1950's-1970's Stratford Manor & Eastwood Village (live in, floor)

[Hyden]

RedbankGirl, I will check with my sister to see if she has a class picture from those years. Really any class picture would be fun to look at, it's finding them. I know I had some but can't remember where I stored them. I'll see what i can do. Hyden

[RedBankGirl]

Yes. At the time, it was a green farm house with three maple trees in the front yard. There was a lot to the left of the house where we grew our own vegetables. Back then there were still some old farmers in the area. Does the name Eggerdine or Holke ring a bell? Holkes had the old bard just on the corner of the entrance to the manor. The Eggerdine brothers moved there old house from down on Red Bank to just behind Holkes old barn. The house was gray and surrounded by corn fields. When I was a kid, I can remember the old brothers threatening kids to get out of his corn fields!

[NightBazaar]

I never wandered around that part of Red Bank Road so I don't recall it. But I figured your house must have been there somewhere in that area, since the opposite side would've been part of the East Gully of Stratford Manor. A few times I was next to the area (on the Stratford side) near your home though, so I might well have seen it. Where I was, there was an embankment dropping down to Red Bank Road. On the top of the embankment were a few old apple trees.

One time I went over there with another kid who was pretty much of a troublemaker. He grabbed some worm-eaten apples and started throwing them at cars passing by. I told him that wasn't a good thing to do, and started to leave. One car screeched to a stop and the driver got out. I hightailed it out of there as fast as I could and dove into some tall brush and weeds. The "scamp" ran off as well but I don't know where he went. I could hear the man yelling from the top of the embankment in the distance. Scared the living daylights of of me. Even though I hadn't done anything, I figured I'd get blamed for the act anyway. I snaked my way invisibly through the weeds into the deeper woods, crossed the creek, left the gully and headed for home. I was really mad about that.

The names Eggerdine and Holke doesn't ring any bells, but I do remember the corn field. Seems to me they grew pumpkins there as well. On the far west side of the field there was a pond where people from the Manor would sneak over the fence in the summer to go for a swim. We left Stratford Manor in the spring of 1959.

[soozycue520]

Hi Hyden, NightBazaar & RedBankGirl!!

I am just a bit younger than you, and my memories are not as nice as yours, but I lived in Eastwood Village for a short time in 1969. I was only 5, so I don't remember a lot of things, but I definitely remember living there.

I remember the apartments looking exactly like they look in Hyden's picture of his sister {Dobee} on her tricycle. I remember them being two-toned, and I know we lived in a green one. It really was a hideous color.

A Coca Cola plant now sits were the apartmants used to be.

By the time we moved here, the apartments were getting pretty rough. They were falling into disrepair, and apparently the admissions procedures were lowered. As someone said earlier, it had nothing to do with race. I remember a lot of "bullies" running around unsupervised.

My parents had just been divorced, and my mom had started moving in an apartment near St. Bernard, where her family lived. We had some our stuff moved in already, but from what I recall, someone else came up with $$$ quicker than my mom could, so she had to scramble to find another place. I guess Eastwood Village accepted us on the spot. I know we only lived there for a few months because I didn't attend school here. This would have been the summer after my kindergarten year.

I do remember attending the daycare facility, the nursery in the polio article picture. I am sure this was convenient for my mother, as she had to go to work {being a single parent}. I know she was unhappy living there. I remember her complaining alot, and we moved out as soon as she could manage it.

I still live in Cincinnati, and go by that area occassionally. The Seven Hills school has a great resale shop right around the corner.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by soozycue520

Hi Hyden, NightBazaar & RedBankGirl!!

I am just a bit younger than you, and my memories are not as nice as yours, but I lived in Eastwood Village for a short time in 1969. I was only 5, so I don't remember a lot of things, but I definitely remember living there.

I remember the apartments looking exactly like they look in Hyden's picture of his sister {Dobee} on her tricycle. I remember them being two-toned, and I know we lived in a green one. It really was a hideous color.

A Coca Cola plant now sits were the apartmants used to be.

By the time we moved here, the apartments were getting pretty rough. They were falling into disrepair, and apparently the admissions procedures were lowered. As someone said earlier, it had nothing to do with race. I remember a lot of "bullies" running around unsupervised.

Hi Soozycue. Do you happen to recall what street you live on? I lived in the Manor during the late-50s. Heh-heh, I agree the color schemes of the buildings were pretty bland.

Some time after we left, there was some expansion to the community before it was ultimately demolished. Apart from occasional ripped or missing window screens, the Manor was in fairly good shape when I was there. And the people who lived there at that time were pretty good people. The "troublemaker" I knew actually straightened up and got his act together. It's kinda sad to hear how the place went downhill.

I'd have to guess that the more serious disrepair of the Manor and the harder kinds of residents that gradually moved in after we left, would have to fall on the shoulders of the management for failing to make repairs and not being more selective. Theft there was almost unheard of in the 50s. And the kids I knew were aware of drug use, but no one ever knew of any activity in the Manor at that time. The only signs we saw of possible drug use was in the abandoned house on top of "Mansion Hill". And even that was just speculation. Most of such typical urban problems at that time were found in other districts outside of the Manor.

My own memories of Stratford Manor were of times before the end of its finer days.

[Hyden]

Hello to Suzycue!! I think the years before you got to move in were the best. It was right at the start of the mid 60's that things began to go down. It was still Home for me though. That is where all my best memories are. Suzycue we are all glad you found us and glad to have your input.

Redbankgirl, My brother wanted me to ask you if you lived near a family with the last name Meyers? He remembers a friend named Barry Meyers and said that by reading your posts it sounds like they were close to where you lived. He remembers alot of names from the manor because he's the oldest LOL. I'm the 3rd in line of 2 boys and 2 girls. Also wanted to bring up if anyone remembers going to church that was held in a house on Redbank as you got to the end of Eastwood Dr. passed the farm? We all went there too. My brother will join in here when he gets time , but he really enjoyed reading all the posts here last night.

Nightbazaar, My brother really liked all the pictures that you kindly put on here. I think you and him would have alot to talk about too.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by Hyden

My brother will join in here when he gets time , but he really enjoyed reading all the posts here last night.

Nightbazaar, My brother really liked all the pictures that you kindly put on here. I think you and him would have alot to talk about too.

It'd be great to have some of his recollections added here. This thread is almost becoming like a Stratford Manor/Eastwood Village reunion.

[northwoodsman]

when i was little i use to live on straford manor

[Hyden]

Hello, Do you remember how long you lived there ? What was the year you lived there ?

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by northwoodsman

when i was little i use to live on straford manor

What street did you live on?