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I stumbled on this quite by accident. I lived in the "Manor" from 1956 through 1964. Graduated Withrow High School; attended Eastwood Elementary & Lyon Jr High; haven't been back to Cincy in a long time, perhaps 30 years. I was messing around on Google Maps only to see what vast changes have occurred. The Manor is no more; Eastwood Elementary is no more; Schroder Jr. High is now Schroder High School. Wow!
I was there in the 50s when you were. I did the same thing as you - looked it up on Google Maps out of nostalgia just to see what the old stomping grounds looks like now after all these years, only to find it doesn't exist anymore. Not a trace or hint that there was once a thriving community there. It was hard to believe. The only remnant I could find on Google Maps, that was even remotely related to the Manor that I was familiar with, is the name of Kingsley Drive which was the street we lived on. I thought I saw the elementary school on the aerial map view though. That was about 5 years ago.
We moved from the Manor out to Oregon in 1959. I haven't been back since.
Did anyone know the Powell's who lived on Shelbourne? I think the oldest was Mike or Mark (but not sure). I hung around with Dana and his younger sister Cathy.
You asked about the Powell's. I lived at 5413 Shelbourne from Jan. 1954 to Nov. 1966. My name is Joe Powell, the oldest of the Powell kids. It' not a surprise that you could not remember my first name I was 3 years older then Dana and 4 years older then Cathy. That my not seem like much now but you being in the 4th grade and me in the 7th was a big difference then. The boy that lived across the hall from you was named Jimmy Hartley. He was a year younger then me. His brothers' nickname was "Skeeter" a play on his name. I seem to remember my sister hanging around with a girl named Diana that had blonde hair. We all graduated from Withrow High School. Me in 1969, Dana in 1972, and Cathy in 1973. I regret to tell you that Dana passed away in June 1988. He was only 33 years old. I'm surprised that you remembered my Dad's car yes it was a 1954 light blue Desoto. Cathy is doing fine she has 3 grown boys, Jason, Eric, and Travis in that order. The youngest, Travis, just got married last week. I hope you still check this thread some. As your question about the Powell's is 4 years old! LOL from Joe -- please feel free to write back.
You asked about the Powell's. I lived at 5413 Shelbourne from Jan. 1954 to Nov. 1966. My name is Joe Powell, the oldest of the Powell kids. It' not a surprise that you could not remember my first name I was 3 years older then Dana and 4 years older then Cathy. That my not seem like much now but you being in the 4th grade and me in the 7th was a big difference then. The boy that lived across the hall from you was named Jimmy Hartley. He was a year younger then me. His brothers' nickname was "Skeeter" a play on his name. I seem to remember my sister hanging around with a girl named Diana that had blonde hair. We all graduated from Withrow High School. Me in 1969, Dana in 1972, and Cathy in 1973. I regret to tell you that Dana passed away in June 1988. He was only 33 years old. I'm surprised that you remembered my Dad's car yes it was a 1954 light blue Desoto. Cathy is doing fine she has 3 grown boys, Jason, Eric, and Travis in that order. The youngest, Travis, just got married last week. I hope you still check this thread some. As your question about the Powell's is 4 years old! LOL from Joe -- please feel free to write back.
Hi Joe. Great to hear things from your memory and filling in a few gaps for those of us who just have flickering recollections of the past. I'm not sure we ever met, but it's possible we crossed paths in passing. Based on your graduation year, you're a little younger than I am. We lived over on Kingsley Drive. In the mid-50s to 1959. I think most of the posters here have apparently moved over to Facebook. But some of them do pop in here once in a while.
Hi Joe. Great to hear things from your memory and filling in a few gaps for those of us who just have flickering recollections of the past. I'm not sure we ever met, but it's possible we crossed paths in passing. Based on your graduation year, you're a little younger than I am. We lived over on Kingsley Drive. In the mid-50s to 1959. I think most of the posters here have apparently moved over to Facebook. But some of them do pop in here once in a while.
How did you find this thread? Through Google?
Hello NightBazaar! What's the thread or name of the group on facebook? Do you have the same handle there? I was using Bing to find out some information about Jimmy Mcqueary the kid that went missing on Oct. 15th 1964. I read about him on about 4 sites. Then I searched his name by adding Stratford Manor and or Fairfax. This site popped up and I starting reading the threads and came on ChiDiana's question. I also found my name on page 123 that Ken Swanson sent in. It has almost my entire 6th grade class listed! I also found on page 28 that Bethany Blair wrote about her experience with the Mcqueary family, I know a lot more about the missing boy then I wish to print here. But if you read Bethany's message then you will get the drift of what I'm saying. Hope to talk to you later Joe.
