Oneida and Daman Park sit immediately Southwest of AK Steel's Middletown Works. Both subdivisions were in Lemon Township until 1993-1994 when the City of Middletown annexed the deteriorated neighborhood. Rezoning for a new coke plant was just approved to be built on the opposite side of the neighborhood from AK between a nursing home and elementary school.

 

Oneida and Daman Park are part of a larger part of town known as Amanda, which takes its name from the former Village of Amanda. The original village is now dissolved into the Lemon Township and wasn't annexed into Middletown like Daman Park and Oneide. All the below pictures are within Middletown City Limits.

 

 

Lion-topped brick piers make trailers look classy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daman Park in Daman Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This appears to be an early "quick and dirty" subdivision, hastily built post-World War II for the men coming home that wanted to work in the steel mill -- which at one time would have employed over 5,000. It's sad that the neighborhood has deteriorated to this condition, but it's not surprising, given that it is adjacent to the heavy industry.

 

Can you approximate on Google Maps where this new coke plant would be located at?

It's next to a steel mill, what else would you expect.

It's a possible post-war neighborhood. Many pre-war and post-war neighborhoods featured no sidewalks, surprisingly, due to costs or the expense of raw materials -- which was somewhat inflated post-World War II. If the neighborhood was low-density and rural, or built hastily, then using the roads to walk was perfectly acceptable.

If I recall, Middletown wanted to do sidewalks, but the property owners didn't want to be assessed.

 

Thanks for the tour.  Damon Park looks nice these days.  A lot better than it did when I used to have soccer practice there.

This is a great thread for me as I'm really interested in these transitional areas, where you leave the old preWWII housing styles behind moving into the postwar era. 

 

Just eyeballing this and knowning about similar areas around Dayton:  some of this stuff might be pre-war and wartime housing.  The place could have been platted in the 1920s as an early auto subdivision (or there may have been an interurban stop nearby), never saw much development.  The giveaway (usually) is if there is a grid street pattern.

 

Then later buildout during the immediate postwar era.

 

Anway, thanks..good thread on a neglected era for housing and development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's like rural Mississippi.

It's like rural Mississippi.

 

 

Honestly, I don't see what is so terribly about this neighborhood - sure the architecture and the lack of pedestrian space might offend our enlightened sensibilities, but many of the homes look secure and reasonably well taken care of; traffic is probably so light that sidewalks really are a waste; it's also probably reasonably priced housing for working class or retired people. I've seen much worse in neighborhoods that most of us would praise.

Can you approximate on Google Maps where this new coke plant would be located at?

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=middletown+ohio&ie=UTF8&ll=39.475657,-84.408388&spn=0.014642,0.026736&z=15

It's like rural Mississippi.

 

Or Lorain County.

Was Amanda an actual incorporated area with its own post office? There is another Amanda in southwestern Fairfield County; generally, when two towns with the same name exist in a state, the post office made one of them change its name. When what this Amanda dissolved? The other Amanda is still going strong.

It's like rural Mississippi.

 

 

Honestly, I don't see what is so terribly about this neighborhood - sure the architecture and the lack of pedestrian space might offend our enlightened sensibilities, but many of the homes look secure and reasonably well taken care of; traffic is probably so light that sidewalks really are a waste; it's also probably reasonably priced housing for working class or retired people. I've seen much worse in neighborhoods that most of us would praise.

 

Oh come on, look at the last picture and the 11th from the bottom...straight up country.  This place looks awful!  Why would Middletown ever want to annex it?

It's like rural Mississippi.

 

 

Honestly, I don't see what is so terribly about this neighborhood - sure the architecture and the lack of pedestrian space might offend our enlightened sensibilities, but many of the homes look secure and reasonably well taken care of; traffic is probably so light that sidewalks really are a waste; it's also probably reasonably priced housing for working class or retired people. I've seen much worse in neighborhoods that most of us would praise.

 

I never said rural Mississippi is "bad."  I just said it reminded me of it.

Was Amanda an actual incorporated area with its own post office? There is another Amanda in southwestern Fairfield County; generally, when two towns with the same name exist in a state, the post office made one of them change its name. When what this Amanda dissolved? The other Amanda is still going strong.

 

Amanda had a post office, but it was called Excello in its later years. I'm not sure when/how Amanda dissolved, just that it was once a village.

This place looks awful!  Why would Middletown ever want to annex it?

 

My original guess was that the city had its eye on the vacant land on the opposite side of the neighborhood where the coke plant is to be built, but that can't be the case because the aforementioned property was already contiguous to the city when the bulk of the above was annexed. Preservationrestoration thought maybe it had something to do with Yankee Road improvements, which may be the case, but they could have just annexed Yankee and the fronting properties.

Don’t forget that at the time annexation occurred, Crystal Tissue/Creative was in operation and employed approximately 200 people at the Excello/Amanda/Middletown plant.  I am sure they saw that as a tax revenue base since it was outside of city limits.  As well as the large nursing home which now employs about 400 people.  I don’t know if there were other industrial operations in the unincorporated area that were included but have since ceased operations. 

 

I also think Middletown had its eye on reaching the 50,000 population mark, and annexing this area of established residences only pushed them closer to that goal.  From my recollection, once you reach 50,000 in population, you become eligible for more federal and state funding.

 

Don’t forget that at the time annexation occurred, Crystal Tissue/Creative was in operation and employed approximately 200 people at the Excello/Amanda/Middletown plant.  I am sure they saw that as a tax revenue base since it was outside of city limits.  As well as the large nursing home which now employs about 400 people.  I don’t know if there were other industrial operations in the unincorporated area that were included but have since ceased operations. 

 

That is all irrelevent because Crystal Tissue was done in a separate annexation and these neighborhoods had already been crossed to allow for the annexation of Garden Manor/Bake/Martin before they were annexed. When Oneida was annexed in January 1993, it was surrounded by the city on all sides but Yankee.

 

Maybe population was the factor.

It's like rural Mississippi.

Honestly, I don't see what is so terribly about this neighborhood - sure the architecture and the lack of pedestrian space might offend our enlightened sensibilities, but many of the homes look secure and reasonably well taken care of; traffic is probably so light that sidewalks really are a waste; it's also probably reasonably priced housing for working class or retired people. I've seen much worse in neighborhoods that most of us would praise.

 

I never said rural Mississippi is "bad."  I just said it reminded me of it.

 

By all means, my mistake sir! How could I have jumped to such a conclusion? :)

You hate Mississippi :).

Looks like the the south end of Columbus past the 104 freeway around Williams Road.  Plenty of areas like that around everywhere...no sidewalks, houses well maintained, but without much frill or landscaping, but plenty of fencing.  Kind of like the land that time forgot.  Appalachia is closer than you think. Not bad areas, just not well to do. The looming steel mill give Amanda an extra shot of ugly, but such is life. Not all roses and sidewalks.

Looks like South Lebanon.

Daman Park is the only neighborhood in Middletown not to have sanitary sewer, so perhaps a join project with curbs, gutters, and sidewalks could be done sometime.

 

Nice 'stang and SUV in the front yard. :wink2:

^We're getting dangerously close to Price Hill with that one.    Now all we need is a chain link fence in the front yar........o.....oh.    There it is!      The next door neighbors scoooore!!! :wink:

 

All jokes aside, Good thread and pics!!    I dig old industrial towns.    I really need to sneek up to M-town and do some exploring.