad when a place gets torn down and I never got a chance to take pictures of it. So expect more pictures like these! I hope to do Uptown Theater soon and maybe some stuff down Indianola towards Lansingville.

Edited February 29, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

Youngstown Feb. 29:

 

Here's some random shots I took around Youngstown yesterday... First off is Downtown from the new Wean Park (where the amphitheater is):

 

Downtown from Woodland Ave. on the South Side:

 

A vacant lot in front of the Ohio One Building:

 

Some shots from around the B&O Station Area:

 

 

 

 

Two Random Houses in the South Side near Uptown:

 

Youngstown's skyline from the Oak Hill annex:

(I just noticed you can see the abandoned brewery ruins in the bottom right corner, which was owned by George Renner whose mansion is also pictured below!)

 

House on Michigan Ave:

 

George J. Renner Jr. Mansion:

 

Edited March 18, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

Uptown Theater:

I noticed the other day when driving down Market Street that the weird mid-century design feature covering up the original Uptown Theater facade was starting to be removed. They also tore off the siding on the attached building and installed new windows. I drove back today, and the entire original 1920s facade was exposed for the first time in probably 70+ years! I cant find anything online about what exactly they are doing to the building, but I know theyve done some repairs already such as a new roof and new side wall. Hopefully, they keep the old facade visible but fix up the "UPTOWN" neon signs - it would be awesome to have those working again! I assume they're planning on reinstalling them, it would be very odd if they didn't put them back. But just in case they decide to cover the facade back up again, I went to take some pictures of it:

 

LAST WEEK:

 

TODAY:

 

 

Lastly, there's this cool house I never noticed before on a side street a few blocks from the theater on La Clede Avenue:

I heard Facebook gossip saying that the Uptown Theater letters were going to be sold.

 

There are some interesting houses on the south side.

 

Last summer, as part of the United Way day of caring event, I helped clean up a couple streets on the south side.  On Regent St., there was a house that caught my eye.  Here is a Google street view: Regent St.

I'm happy to say that it had been painted, and looked even better last summer.

 

One weekend morning, I was browsing around the south side with Google, and found this house, with a strong Asian influence.  I'd love to have seen this house in its prime.

W. Florida Ave.

Edited March 28, 20205 yr by JRC
add links

3 hours ago, JRC said:

I heard Facebook gossip saying that the Uptown Theater letters were going to be sold.

 

There are some interesting houses on the south side.

 

Last summer, as part of the United Way day of caring event, I helped clean up a couple streets on the south side.  On Regent St., there was a house that caught my eye.  Here is a Google street view: Regent St.

I'm happy to say that it had been painted, and looked even better last summer.

 

One weekend morning, I was browsing around the south side with Google, and found this house, with a strong Asian influence.  I'd love to have seen this house in its prime.

W. Florida Ave.

Yeah I heard from another guy that the UPTOWN letters were being sold - apparently he plans to take down the marquee because it's all rotted out, so he won't have a place to put the letters even if he fixes them - still quite sad that they wont be on the building, but hey, if they manage to save the theater and make it into a business, I'll be happy. Hopefully someone with good intentions buys the letters and fixes them up.

 

Also, that's a very cool house on Florida Ave! I noticed that those few blocks west of Market by Uptown (Florida,  Philadelphia, Boston) have some pretty unique houses compared to the surrounding streets. The houses are much bigger and more ornate - it also appears the streets were tree lined. I'm assuming it used to be an upper middle class neighborhood back in its day. But yeah, I also love to look around Google Maps or drive around some side streets and look at the old houses - it's a shame that many arent taken care of these days.

Edited March 28, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

April 3, 2020 Youngstown Pics:

 

This first house has always intrigued me! It is essentially a tiny house sandwiched inside of a much bigger building (which is now a nightclub). It's on Hylda Ave. in Uptown. I always wondered if it is a remnant of the old farming hamlet which once stood here known as "Kyle's Corners." It probably isn't, but it is definitely on one of the roads that existed when the area was still a farming hamlet, and some of the other houses left on Hylda seem like they look much older than the surrounding blocks as well. But whatever the history of it is, it sure is... unique!

 

Here's an old abandoned service station on Ridge Avenue in the South Side. I can't quite make out the writing on it, but it may say "McClone" on it - But, it for sure says "since 1948" on it. This is one of a couple buildings in a small abandoned row of commercial buildings that overlook Downtown. They sit on the "ridge" right off of Market Street at the entrance to the South Side. 