Hello NightBazaar! What's the thread or name of the group on facebook? Do you have the same handle there? I was using Bing to find out some information about Jimmy Mcqueary the kid that went missing on Oct. 15th 1964. I read about him on about 4 sites. Then I searched his name by adding Stratford Manor and or Fairfax. This site popped up and I starting reading the threads and came on ChiDiana's question. I also found my name on page 123 that Ken Swanson sent in. It has almost my entire 6th grade class listed! I also found on page 28 that Bethany Blair wrote about her experience with the Mcqueary family, I know a lot more about the missing boy then I wish to print here. But if you read Bethany's message then you will get the drift of what I'm saying. Hope to talk to you later Joe.
I think it's Stratford Manor / Eastwood Village. No, I haven't joined Facebook so I'm not sure who all is there. I understand quite a few from this thread are there though.
It's pretty hard to stop reading all the posts here, isn't it. A lot of great memories. Some have rediscovered old friends from way back when. That's pretty cool. The closest I've come to finding any old friends is a lady here who actually knew some of the same people I knew. That was pretty cool too. There's been a lot of great memories shared about life in the Manor. For me, the shocking part was discovering that the Manor is gone - almost like it never existed. Ever go up to the house on top of Mansion Hill? Or the pond in the farmer's field?
I think it's Stratford Manor / Eastwood Village. No, I haven't joined Facebook so I'm not sure who all is there. I understand quite a few from this thread are there though.
It's pretty hard to stop reading all the posts here, isn't it. A lot of great memories. Some have rediscovered old friends from way back when. That's pretty cool. The closest I've come to finding any old friends is a lady here who actually knew some of the same people I knew. That was pretty cool too. There's been a lot of great memories shared about life in the Manor. For me, the shocking part was discovering that the Manor is gone - almost like it never existed. Ever go up to the house on top of Mansion Hill? Or the pond in the farmer's field?
Yes went to the Mansion Hill, mostly after a good snow, sled riding. It was a lot of fun you were going very fast by the time you got to the fence at the bottom, had to turn 90 degrees and roll off sled to stop. You could only do it 3 or 4 times in one day because that hill was very steep and wore you out walking back up it in the snow. The pond was one nice place to explore, had to watch out not to step in cow pies. My dog had a blast there she would dive in and swim to other side every time she saw it. About you not finding anyone you knew then, there was a boy about your age, I assuming you are two or three years older then me, named Johnny Swartz lived across the hall from us. Had a few pictures of him and me posing in our Easter suits I came up to about his armpit. We looked the fool in blue suits matching shorts, and wearing those little hats with very small short beaks. I always thought my parents liked me till I saw that picture! Oh I just remembered Dave Hofer the barber at the little mall there, was a scuba diver he told me once, that he tried out scuba diving in that pond, as I recall he said water was to dark to see anything. I didn't know that it was deep enough for a full grown man to scuba dive in, it seemed pretty small. As for the Manor being torn down. I picked up a small pup my girl friend found this was in 1970. I thought of the Manor and that I might find some little boy whose parents would let him keep it. I walked thru our old apartment, gutted out. I thought damn, I just moved from here less then four years before. As I recall there were still occupied apartments on Eastwood Drive up by Duck Creek road. I went into the Air Force the next month. By the next time I saw it had a Coco Cola factory, and Cincinnati Bell owned or leased the old elementary school. I now have a friend that is about 9 years younger then me, he works at 5th/3rd bank there now. I get a kick about telling him to get off my property and to go home. Oh well I catch you later Nightbazaar!
Yes went to the Mansion Hill, mostly after a good snow, sled riding. It was a lot of fun you were going very fast by the time you got to the fence at the bottom, had to turn 90 degrees and roll off sled to stop. You could only do it 3 or 4 times in one day because that hill was very steep and wore you out walking back up it in the snow. The pond was one nice place to explore, had to watch out not to step in cow pies. My dog had a blast there she would dive in and swim to other side every time she saw it. About you not finding anyone you knew then, there was a boy about your age, I assuming you are two or three years older then me, named Johnny Swartz lived across the hall from us. Had a few pictures of him and me posing in our Easter suits I came up to about his armpit. We looked the fool in blue suits matching shorts, and wearing those little hats with very small short beaks. I always thought my parents liked me till I saw that picture! Oh I just remembered Dave Hofer the barber at the little mall there, was a scuba diver he told me once, that he tried out scuba diving in that pond, as I recall he said water was to dark to see anything. I didn't know that it was deep enough for a full grown man to scuba dive in, it seemed pretty small. As for the Manor being torn down. I picked up a small pup my girl friend found this was in 1970. I thought of the Manor and that I might find some little boy whose parents would let him keep it. I walked thru our old apartment, gutted out. I thought damn, I just moved from here less then four years before. As I recall there were still occupied apartments on Eastwood Drive up by Duck Creek road. I went into the Air Force the next month. By the next time I saw it had a Coco Cola factory, and Cincinnati Bell owned or leased the old elementary school. I now have a friend that is about 9 years younger then me, he works at 5th/3rd bank there now. I get a kick about telling him to get off my property and to go home. Oh well I catch you later Nightbazaar!
