Avondale, Cincinnati
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Avondale is one of the 52 neighborhoods of
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. It is home to the
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is the second oldest zoo in the United States, founded in 1873 and officially opening in 1875. It is located in the Avondale, Cincinnati, Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It originally began with ...
. The population was 11,345 at the 2020 census. Originally a suburb, Avondale was annexed in 1896. The neighborhood became a majority Jewish neighborhood in the early 20th century, and then became a majority
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
community mid-century as a result of urban renewal projects. Two race riots began in Avondale in 1967 and 1968, which were part of the larger Civil Rights Movement and Black Power movement in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The neighborhood is bordered by
North Avondale North Avondale is one of the 52 List of Cincinnati neighborhoods, neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is home to Xavier University and the Avon Woods Preserve. The population was 3,405 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Demographi ...
, Evanston, Walnut Hills, Corryville, and Clifton.


History

During the 19th century Avondale was a rural suburb. Its settlers were mostly Protestant families from England or Germany. It is claimed that the wife of Stephen Burton, a wealthy ironworks owner, began calling the area Avondale in 1853 after she saw a resemblance between the stream behind her house and the Avon River in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.Avondale Community Council
Community Development
. Accessed on 2010-08-28.]
It was incorporated July 27, 1864, by Daniel Collier, Seth Evans and Joe C. Moores. Between the 1870s and 1890s, the community was plagued by burglaries, vagrants, public drunkenness, and brawling. Avondale was annexed by the City of Cincinnati in 1896. After Streetcars in Cincinnati, streetcar lines were laid less affluent residents settled in the neighborhood; from 1920 until after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 60% of Avondale was Jewish. It remained a closed neighborhood until the construction of the Millcreek Expressway in the 1940s, which displaced residents from the Black West End neighborhood. At that time realtors only permitted Black families to move into neighborhoods which already had a Black population, and Avondale had Black residents since the mid-nineteenth century. After Black families began relocating to Avondale, it split into two increasingly distinct and separate North and South neighborhoods. The residents of
North Avondale North Avondale is one of the 52 List of Cincinnati neighborhoods, neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is home to Xavier University and the Avon Woods Preserve. The population was 3,405 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Demographi ...
were able to maintain the value of their property and the character of their streets. The rest of Avondale became known for its rising crime rate, falling land values, and deteriorating housing. Absentee landlords neglected their properties and tenants often abused the buildings. By 1956, the city identified Avondale as blighted and tried to rehabilitate it, with the work from 1965 and 1975 benefitting institutions such as the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
and nearby hospitals. The city promised to improve the housing situation, but broke that promise by instead enacting widespread demolition for street improvements, parking, and institutional expansion, which reduced the amount of available housing.


Riots of 1967

The 1967 Riots began on June 12 and lasted several days. They were just one of 159
riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
that swept cities in the United States during the " Long Hot Summer of 1967". In May 1967 Posteal Laskey Jr. was convicted as the Cincinnati Strangler. Laskey was a man accused of raping and murdering six women, and the jury's decision was considered controversial. On June 11 Peter Frakes, Laskey's cousin, picketed with a sign that read, "Cincinnati Guilty-Laskey Innocent!" Frakes was arrested by police for exercising his First Amendment rights. Incensed Black community leaders held a protest meeting on June 12 at the Abraham Lincoln statue on the corner of Reading and Rockdale Roads. Some people broke away from the riot in order to damage property. In Avondale some of the rioters smashed, looted, damaged cars, buildings, and stores. A witness reported, "there's not a window left on Reading Road or Burnett Avenue. The youths are doing it and adults are standing by and laughing. All ages are active. Women could be seen carrying babies." The rioting spread from Avondale to Bond Hill, Winton Terrace, Walnut Hills, Corryville, Clifton, West End, and
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
. A 15-year-old boy was critically wounded in front of a fire station that was being fired upon by a car full of rioters. According to an Avondale resident, rioting was over the constant police harassment, lack of jobs, and shopkeepers "jacking up prices and selling bad products." Governor James A. Rhodes ordered 700
Ohio National Guard The Ohio National Guard comprises the Ohio Army National Guard and the Ohio Air National Guard. The commander-in-chief of the Ohio Army National Guard is the List of governors of Ohio, governor of the U.S. state of Ohio. If the Ohio Army Nation ...
smen into Cincinnati to halt the rioters. The National Guard patrolled the streets in jeeps, armed with machine guns. Rioters avoided these armed forces as the Guardsmen were given the order to kill if they were fired upon. By June 15, when the riot had been stopped, one person was dead, 63 injured, 404 had been arrested, and the city had incurred $2 million in property damage.Rucker (2007), p. 107 The day before the riots began
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
visited Zion Baptist Church in Avondale and preached a doctrine of non-violence.


