East Walnut Hills, Cincinnati facts for kids

East Walnut Hills
East Walnut Hills is a neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.

East Walnut Hills is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1867, originally as the independent incorporated village of Woodburn, East Walnut Hills is a diverse neighborhood, both ethnically and economically. It has long been known as a very fashionable neighborhood and home to many prominent Cincinnatians. The neighborhood includes the large historic district between the O'Bryonville business district (Evanston) and the DeSales Corner (East Walnut Hills), home to opulent mansions with large setbacks, as well as Annwood Park on Madison Road and the Bettman Preserve, an urban nature preserve. Large estates also exist along William Howard Taft Road, capitalizing on the views of the Ohio River and Downtown Cincinnati. Many older homes in the areas surrounding St. Ursula Academy, along East McMillan Street, are being subdivided and converted into condominiums. East Walnut Hills is home to the historic Saint Francis De Sales Catholic Church, at the intersection of Madison Road and Woodburn Avenue, and neighboring Purcell Marian High School.

Formerly known as Madisonville Pike in the early 1850s, this is the site of where the earliest development occurred in the district. This road is now known as Madison Road. John Baker built his home there and he also decided to build his son-in-law who is Samuel Keys on 35 acres. Other prominent Cincinnati names were the grocery merchant W.W. Scarborough who ended up building his 40-acre which was placed opposite of Baker's property. In 1858 a guy by the name of Joshua Bates built his home here as well. By 1860, George Hoadley had established his home here on approximately nine acres of land and other property owners such as Jeptha Miller, Charles Dexter and William Hooper ended up owning chunks of property too.

This area is home to a large range of distinct architectural styles, most of them made of brick or stone. Some great examples of the Romantic period of American architecture where certain European styles were applied to these houses. Some of the first homes were Baker House located at 1887 Madison Road, the Keys/Hollister house located at 1831 Keys Crescent, the Dexter House which is located at 6 Dexter Place and then finally the Bates House which is located at 3036 Fairfield Avenue. The dominant styles of architectural styles such as Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Queen Ann, Romanesque, Italian Revival and English Country Revival. The stately homes of East Walnut Hills are often featured in local historic home and garden tours.

The neighborhood is known as an urban forest because of the number of large old trees. There is also a bird sanctuary in the woods between Wold Ave and Dexter Place.