A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT

in 1954 at age 70. A reception was held for him at the (then) Cincinnati Sanitarium chapel, and all hiscustomers were invited. Bill figured that he walked 75,000 miles over his career. He lived until 1978,when he was 94 years old.Virginia Geyler wrote that: “you could set your clock by his deliveries, 8:30 AM and 1 PM onAster Place. I only remember him being off once for sickness.” His route was the south part ofCollege Hill - Davey, Aster, Larch, etc. all the way down Hamilton Avenue to Springlawn. He thenwould take a street car back up to the College Hill station. His daughter mentioned that he wouldn’twear the same pair of shoes two consecutive days.An interesting bit of postal history from Mt. Airy also connects with College Hill. MahlonBrown, buried in Gard Cemetery, founded Brown’s Grove. There he was the postmaster from 1842-1847. In 1852 Brown’s Grove was renamed Mt. Airy. John C. Ebersole, who owned property inCollege Hill, was postmaster from 1865-1868 and 1869-1875.“On the North Bend road, near the north-eastern corporate limits, E. P. Strong has a place oftwelve acres...J. C. Morrison, on Knight avenue has a nice two story frame cottage and an eligible lotof six acres...Still father west, but on Colerain avenue, William Donnelly is preparing tobuild...though the venerable Zebulon Strong is outside the corporate limits, his place of thirty acres iscontiguous on the south. The old farm house is simple and plain, but nature offers what palatialsplendor can not supply, distant landscapes of the rarest beauty.”Along Groesbeck Road was the 1865 house of J. Tuckerman and across the street that of DanielThomas. A carpenter, Thomas had his store on Belmont Avenue. A student at Cary’s Academy by thelast name of Mullett was allowed by Thomas to use some of his tools. Years later Mullet became theUnited States Supervising Architect in Washington, D. C. He sent for Thomas and gave him the jobof inspector of the government buildings in the nation’s capital. The Phillips/Chatfield house wasbuilt in 1821 and sold by Daniel Thomas to William Phillips in 1854. When Williams died it becamethe property of his daughter, Ann, who owned the house until her death in 1892. It was a landmark forits central chimney. The Chatfields were the final owners until it was sold for $1 to the College HillPresbyterian Church who demolished it for the educational wing.Several times, railroads to the hill were proposed but after studies and drawings, nothing wasbuilt. The gossip of the day was that the investors were more interested in land speculation than inrailroad construction.In 1873 the College Hill Railroad Company was incorporated with principal officers of JohnDavey and Robert Simpson. Davey was president from 1876-1884 and Robert Simpson served asvice-president. Then in 1884, they exchanged positions within the company. It was anticipated thatthe railroad would not make a profit, and their involvement and investment was from a sense of civicobligation. Construction started in 1875, using a narrow gauge 36” rail. It was planned that it wouldconnect the Cumminsville station near the southern border of Spring Grove Cemetery with theCincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, travel up the long hill with bridges to span the ravines. Theline went behind O.F.C./Cincinnati Sanitarium and terminated on Hamilton Avenue, oppositeLlanfair. This brick terminal building was later incorporated into the Porshe/Audi dealership that saton Hamilton Avenue and was demolished to be part of the College Hill Presbyterian Church’sparking lot.The first trip made on this line was March 11, 1876. Because of the steep grade, the small enginewith two passenger cars had problems ascending the hill and a stronger engine was ordered. Threeadditional cars could be added for baggage. Regular service started March 13, 1876. The cost ofconstruction was $5,000 a mile. It was operated by a three man crew, an engineer, fireman andconductor. Surprisingly, the train had air brakes. Four trains operated each day, the passengers beingdischarged on a street near their home or at the wooden platform built in the community’s center.The line was expanded in 1877 to end at Mt. Healthy. The terminal point was on Compton Road,about one mile west of the Johnson farm, on whose grounds Arlington Gardens Cemetery now sits.When the line extension was completed Oct. 13, 1877, a big picnic was held in Johnson’s Grove. Fivehundred people attended, including Ohio’s Governor Bishop. The fare was 35 cents one way, 60 cents122