Riots of 1968

Less than a year later the neighborhood erupted into unrest again. The 1968 riots were in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Tension in Avondale had already been high due to a lack of job opportunities for Black men, and the assassination escalated that tension. On April 8, around 1,500 Black community members attended a memorial held at a local recreation center.Rucker (2007), p. 108. An officer of the Congress of Racial Equality blamed white people for King's death and urged the crowd to retaliate. The crowd was orderly when it left the memorial and spilled out into the street. Nearby James Smith, a Black man, attempted to protect a jewelry store while under attack.Stradling (2003), p. 140. During the struggle with the attackers, Smith accidentally shot and killed his wife with his own shotgun. Rioting started after a rumor spread in the crowd that Smith's wife was killed by a police officer. Rioters smashed store windows and looted merchandise. More than 70 fires had been set, several of them major. Eight youths dragged a student, Noel Wright, and his wife from their car in Mount Auburn. Wright was stabbed to death and his wife was beaten. The next night, the city was put under curfew, and nearly 1,500 National Guardsmen were brought in to subdue the protest. Several days after the riot started, two people were dead, hundreds were arrested, and the city had incurred $3 million in property damage.


Aftermath of Riots

Avondale's formerly flourishing business district along Burnet Avenue was vacated following the riots of 1967 and 1968. Many of the damaged areas were left vacant for a decade. The riots helped fuel beliefs that the city was too dangerous for families and helped accelerate "
white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
" to the suburbs.Stradling (2003), p. 141. Between 1960 and 1970 the city of Cincinnati lost 10% of its population, compared to a loss of just 0.3% from 1950 to 1960. After the riots, Black community members were appointed to city boards and commissions. In 1967, none of the 69 board members were Black.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 11,345 people living in the neighborhood. There were 6,410 housing units. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 11.4%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 81.4%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.0%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.4% from some other race, and 4.7% from two or more races. 2.5% of the population were
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race. There were 5,968 households, out of which 37.2% were families. 51.3% of all households were made up of individuals. 29.9% of the neighborhood's population were under the age of 18, 53.8% were 18 to 64, and 16.3% were 65 years of age or older. 53.5% of the population was male and 46.5% was female. According to the U.S. Census
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
, for the period 2016-2020 the estimated median annual income for a household in the neighborhood was $24,250. About 32.6% of family households were living below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
. About 19.5% had a bachelor's degree or higher.


Recreation

The Fleischmann Gardens park was established in 1925 on land donated by the heirs of prominent Avondale resident Charles Louis Fleischmann.


Education

Avondale is served by a branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. South Avondale Elementary serves kindergarten through 6th grade, and is part of the Cincinnati Public Schools system. Phoenix Community Learning center is a public charter school also located in Avondale, serving kindergarten through 10th grade. Avondale is adjacent to
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...
and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and in close proximity to the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
and its medical centers.


Notable people

* John Kenneth Blackwell, politician and author * Don Brodie, actor"Avondale Actor"
''The Cincinnati Post''. September 11, 1938. Sec. III, p. 1. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
Megahan, Urie (November 17, 1938)
"Star Gazing With Urie Megahan"
''Rockland County Leader''. Sec. M, p. 11. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
* Larry Donald, boxer * Elizabeth Drew, journalist and author * Leon Durham, baseball player and coach *
Ban Johnson Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL). Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of th ...
, baseball executive * David Justice, baseball player * Charles Keating, portsman, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, financier, and convicted felon *
James Levine James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...
, conductor and pianist * Curtis Peagler, jazz saxophonist * Tuffy Rhodes, baseball player * Jerry Rubin, social activist * Evelyn Venable, actress * Katt Williams, comedian and actor


See also

*
List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States Listed are major episodes of civil unrest in the United States. This list does not include the numerous incidents of destruction and violence associated with various sporting events. 18th century *1783 – Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, June ...


Notes

* Rucker, Walter C. and James N. Upton (2007),
Encyclopedia of American race riots
', Greenwood Publishing Group. * Stradling, David (2003),
Cincinnati: From River City to Highway Metropolis
', Arcade Publishing.


References


External links


Avondale Community Council
{{Authority control 1967 in Ohio 1967 riots 1968 in Ohio 1968 riots King assassination riots Neighborhoods in Cincinnati African-American history in Cincinnati Riots and civil disorder in Cincinnati Former municipalities in Ohio