 

Next, we have Saint Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church in Downtown. This church was one of many Catholic churches within city limits that was forced to begin the process of closing in order to consolidate with the more economically viable parishes in the city. It's sad to see all these old churches go, especially given their histories, which were often tied to immigrant groups. St. Stevens (Hungarian), St. Stanislaus (Polish), St. Anthony (Italian and located in Brier Hill, Youngstown's old Little Italy), Holy Name (Slovak), and this one, St. Cyril & Methodius (Slovak) are all shutting down. Some are trying to hold out still, namely St. Stevens which has put up quite the protest. It will be especially sad to see St. Stanislaus go as they are known for their delicious perogies! The house to the left served as the priest's home, and this church is located on the hill just above Downtown.

 

 

 

Lastly, we have these two beautiful old homes on North Heights Avenue near Wick Park! North Heights Avenue is only one block from the park and is a mixture of well kept homes and ones that are in urgent need of repair. Luckily, there are a couple active renovation projects on this street, including a house that I was almost certain would be torn down. There's also some really cool apartment buildings on this block that I'm worried will get torn down eventually, so I'll try to get pictures of those one day as well.

 

Anyways, here are the two houses! The first one is absolutely gorgeous and well cared for! In fact, I would love to own this house! As for the second one, I know it was for sale about a year ago and was in bad shape. Not terrible shape, but bad shape. I can't quite tell, but it looks like it may be getting some work done to it slowly. It also has a really cool car port on the left side of the house, which you can't see too well here. 

 

Edited April 4, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

^Great church, hopefully another use can be found. 

It's sad what's happening to Youngstown's old churches.  I understand that there are just fewer religious people, in general, but the larger issue in Youngstown and other rust belt cities, is that the population continue to sprawl, like almost all US cities.  However, unlike other cities, we didn't have new residents moving in, to fill the space left by those who left.

 

I was part of the team that worked on the facilities assessment report for the Diocese of Youngstown, several years ago.  We made no recommendations about closure, just noted issues, and needed maintenance items.  So, I'm a little more familiar with some of these buildings than most.  It's a shame that the history, culture, and architecture these buildings hold is likely to be lost, while the more modern churches in the burbs, some of which pale in comparison, are not endangered at all.

 

 

 

North Heights is one of my favorite streets in Youngstown.  I tried to buy 245 North Heights before I found my current house.  The owner was impossible to reach.  Luckily, it has been bought, and is slowly being brought back.  Last I heard, the owner doesn't live locally, and makes visits to work on the house in spurts.  But, maybe he has moved here, by now?

 

Unfortunately, the house in your second photo is still for sale.  Looking at the photo, it appears the current owner did some real shoddy work, and believes it has increased the value significantly.   According to Realtor.com, it's listed for $45k.  But, according to the Mahoning County Auditor's website, it last sold for $13.5k, in late 2017.

 

The apartment building on the west end of North Heights was recently bought by the same guy who owns the brightly colored houses and apartment buildings on Fairgreen, Ohio, and Lora.  It was owned by the same people who own Parkway Towers, and it was, indeed, In danger of eventual demolition.  Hopefully, it's in better hands now, and will be lived in again, soon.

2 hours ago, JRC said:

North Heights is one of my favorite streets in Youngstown.  I tried to buy 245 North Heights before I found my current house.  The owner was impossible to reach.  Luckily, it has been bought, and is slowly being brought back.  Last I heard, the owner doesn't live locally, and makes visits to work on the house in spurts.  But, maybe he has moved here, by now?

If 245 North Heights is this house, then I'm pretty sure it is being renovated. I've seen some people working on it a few times in the past year and there was a ladder up against the house yesterday

8 hours ago, Dblcut3 said:

If 245 North Heights is this house, then I'm pretty sure it is being renovated. I've seen some people working on it a few times in the past year and there was a ladder up against the house yesterday

That's the house, and it is being worked on.  I just don't know if the owner is in the area permanently, yet.

