Westwood, Cincinnati

Westwood
Westwood is a neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Westwood is an urban-suburban neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Westwood is Cincinnati's largest neighborhood, and the population of 35,730 makes it the most populous within Hamilton County (2000 Census). It is located north of Price Hill, west of Fairmount, and southwest of Mount Airy.

Prehistory

Traces of human occupation dating from 14,000 B.C. Conjectured human presence as early as 50,000 years ago.

History

Westwood was incorporated on 14 September 1868, but it is now part of City of Cincinnati.

Culture

Westwood was originally established as a desirable residential neighborhood, included as part of the expansion to Cincinnati's growing inner-city population. Many of Cincinnati's wealthy industrialists built their homes in Westwood, including Procter & Gamble founder James Gamble.

Geography and architecture

Westwood's main thoroughfares (specifically Harrison Avenue and Boudinot Avenue) feature many uniquely large and decorative houses, while surrounding streets include a mixture of apartment homes and housing, as constructed by the large number of German immigrants who settled in the Cincinnati vicinity. The area's growth continued steadily for many decades, becoming a residential haven for many of Cincinnati's blue-collar workers, and leading to additional development in the surrounding neighborhoods. The seamlessly adjacent city of Cheviot, Ohio is also one of the oldest suburban communities in Hamilton County. Even longtime residents have a difficult time determining where Cheviot ends and Westwood begins, or vice versa.

Mount Airy Forest, adjacent immediately to the north, is Cincinnati's largest park (and forest), and is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States, encompassing approximately 1,470 acres (5.9 km²) of semi-thickly wooden hillside and parklike hilltop land.

Community organizations

• Westwood Civic Association (WCA), PO Box 11466, Cincinnati OH 45211, www.westwoodcivic.org
• Westwood Citizens on Patrol, telephone: 1-513-218-5286, westwoodcops@mailohio.com
• West CURC (Westwood Community Urban Redevelpment Corporation), PO Box 112162, Cincinnati OH 45211-2162, telephone: 1-513-588-6355
• Westwood Historical Society, PO Box 11095, Cincinnati OH 45211
• Westwood Concern, http://www.westwoodconcern.org

References

• http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cdap/downloads/cdap_pdf3573.pdf
• http://www.cincinnatihome.org/neighborhoods/westwood/wstwood_main.asp
• http://www.heritagepursuit.com/Hamilton/HamiltonChapXXX.htm
• http://dynamic.cinci-parks.org/cgi-bin/parks.cgi/park_desc?park_id=95
• http://cincinnati.citysearch.com/profile/11346448/cincinnati_oh/mount_airy_forest.html
• A History of Westwood: community, continuity and change by Lyle Koehler (1944-), professional historian on staff at University of Cincinnati. Commissioned, published and sponsored by Westwood Civic Association, 1981. Noncirculating copy (one of 2) at Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Westwood Branch, attn. Kathy Bach, branch manager and neighborhood historian. To be digitized by PLC&HC (2009).

External links

• Westwood Civic Association