The Tri-County/Sharonville area is the Mordor of sprawl for urban fans, perhaps one of the most despairing, desolate and visually chaotic areas in the region.  Yet there is something interesting going on here.  Note the area within the red box

 

 

….in the late 1940s or early 1950s the Sharonville area was still mostly open country, and the area enclosed by the red box had some sort of military supply depot.

 

 

A close up of the depot, which had 9 rectangular warehouses to the east and perhaps open storage areas to the west, all connected to the railroad by a set of sidings looping through the complex.  The geometry of the sidings and how they related to the main line drove the angled site planning.

 

 

This basic form drove the later site development, with some buildings standing, others not, and yet others partially demolished, with a bunch of infill, too.  In a way this reminds me of those old Roman cities or camps, castrum, where the Roman layout and surviving buildings organized subsequent construction.  The supply depot was the palimpsest for what came later.

 

 

And an example of how things changed.  The red shaded rectangles are the original warehouses, and on can see how they survived intact, or were partially or totally removed.  And how some of the open storage remains intact.

 

 

A few birds eye view of the features noted above.  One can see how the fire-wall construction of the warehouses facilitated demolition…just tear down as far as you want and use the firewall as the new outside wall.

 

 

 

I'd be interested to hear if anyone knowns anything about this place, particularly what it was used for during the war.  I'm going to post a short post soon on some other Sharonville things that I suspect might be wartime, but I am particularly interested in this complex as it was fairly large.

 

 

 

 

I saw that in an old topographic map but didn't bother checking it out. Looks like it has more of an interesting history than I thought. I might go by this week if I have time to shoot some photos near the site and see what remains of the WWII facility.

Perhaps:

 

http://offo2.epa.state.oh.us/DoD/FUDS/SWfuds/Sharonville_Engineer_Depot.htm

 

 

Something very similar to this just south of Toledo, in Wood County. Owens Community College sits on the site of the Rossford Ordnance Depot (1942-1961).

 

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.584249,-83.547077&spn=0.045903,0.082998&t=h&z=14

 

Here is a link to a report investigating potential environmental problems at 22 reused military sites in Ohio:

http://offo2.epa.state.oh.us/DOD/FUDS/Schools/fudschool1.htm

Looking at this stuff you realize what a footprint the military used to have.

 

Located in Hamilton County, Sharonville, Ohio. The site resides between Mosteller and Reading Roads and is currently covered with vegetation typical of disturbed areas. Gravel roads surround the perimeter and traverse the site, while railroad tracks and concrete slabs cover a small portion of the site.

 

The Depot was constructed by the Army in 1942, for the operation of an engineering supply depot. The mission of the plant was to stockpile strategic metals (magnesium, titanium, zinc, and copper). The property was obtained from various owners through both purchase and condemnation. Between the years of 1942 and 1949, the site was occupied by the Army's Air Force, and specific use of the property is unknown. It is known, however, that in 1947, the entire site was declared excess to the War Assets Administration (WAA) who then assumed full responsibility and accountability for the site. Of the initial 603 acres, approximately 50 comprise the current Sharonville Engineering Depot. The remaining portions of the original depot have been accessed or given to various parties. The 50 remaining acres are occupied by the Defense Logistics Agency which operates a facility known as the Sharonville Depot Defense National Stockpile Zone.

 

Wow, the DLA still has stuff going on there?  I bet the this place had something to do with the aviation plant in Evendale back during WWII.

 

 

My father actually worked in one of the buildings pictured above that is owned by the Great Oaks vocational school district. The partially demolished structure (the furthest north/east building)shows exactly how the fire walls functioned. The reason the demolished half of the building is demolished is due to fire in that section during my father's time working there.

 

I can't comment on the military use of the building but currently it exists as storage for supplies and materials for the vocational school (lumber, tools, general scool/janitorial supplies). I was always struck by what an impressive wooden structure it is (giant beams etc.) and also how dim, dreary, weird and otherwise spookily cool it is on the inside.

That topo map ties together a few of the government owned properties in the area.  The USPS has a large facility on the northern edge facing Crescentville, the Ohio Army Guard has a post on the western edge facing Mosteller and the previously mentioned Scarlet Oaks campus.  It also shows that the original alignment of Hauck Rd use to reach Mosteller which makes more sense because of John Hauck having his summer home on Mosteller.  I wonder how much of the land was still owned by the Hauck family before the government moved in? It also answers my curiosity about any connection between the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads in that area. 

 

Jeffery, any chance you could post a link for the original topo? 

 

 

 

Correction, the Army facility is Reserve, not Ohio Guard.

There was also a military supply depot built during WWII south of Warren, OH on SR45 in the village of Lordstown. It is just east of the massive Ravenna Ordnance Plant, now the Camp Ravenna Training & Logistics Center for the Ohio National Guard. Instead, the military supply depot was used to organize for shipment large equipment manufactured locally, including Sherman tanks. The depot was built with 10-inch-thick concrete driveways and loading areas so that parked tanks awaiting shipment by rail did not crack the pavement.

 

This depot still lives today, but as the Ohio Commerce Center. It just landed a $34 million distribution center for McDonald's....

http://tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/555868/Wed---10-20am--160-new-jobs-in-Lordstown.html?nav=5192

 

To read more, see:

http://www.e-procuresite.com/Search/reportframe.asp?TYPE=BS&ID={622C7ED1-7E67-46E6-A675-B39807E175A0}