Youngstown April 9, 2020:

This first photo was taken on the corner of Harmon Ave. and Homewood Ave. in the city's South Side neighborhood of Millview. Millview is a tiny neighborhood wedged between I-680 and the Mahoning River; it sits completely on a hillside and is a collection of disjointed dead end streets which were cut off by the construction of I-680. It used to be a part of the Lansingville neighborhood; Lansingville was a separate town when it was first created but was incorporated into Youngstown during its period of massive growth. The neighborhood was a largely Slovak enclave - even up until the late 20th century, Slovak was a common language heard around here. There was even a Slovak language newspaper based out of this neighborhood that survived for most of the 20th century. Though the neighborhood has experienced a lot of changes like most of the city, there's still a sizable number of ethnically Slovak households in Lansingville and some elderly people here even retain the Slovak language. I hope to get more pictures from this neighborhood in the future, but here's the photo I got. I'm quite proud of it and I love how it captures the grittiness of the city with the old houses, steel mills, and brick street. In fact, Millview has some of the last brick streets in the entire South Side, likely because the neighborhood has been largely isolated and forgotten.

 

Next, we have the historic Fire Station No. 7 on the North Side. It was built in 1903 and served the neighborhood for 116 years until its abrupt closure in 2019 due to budget cuts. The closure was highly controversial and even led to some protests from the neighborhood. But in the end, it was closed. It's in a prime position because it is in between YSU's dorms and right on the growing Elm Street business district. I hope it is made into retail/dining space and not just torn down... YSU seems to love making surface lots out of vacant buildings! 

 

Next is the historic Welsh Congregation Church, built in 1861 by Youngstown's large Welsh immigrant community. Youngstown CityScape raised a lot of money to restore the structure, which is Youngstown's oldest remaining church. However, their plan to relocate the church to Wick Park was shot down by one of the Wick Park heirs because they felt the park shouldn't include buildings. The City was also uncooperative and seemed less than happy to help with the process - several alternative locations were offered by landowners, but in the end they were all too economically unfeasible to move the building that far away. In the end, the city offered "The Wedge," a hillside parklet around the corner. To my knowledge, the church is still supposed to be moved there and made into an events center. However, I have no idea how they plan to put the building on such a steep hillside. It's a bit depressing that it's the only option, but I do hope to see it restored one day. 

 

Here's a shot of the YSU tower from the corner of Rayen and Elm:

 

Lastly, here's some shots from West Avenue in the Mahoning Commons industrial area:

 

Awesome, thanks for the history lesson!

Good stuff! 

I really like that first shot!

 

It's kind of ironic that Station #7's original roof was lost in a fire.

 

I hope the plans to save the Welsh Congregation Church are still in place, whatever they may be.  I was told that one alternate plan, if the plan to move it to Wick Park fell through, (as we now know it did) was to make it part of a new building for CityScape offices. (something like CityScape offices in a basement space, with the church above)  But, that was a long time ago now, and just a quick, informal conversation.

 

I always liked the Mahoning Commons area.  I did a small photo tour of the area many years ago.  It's an interesting mix of lingering industry, artists' spaces, and performing spaces.  I think an opportunity was missed, though.  Up through the early/mid 2000s, the little street--Wells Court, between Mahoning Ave, and Marshall St.--was still intact.  That could have been a really interesting collection of artists' residences, and a tiny, secluded street.

16 hours ago, JRC said:

I really like that first shot!

 

It's kind of ironic that Station #7's original roof was lost in a fire.

 

I hope the plans to save the Welsh Congregation Church are still in place, whatever they may be.  I was told that one alternate plan, if the plan to move it to Wick Park fell through, (as we now know it did) was to make it part of a new building for CityScape offices. (something like CityScape offices in a basement space, with the church above)  But, that was a long time ago now, and just a quick, informal conversation.

 

I always liked the Mahoning Commons area.  I did a small photo tour of the area many years ago.  It's an interesting mix of lingering industry, artists' spaces, and performing spaces.  I think an opportunity was missed, though.  Up through the early/mid 2000s, the little street--Wells Court, between Mahoning Ave, and Marshall St.--was still intact.  That could have been a really interesting collection of artists' residences, and a tiny, secluded street.

I think part of the issue with the Welsh Church is that the Youngstown Diocese wants it either moved or demolished. Which is why the only option now seems to be sandwiching it on a hillside. And the Wells Court idea is really cool! But sadly your right, most of the houses on that street are gone now.