We'd make our way up on Mansion Hill in the snow as well. We also went up there during the summer to look around the split-level house itself. At one time, it looked like it had a nice garden area and roses growing around. There was a swimming pool with a bunch of gaudy-colored mermaids around the corners of it. Inside the house on the lower level was a pantry with jars of canned fruit and what-not still on the shelves. There were some bedrooms as well with nasty looking mattresses on the floor and signs that someone had been spending time at night there. On the upper level, there was a kitchen that whie it was tattered and grimy, it still had a cheery look to it. The window in the kitchen brightened it up because the direction faced the view below the hill. The livingroom was dark, but seemed like it would've been pretty comfortable. I don't remember any furniture other than some broken down cabinets and livingroom tables. There was a pretty nice fireplace. The front door, as I recall, was framed in a roundish deco-style with some of those glass bricks on either side. Almost all the windows of the house were broken, tattered curtains flapping around.
It was pretty cool exploring the inside of the house, but it was kind of creepy too with the stained mattresses laying around, empty hootch bottles, and empty cigarette packs scattered around the floor. We figured either hobos or junkies would use the house at night, or kids from the Manor using it as a place to get laid. We'd kid around saying the place must be haunted. The only haunting there were from flesh and blood types like us. Still, the creepiness about the place made us wonder if there were any unseen eyes watching us, other than a few rats and mice that had no doubt taken up residence there.
It must have been a very interesting and somewhat luxurious house at one time with a great view.
I wouldn't doubt the farmer's pond was too dark to see. No idea how deep it was, deep enough, but probably not necessarily too deep. I remember what could be seen just below the water from the surface looked like it was covered with dark algae and dark moss-like water plants. The water itself seemed to take on a dark greenish color with all kinds of pond scum and particles floating around. Some folks from the Manor would take along fishing poles, but I never saw anyone walk away with a catch, if there was anything other than frogs and tadpoles. In the winter kids and adults would go there to skate or slide around on the iced-over pond. I have no idea how thick the ice was. A number of frazzled parents terrified that it would break with kids drowning in the icy water. I'd guess the ice could've been anywhere from at least 4" to 6" or more thick. Winters could get pretty cold in Cincinnati. The ice seemed strong enough to support the weight of a lot of people with no sign at all that there were any thin spots.
That was pretty funny of you saying "Get off my property and go home!"
I don't know how old you are but age-wise, I'm 67. I've known people named Swartz or Schwartz before but I'm not sure if it was from the Manor or somewhere else. If you have any photos of you and Johnny, it's be great to see them if you can post them. Who knows? It might ring a bell, if not for me then someone else. Was Shelborne the street that intersected with Kingsley? Or was it the one a block down (closer to the school) from Kingsley? I can never keep those streets straight. As near as I can tell, the only thing left of the Manor from my time there is the name of Kingsley Drive. We moved from the Manor in April of 1959 and headed out to Oregon. We lived in Oregon before we moved to Cincinnati. Us kids didn't want to leave the Manor and all our friends. The move was too abrupt and hard on us. Oregon is alright, but it had nothing to offer like Cincinnati did. Welost contact with everyone we knew from the Manor. To this day, I have no idea if any of them are still alive or not, but I still remember them and think about them and all the great times we all had together. Living at the Manor during the years we spent there was a remarkable, unique and unforgettable experience.
We'd make our way up on Mansion Hill in the snow as well. We also went up there during the summer to look around the split-level house itself. At one time, it looked like it had a nice garden area and roses growing around. There was a swimming pool with a bunch of gaudy-colored mermaids around the corners of it. Inside the house on the lower level was a pantry with jars of canned fruit and what-not still on the shelves. There were some bedrooms as well with nasty looking mattresses on the floor and signs that someone had been spending time at night there. On the upper level, there was a kitchen that whie it was tattered and grimy, it still had a cheery look to it. The window in the kitchen brightened it up because the direction faced the view below the hill. The livingroom was dark, but seemed like it would've been pretty comfortable. I don't remember any furniture other than some broken down cabinets and livingroom tables. There was a pretty nice fireplace. The front door, as I recall, was framed in a roundish deco-style with some of those glass bricks on either side. Almost all the windows of the house were broken, tattered curtains flapping around.
