Oakley is a neighborhood in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, United States, that borders
Pleasant Ridge,
Madisonville, and
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
. Oakley's business district, called Oakley Square, lies along Madison Road. Oakley is a primary thoroughfare and a major crosstown artery in Cincinnati.
In addition to Oakley Square, Oakley contains two
shopping centers
A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
The first known collec ...
. Hyde Park Plaza on the south edge is named for the neighborhood to the south and is located at the intersection of two smaller neighborhood streets, Paxton Ave, which connects Oakley to
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
and
Mt Lookout, and Wasson Rd, which runs along the former
Cincinnati and Eastern Railway
The Cincinnati District is a railroad line owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway and operated by Cincinnati Eastern Railroad in the U.S. state of Ohio. The line runs from Cincinnati, Ohio southeast to Portsmouth, Ohio along a former Norfolk and ...
line and connects Hyde Park Plaza to the larger Rookwood shopping centers in
Norwood. The Center of Cincinnati on the north edge is part of continuing development on the south side of the
I-71
Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-64 and I-65 (the Kennedy Interchange) in Louisville, ...
/
Norwood Lateral
State Route 562 is an expressway in the Cincinnati metro area of southwestern Ohio. It travels east–west between Interstate 75 and Interstate 71, crossing through the suburban enclave of Norwood. It is generally locally referred to as the Norw ...
/Ridge Rd interchange. Both of these centers are
urban infill and car oriented, located on the edge of Oakley and designed to serve multiple neighborhoods. Oakley Square, by contrast, is located in the center of Oakley along several
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
routes, making it more
pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically.
The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...
and
transit oriented.
Demographics
History
![Residential street in Oakley, Cincinnati](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Residential_street_in_Oakley%2C_Cincinnati.jpg)
Oakley was originally known as "Four Mile," and was a popular stop in the mid-19th century for wagon drivers on the Madison Turnpike, now Madison Road. The village of Oakley, a name referring to the many oak trees in the area, was officially registered with the Hamilton County Courthouse in 1869 and the village was incorporated in 1898. Oakley was once the home of the famed markswoman
Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoverished family in western ...
, who made her public debut in 1876.
During the 1890s the community began to grow and the Oakley Race Course, famous for thoroughbred racing, was opened. The race track closed a few years later due to a state law prohibiting betting. The Cincinnati Milling Machine Company, often referred to as “the mill,” moved to Oakley in 1905 and library service began in 1910, when a deposit station opened in Barton's Drug Store.
Oakley was annexed to the city of Cincinnati in 1913.
In the same year,
Aglamesis Bro's
Aglamesis Bro's is a Cincinnati, Ohio ice cream parlor chain with locations in the Oakley and Montgomery neighborhoods. The business was founded by Greek immigrant brothers in 1908. In addition to ice cream, it also produces and sells candies. ...
Ice Cream Parlor and Candy Shoppe opened to accommodate the growing population of workers at the Mill, as the Cincinnati Milling Machine Company was called.
The Geier Esplanade, commonly known as Oakley Square, was created when two parcels of land were acquired in 1927 and 1932 and were converted into green space. It is situated in the heart of Oakley on Madison Road and, through the generosity of the Geier family, flowers and bulbs are planted each year to beautify this small parcel of land in memory of Mr. Fred Geier and Mr. Philip O. Geier, Sr.
The
Twentieth Century Theatre
Twentieth Century Theatre is a registered historic building in Cincinnati, Ohio, listed in the National Register on August 26, 1993. It is located at 3021 Madison Road. Built in 1941 as a deluxe neighborhood movie theater
A movie theater ...
was built in 1941 and is a distinctive Oakley landmark with its 72-foot tower rising over the business district. The deteriorating theater was slated for demolition in the early 1990s, but was spared due to its historical significance and is finding a new life as a concert and special events venue.
Oakley After Hours
Formerly known as "Final Fridays", Oakley After Hours is a monthly street festival held from 6-10PM on the second Friday of each month May through October. Oakley stores and restaurants keep their doors open for extended hours and offer sales, dining and drink specials, live music, and fun in the neighborhood. The event is sponsored each year by local businesses and is coordinated with the support of the Oakley Community Council.
References
External links
Oakley Community Council
{{Authority control
Neighborhoods in Cincinnati
Former municipalities in Ohio