Oak Hill Cemetery April 25:

 

This isn't a full photo tour of the cemetery. I just stopped by real quick to get some skyline pictures. Oak Hill cemetery is a very old cemetery on the South Side which is the final resting place for many of Youngstown's old elite families. Driving through, you will recognize many of the names printed on the stately mausoleums if you're familiar with the big names in the area. Set on a hillside, the cemetery can be navigated by the winding brick lanes that go up the hill - sadly these have fallen into disrepair and are being replaced slowly but surely with pavement. I hope to go back and get some pictures of the mausoleums some other day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Colonial House:

So I'm writing an article about the history of the Uptown area and how it can be revitalized in the future - and I needed a picture of "The Colonial House" restaurant for that article. Long story short, The Colonial House was once one of Youngstown's most popular fine dining establishments and was frequented by the city's elites. It was jointly owned by the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Mafias until Vince DeNiro (Cleveland) had a falling out with Sandy Naples (Pittsburgh) in the late 50s. This led DeNiro to open his own fine dining restaurant, Cicero's, literally right across the street. Basically Youngstown's Krusty Krab and Chum Bucket. Anyways, this rivalry over the Youngstown rackets only continued to fester until a warm summer night in July 1961 when one of the most infamous events in Mahoning Valley history occurred - When Vince DeNiro exited his restaurant that night, he turned his car key for the last time, triggering a car bomb, killing him instantly. The blast was so powerful, it blew out windows 3 blocks away. The "Youngstown-Tune-Up" as it was dubbed led to four decades of a bloody war between the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Mafias, leading to hundreds of car bombings and mob-related deaths until the mafia finally fell in the early 2000s. It became so common that it seems anyone you ask that lived in town during this time period will have their own story about a car bombing in their neighborhood. It's crazy to think that this building, once a headquarters for Youngstown's criminal underworld, now sits vacant just like every other building on the street. I used to drive past it every day on my way to high school and had no idea of the history behind it - it just goes to show that even the most seemingly mundane buildings may have witnessed incredible events over the decades!

 

I'm finally done with finals so I have time to take some pictures now! I hope you guys enjoy and expect more pics to be posted weekly or more!

Pyatt Street Market:

Pyatt Street Market is an interesting piece of Youngstown history that I really only discovered a few months ago. I plan to write a whole article on its history at some point, but here's a brief rundown. The market existed for most of the South Side's history in the 20th century. The market sold produce and other goods found at a farmers market. It continued to serve a wide variety of customers for years to come. There were also several businesses, restaurants, ect that set up shop both inside the market and in the surrounding buildings. As the 70's dawned on Youngstown, the South Side, especially this area close to Downtown, was becoming a very impoverished and unsafe place to be. The market had a brief revitalization with the Pyatt Street Diner and the "Down Under Club" beneath it. However as the decades wore on, the market's customer base kept shrinking until 2004 when the market and every shop around it closed down; except for one! There's still a vendor, who has been there for several decades, who now operates a food truck on the last and only portion of the market still standing. "Kenny K's" is particularly known for his sausages and french fries which he sells for lunch on most days of the week. When the market hall was torn down in the early 2010s, the city was kind enough to leave a small, but admittedly dilapidated, part of the market left for Kenny K's to use as a picnic shelter. It's crazy to visit this location now as it is completely dead - even by South Side Youngstown standards, this block is eerily empty besides a few remaining auto mechanics and Kenny K's. As I read the news yesterday and saw that there was (another) fire at the Pyatt Street Diner, I realized I had to hurry and get a couple pictures before it is gone.

 

 

The market used to go all the way down the block to the right. It was torn down a few years ago:

 

This small portion is utilized by Kenny K's, but it is anyone's guess how long it will remain standing - it is doubtful that anyone will repair it:

 

Welcome to the Pyatt Street Diner! The diner was a "farm to table" style restaurant and was known for being themed like an old fashioned diner from the 50s. The diner was initially successful and even briefly had a second location in Liberty Township. The "Down Under" club was underneath the building. It was primarily known for it's role as a Jazz venue. After the fire last night, which is the second one in recent years, there is not much left standing at the diner and it will probably get torn down whenever the land bank gets a little extra money - typically these largely industrial and vacant areas see less immediate demolitions than other neighborhoods.

 

Here's a picture (NOT FROM ME) of the Down Under Club ruins as of a few years ago. Credit for the picture goes to Sean Posey, an amazing local historian who has published a handful of great and informative books on Mahoning Valley history:

 

Looking down Lois Court, the road that intersects Pyatt Street:

 

The yellow brick building seen here (also on Lois Court) is an apartment building - I believe there's actually still some tenants there but I'm not positive.

