If you have read previous articles on this blog, you know
that Fairfax has sometimes had an image problem. In the 1920s, local government
officials called Fairfax a “rural slum” and a “settlement of poor persons in
little homes.” Back then, we were known as “Dogtown.” In the 1950s, a school
board member from Mariemont complained that residents of other areas of the
district were “paying the freight” for the children of Fairfax. A few years
ago, someone even posted on the Fairfax, Ohio Wikipedia page that we were “the
armpit of the Mariemont School District,” an entry that has since been deleted.
If you have lived here very long, you know. You have heard it all before.
Before we get on our high horses, though, there are a couple of areas within the village that some residents have at times overlooked,
ignored, and, frankly, looked down upon. One of those areas is Dublin Springs, the
subdivision that includes the south side of Wooster Pike, Spring Street,
Eleanor Street, Mary Street, Arrow Point Way, and, at one time, Riverview
Drive.
Hamilton County CAGIS map. Dublin Springs is on the southern side of Wooster Pike
Both of my parents lived on Spring Street for a while when
they were children. More family members and friends lived on Eleanor and Spring
Streets through the years. In the early 1970s, my aunt watched my sister, brother, and me at her family's Spring Street home while
my parents were at work. I have a lot of childhood memories of playing in the area
with my cousins, like hanging out in the clearing at the end of Riverview
Drive, walking to King Kwik for some candy, and dumpster diving at the Dragon
Way office buildings. Perhaps the most iconic childhood experience in that area
in those days, though, was going to a rear fence of Keebler (previously
Strietmann’s and now Kellogg’s) and calling for the workers to toss you some
cookies. I have been told in earlier days they would give away bags of broken
cookies. However, I seem to recall receiving full, intact packages.
As far as I recall, no one called the area Dublin
Springs. I called it “the other side of the Pike,” until my mom told me that
sounded derogatory. I never thought of it being derogatory, though; I thought
it was just a description of where it was located in relation to the rest of
Fairfax. It was a secluded little neighborhood and, to me, had sort of a rural
feel.
Enough of my reminiscing!
The Dublin Springs subdivision was platted in April 1913:
Dublin Springs plat, Hamilton County Recorder's Office
In an August 1913 newspaper ad, Robert Cresap, the real
estate developer behind Dublin Springs,
described Lot 1 in the subdivision as follows: “It has seven springs,
fine sand and gravel bank; fine for trucking; make a fine chicken or truck
farm.” Cresap also suggested the location for a grocery for the small, but
growing, Fairfax Subdivision, or a hotel or roadhouse for the 300 to 500
drivers who passed the location each day. Instead of becoming a farm, grocery,
or hotel, Lot 1 was divided into smaller lots and became Spring Street and the western
portion of Eleanor Street.
Other than the Joseph Ferris House, the original Dublin Springs
structure (see The Joseph Ferris House), the oldest houses I found in the
subdivision were built on Wooster Pike and Mary Street in 1915. One of the
Wooster Pike houses is still standing and the other, after several additions
and modifications, is now Mac’s on the Pike. The Mary Street house has since
been torn down. There may have been earlier homes in the subdivision that are
no longer in existence.
The first public school in Fairfax opened in Dublin
Springs in 1918, at the corner of Spring Street and Wooster Pike, where
Honest-1 Auto Care is now located. The most prominent of the springs in Fairfax
was located behind the school and was the source of drinking water for the
school and surrounding neighborhood. And, yes, Spring Street received that name
because of the nearby spring.
In the 1920s, the Fairfax and Madison Heights Subdivisions
received water, sewage, and gas lines. I haven’t been able to determine exactly
when the various sections of Dublin Springs received water and gas lines. My
mom remembers that her family had water and gas service on the north section of
Spring Street when they lived there in 1949. However, a couple of women who
lived at the south end of Spring Street reported in a 1951 Cincinnati
Times-Star article that they did not have water service and had to get water
from neighbors. Dublin Springs did not have storm or sanitary
sewage service like the rest of the village; their homes had septic tanks.