It was pretty cool exploring the inside of the house, but it was kind of creepy too with the stained mattresses laying around, empty hootch bottles, and empty cigarette packs scattered around the floor. We figured either hobos or junkies would use the house at night, or kids from the Manor using it as a place to get laid. We'd kid around saying the place must be haunted. The only haunting there were from flesh and blood types like us. Still, the creepiness about the place made us wonder if there were any unseen eyes watching us, other than a few rats and mice that had no doubt taken up residence there.
It must have been a very interesting and somewhat luxurious house at one time with a great view.
I wouldn't doubt the farmer's pond was too dark to see. No idea how deep it was, deep enough, but probably not necessarily too deep. I remember what could be seen just below the water from the surface looked like it was covered with dark algae and dark moss-like water plants. The water itself seemed to take on a dark greenish color with all kinds of pond scum and particles floating around. Some folks from the Manor would take along fishing poles, but I never saw anyone walk away with a catch, if there was anything other than frogs and tadpoles. In the winter kids and adults would go there to skate or slide around on the iced-over pond. I have no idea how thick the ice was. A number of frazzled parents terrified that it would break with kids drowning in the icy water. I'd guess the ice could've been anywhere from at least 4" to 6" or more thick. Winters could get pretty cold in Cincinnati. The ice seemed strong enough to support the weight of a lot of people with no sign at all that there were any thin spots.
That was pretty funny of you saying "Get off my property and go home!"
I don't know how old you are but age-wise, I'm 67. I've known people named Swartz or Schwartz before but I'm not sure if it was from the Manor or somewhere else. If you have any photos of you and Johnny, it's be great to see them if you can post them. Who knows? It might ring a bell, if not for me then someone else. Was Shelborne the street that intersected with Kingsley? Or was it the one a block down (closer to the school) from Kingsley? I can never keep those streets straight. As near as I can tell, the only thing left of the Manor from my time there is the name of Kingsley Drive. We moved from the Manor in April of 1959 and headed out to Oregon. We lived in Oregon before we moved to Cincinnati. Us kids didn't want to leave the Manor and all our friends. The move was too abrupt and hard on us. Oregon is alright, but it had nothing to offer like Cincinnati did. Welost contact with everyone we knew from the Manor. To this day, I have no idea if any of them are still alive or not, but I still remember them and think about them and all the great times we all had together. Living at the Manor during the years we spent there was a remarkable, unique and unforgettable experience.
RIP Stratford Manor. I knew ye well.
Shelbourne ran between Kingsley and Strathmore, if you look at a map of the area now, what they call Eastwood Drive now would be about it, that is the northern half of it. It only ran one block. There was only one U shaped 3 apartments in the middle. Connected to our apartment was a bungalow with two boys maybe a couple years older then me, I can't remember there names. Then on each side of the U there was one more apartment with 4 dwellings. The alley driveway ran between the north most apartment and our U shaped group, that is one building from Kingsley. We lived on the western side of the street. I remember that that old farmer set an old car, maybe a model T, on fire for junk one weekend. If you still lived on Kingsley then that would have been right across the street from you. Do you remember the big old dead tree that fell between or was cut down between Kingsley and the farmers' fence? It was about fifty yards or so past the curve where Eastwood became Kingsley. Any way that was our center field fence when we played a pickup game of baseball. You had to go by it's western end to go over the fence to go to the pond. The EPA would have that old farmers ass now for burning that car! Much different times. I think people of our time were a lot closer with each other. Kids today have so much they never have to leave their room. Our family had one rotary dial phone with a party line. One black and white TV, one plug in radio and one transistor radio. So when we did watch or listen to a program we did it as a family. To my grand daughter that would be living like the Flintstones! That's why we were mostly outside bonding with each other. That plus being baby boomers there were just so damn many of us. If it was not pouring down rain or 10 below zero we would be outside. By the way NightBazaar I'm 62 years old and will be 63 in December. I might try facebook, just don't like to give all the info they want. They seem to want to know everything about you like what was your Great Grandmother's maiden name. Ah well talk at you again later, have a good one.