 

 

Lower Gibson:

The Lower Gibson neighborhood is a rapidly disappearing neighborhood which has a lot of unique attributes to it that many may not notice. It's a very old neighborhood and has some of the oldest remaining housing in the city - one small house in particular looks incredibly old - however these are all very working class homes, nothing too ornate, so they go unnoticed. There are also some brick streets left in Lower Gibson which is a rarity, and the houses were built very close to eachother. But due to demolitions, this is less apparent today. I will be coming back to this neighborhood to get more pictures one day, but since I had to drive past it, I took this one picture today of a house on Pyatt Street (though a very different stretch of Pyatt than the market area). It may not seem unique to most people, but for some reason I find the Lower Gibson area to be very interesting and photogenic (in an urban-ex sort of way) so I hope you guys look forward to me getting more pics there. Until then, here's this one:

 

Mahoning Commons:

This next picture is on Marshall Avenue in Mahoning Commons, a neighborhood close to Downtown which is both an aging industrial park and a small but active artist colony:

 

 

Random House on Lora Ave. in the North Side:

 

Robinson Road, Campbell, OH:

Campbell (pronounced as "Camel") is a town I regrettably have never photographed until now. I do know that it used to be called East Youngstown and was heavily industrialized due to it being along the Mahoning River. In many ways, Campbell is more of an extension of the East Side than a suburb. It is very ethnically diverse. It has a large Greek population, and no, no just Greek in name. It was founded mostly by Greek immigrants in the early 1900's, and even to this day, 9% of Campbell citizens claim to speak Greek as their native tongue. I can attest that everyone I know from Campbell is either Greek or really into the town's Greek culture. Additionally, the town is home to an ever increasing Puerto Rican population along with the East Side of Youngstown. 9% of the town speaks Spanish. Not much is left of the original business district on Wilson Ave. due to the 1918 East Youngstown Riots which destroyed most of the area's commercial buildings. Today some remain but are very abandoned. It was getting dark out so I could only get one decent picture, but this stretch of road is very cool and i will definitely come back to get pictures. It is all overgrown and only has one dive bar remaining on the entire block. There is actually a renovation project though which I will cover another time. What you see in the following picture is just one section of this abandoned and fragmented business district which I will post more about in the future:

Edited May 14, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

Crandall Park North - Fifth Avenue Historic District:

It's time to showcase one of Youngstown's best neighborhoods, Crandall Park North. This neighborhood on the city's North Side is located north of Crandall Park and south of Gypsy Lane. The neighborhood was built as an upper class and upper middle class neighborhood during the 20s and 30s. Fifth Avenue in particular, once Youngstown's "millionaire row," is home to a wide variety of mansions, most of which are well-kept. The neighborhood is known for its tudor-revival and spanish-revival architecture. Though it is no longer upper class, Crandall Park North has remained a stable middle class neighborhood. It is also one of the few Youngstown neighborhoods which is both very racially integrated and middle class at the same time. Yesterday, I took pictures of some of the houses on Fifth Avenue - In the future, I hope to get pictures of houses on other streets in this neighborhood as well as the part of Fifth Avenue in Crandall Park South.

 

This house is on the corner of Tod Lane and Selma Avenue. It is across the street from Crandall Park:

 

Next is the Burt Printz mansion on the corner of Fifth & Tod. I have photographed this and the houses down that block of Tod in the past - I believe they may have been posted earlier in this thread. Anyways, this beautiful home used to be a bed and breakfast. It remains one of the prettiest homes in Youngstown in my opinion.

 

The rest of the pictures will be of houses along Fifth Avenue. I don't know much about the history of any of these homes sadly. But as I said before, these houses are very well kept. This part of Fifth Avenue is immaculately maintained and remains a highly sought after street. In fact, Crandall Park North is one of the few stable real estate markets in Youngstown outside of the West Side.

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! I feel like I only have been showing the bad parts of Youngstown recently, so I need to start showcasing the beautiful parts like Crandall Park North! Also, I love the tree lined median on Fifth Avenue! I wish the city would expand it to the entirety of Fifth Avenue and not just this small portion - I think it would do wonders for revitalizing and stabilizing the parts of Fifth Avenue which are less well-kept than this section. It would also boost real estate value and would make for an extremely beautiful gateway to the city for people visiting Downtown and YSU. Frankly, if the North Side got a few projects like this done to help give the area a bit of a facelift, the North Side would probably start to make a comeback. It's not too far gone at all in my opinion. If the North Side were fixed up today, I think it would look comparable to places like Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, or Northwest Akron.

Edited May 22, 20205 yr by Dblcut3

There are some incredible homes on that stretch! I always drive around when in Youngstown. There's also some nice big homes tucked over in the Idora Park area by Mill Creek Park.