Also, Dublin Springs didn’t receive door-to-door mail delivery until the
mid-1950s, after the rest of the village.
Cincinnati Post, April 9, 1942. There were no storm sewers to handle the water
from heavy rains.
In 1955, Fairfax residents, including those in Dublin
Springs, voted by a 9 to 1 margin to incorporate as a village. The following
year, voters approved a $1.4 million bond issue for street improvements. By
1961, nearly $1.1 million in bonds had been issued when the Ohio Supreme Court
stopped the village from issuing any additional bonds for the street
improvement project until the village’s tax duplicate was higher. Village Clerk
Virmorgan Ziegler speculated that the remaining $300,000 might not be enough to
complete the project anyway, since construction costs had increased in the past
five years. No improvements had been made to the Dublin Springs Subdivision.
In December 1961, Mayor Ralph Mitchell announced a plan
to apply for federal urban renewal funds for redevelopment of Dublin Springs,
proudly announcing that Fairfax would be the first suburb in Ohio to do so. The
federal Housing Act of 1949 sparked the urban renewal movement, providing for "the
elimination of substandard and other inadequate housing through the clearance
of slums and other blighted areas, and the realization as soon as feasible of
the goal of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American
family." It sounds like a good idea, I guess, unless you live in the area
of the proposed renewal and are happy there.
Fairfax Mayor Ralph Mitchell from 1959 campaign advertisement.
Of Dublin Springs, Mayor Mitchell said, "Most of the
houses there are substandard, although there are some that meet standards or
are above standard." He said it was “impractical to make the improvement
for residential use” and that the area was better suited to commercial or
industrial use. The plan would involve moving the 50 or so families in Dublin
Springs. Mitchell said the federal government would probably insist that the
displaced residents be relocated to other homes in Fairfax. He estimated an
urban renewal plan for Dublin Springs would cost around $400,000. The idea was
only in the planning stage, though, and council hadn’t yet voted on it.
On December 12, 1961, Mayor Mitchell met with some concerned Dublin
Springs residents at the home of Norman Yeager on Spring Street. These
residents did not support the project and had no interest in moving. The
residents expressed their frustration because they were told that they would
get new sewers and streets if they incorporated with the rest of the community,
but hadn’t. Mr. Yeager said, “Then we voted for a bond issue to improve the
village’s streets, but all of the improvements have been on the other side of
town. We haven’t gotten any, but our taxes went up . . . to pay for the bond
issue.” Mitchell explained that the village had already spent all of the funds
from the bond issue elsewhere in the village and that improvements to Dublin
Springs streets would be too expensive. Despite the Dublin Springs residents’
opposition, Mitchell said the village would likely proceed with the project.
Over 30 Dublin Springs residents attended the December
20, 1961 council meeting to voice their opposition to the urban renewal plan. Nevertheless,
several weeks later, council cleared the way for federal officials to conduct a
field survey of Fairfax for urban renewal purposes. The council vote was three
to three, with Mayor Mitchell casting the deciding vote in favor of proceeding
with the plan. Council applied for a federal grant for a study of Dublin
Springs. The study would take around a year to complete.
In April 1962, Fairfax council member Joseph White, at
the urging of Arrow Point Way resident Ralph Meisberger, introduced a motion to
drop the urban renewal plan. Again, the council vote was three to three with
Mayor Mitchell casting the deciding vote to defeat White’s motion.
In early May, Fairfax received federal approval for the
urban renewal project. With this, the village was eligible to apply for a
federal planning grant for a land use study of Dublin Springs. Once the study
was competed, the village would need to decide whether to rehabilitate the
area, clear and redevelop the area, or drop the project altogether.
Some village officials wanted the urban renewal project
placed on the ballot to gauge resident sentiment on the issue. This was never
necessary, as it turns out. Council member Edward Steele, who had been a
staunch supporter of the urban renewal project, resigned from council on May
14, 1962 when he accepted a state civil service job.
At the May 15, 1962 council meeting, Joseph White
introduced a motion to not move forward with the federal urban renewal project.