Shelbourne ran between Kingsley and Strathmore, if you look at a map of the area now, what they call Eastwood Drive now would be about it, that is the northern half of it. It only ran one block. There was only one U shaped 3 apartments in the middle. Connected to our apartment was a bungalow with two boys maybe a couple years older then me, I can't remember there names. Then on each side of the U there was one more apartment with 4 dwellings. The alley driveway ran between the north most apartment and our U shaped group, that is one building from Kingsley. We lived on the western side of the street. I remember that that old farmer set an old car, maybe a model T, on fire for junk one weekend. If you still lived on Kingsley then that would have been right across the street from you. Do you remember the big old dead tree that fell between or was cut down between Kingsley and the farmers' fence? It was about fifty yards or so past the curve where Eastwood became Kingsley. Any way that was our center field fence when we played a pickup game of baseball. You had to go by it's western end to go over the fence to go to the pond. The EPA would have that old farmers ass now for burning that car! Much different times. I think people of our time were a lot closer with each other. Kids today have so much they never have to leave their room. Our family had one rotary dial phone with a party line. One black and white TV, one plug in radio and one transistor radio. So when we did watch or listen to a program we did it as a family. To my grand daughter that would be living like the Flintstones! That's why we were mostly outside bonding with each other. That plus being baby boomers there were just so damn many of us. If it was not pouring down rain or 10 below zero we would be outside. By the way NightBazaar I'm 62 years old and will be 63 in December. I might try facebook, just don't like to give all the info they want. They seem to want to know everything about you like what was your Great Grandmother's maiden name. Ah well talk at you again later, have a good one.
Yes, things have changed a lot between then and now. I looked for the Manor on Google Maps, and was shocked to see the Manor was completly and utterly gone. I think I posted some aerial photos of the Manor dating back to 1956 somewhere in this thread. It shows the entire Manor as it was back then. I think I also posted some zoomed aerial shots of the elementary school. If you can't find them let me know. I'm guessing their somewhere between page 16 to page 30 in this thread.
Our apartment was the 2nd building from the corner of Kingsley and Shelborne, SE side of the intersection on Kingsley. I knew several people on Shelborne. Their apartments and ours all shared the same backyard that had a small fenced playground and fenced area for garbage cans. To the east of those apartments there was an alley with a laundromat on the other side of the alley. Behind the laundromat was a field where we'd sometimes play softball and a little farther was a gully that we called "The Woods". We'd ride our bikes around the dirt trails there.
I don't remember anything about any dead trees falling over or a car on fire in the farmer's field. I wonder if that happened after we moved out?
I've been a bit reluctant to sign up for Facebook. I'm not at all sure exactly what kind of personal information they require, or what they do with that information. If they they want to know things like my great-grandmother's maiden name, then I'm out of luck. I have no idea what any of their maiden names were.
Yes, things have changed a lot between then and now. I looked for the Manor on Google Maps, and was shocked to see the Manor was completly and utterly gone. I think I posted some aerial photos of the Manor dating back to 1956 somewhere in this thread. It shows the entire Manor as it was back then. I think I also posted some zoomed aerial shots of the elementary school. If you can't find them let me know. I'm guessing their somewhere between page 16 to page 30 in this thread.
Our apartment was the 2nd building from the corner of Kingsley and Shelborne, SE side of the intersection on Kingsley. I knew several people on Shelborne. Their apartments and ours all shared the same backyard that had a small fenced playground and fenced area for garbage cans. To the east of those apartments there was an alley with a laundromat on the other side of the alley. Behind the laundromat was a field where we'd sometimes play softball and a little farther was a gully that we called "The Woods". We'd ride our bikes around the dirt trails there.
I don't remember anything about any dead trees falling over or a car on fire in the farmer's field. I wonder if that happened after we moved out?
I've been a bit reluctant to sign up for Facebook. I'm not at all sure exactly what kind of personal information they require, or what they do with that information. If they they want to know things like my great-grandmother's maiden name, then I'm out of luck. I have no idea what any of their maiden names were.
A couple of images, one I drew from memory, on Windows Paint the star is where our apartment was. The other is a picture of Eastwood Elem. soon after it was built. Note it does not even have the yellow civil defense siren above the west wall yet. You will now know where the swimming pool was built after you moved. Also years later I was talking to a Cincinnati Policeman who said they pulled a dead boy out of there that had drowned. This must have happened after I went in the service and never heard of it till this Cop told me in the late 1980's. Hope you had a good weekend Joe. P.S. I was just kidding about the part about needing to know about your Great Grandmother maiden name. You can just skip the parts you don't care to reveal. All the questions are just more then I think everybody has a right to know.
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Hello CHIDIANA