The motion passed by a three to two vote. White and fellow council members
Harry Davis and Wayne Nichols voted to abandon the project. Ronald Cribbet and
Charles Schuler voted against the motion. The Cincinnati Enquirer
reported that Fairfax’s rejection of federal urban renewal funds was believed
to be the first in the history of the program.
Joe White acknowledged that the grant the village had
rejected was only for a land-use study, which could take at least a year, but
regarding the Dublin Springs residents he said, “How would you like this thing
hanging over your head for a year?” He said he was against relocating the
Dublin Springs residents. He said he was against always “running to the
government to solve a problem” and also believed that the power of eminent
domain had gone too far, both in Fairfax and elsewhere. He felt that efforts to
rehabilitate the area should be handled locally, rather than at the federal
level. White proposed a committee to study installation of sewer lines and
construction of new streets with funding supplied by a new bond issue. White
said, "I think if those people got sanitary sewers and new streets, that
would be an incentive to them to improve their property."
John Pfister, a Dublin Springs resident and opponent of
the urban renewal proposal, was appointed to council to fill the vacancy created
by Edward Steele’s resignation. The anti-federal urban renewal faction on
council now held a four to two majority. In June 1962, Mayor Mitchell appointed
a committee of three council members to study improvements to Dublin Springs. Later
that month, Ralph Mitchell resigned as mayor effective July 1, 1962 because he
was moving out of the village. Council member Ronald Cribbet was appointed
mayor.
In July, council announced that a $175,000 bond issue for
sewer, street, curb, gutter, and sidewalk construction in Dublin Springs would
be on the November ballot. Ralph Meisberger chaired a house-to-house campaign
to garner support for the issue. The bond issue passed. In December the village
also asked county commissioners for $39,000 for sanitary sewer construction.
Village officials wrote, "It is our belief this sewer should have been
constructed many years ago when other sewers were installed in the area by the
county, and therefore constitutes a responsibility of the county, irrespective
of the fact that the village of Fairfax is now incorporated."
Of course, projects like this feel like they take
forever. Initially, the village had three sewer options to evaluate. Then in
March 1964, village officials reported that they were still working on one more
easement in Dublin Springs in order to begin work. In May, the village awarded
the $112,000 project to the low bidder, Carter Construction, and work soon
began. Unfortunately, in October 1964, two Fairfax boys disappeared and there
were concerns that they may have been buried in an open sewer trench on Eleanor
Street. The trench was re-excavated and nothing was found. In February 1965,
the Hamilton County coroner and village residents expressed concern that not
enough of the trench had been searched. In March 1965, more of the trench was
re-excavated with no trace of the boys.
From the March 25, 1965 Cincinnati Enquirer
Finally, Dublin Springs received storm and sanitary sewers
and new streets, sidewalks, curbs, and gutters.
Since then, several of the homes in the Dublin Springs
have been torn down. New ones, including the condominiums on Arrow Point Way,
have been built. In the late 1970s, Keebler purchased all of Riverview Drive
and the houses at the south end of Spring Street, including my uncle and aunt’s
home, and razed them.
As I was writing this article, I realized that it had
been around 40 years since I had been to Spring and Eleanor Streets. I visited
on a weekday in the spring. It was quiet and a couple of residents were taking
advantage of the nice weather to do some work in their yards.
Eleanor Street looking east from Spring Street, 2023
Eleanor Street looking west from Spring Street, 2023
Spring Street looking north from Eleanor Street, 2023
The area was much the same as I remembered it, until I
got to the south end of Spring Street. Several homes were gone, including my uncle
and aunt’s house and the Whitney house next door, replaced by a parking lot:
Southern end of Spring Street, 2023
The former Riverview Drive, which ran perpendicular to Spring Street at its southern end, was locked behind the Kellogg’s gates:
Looking east in the area where Riverview Drive once was, 2023
Although it is sad to see the changes made since my youth,
I’m glad that this little neighborhood within a neighborhood is still thriving. Below are pictures from the 2023 Eleanor Street Fourth of July block party:
Block party photos courtesy of Tonya Moore.
