East End Residences

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If there was any doubt that "A River Runs Through Us," click on the map above and trace the Joneses through their homes in the East End.  Beginning in the 1840s, my Jones family gradually moved from the city center, to E. Front St. and settling in Fulton, now the East End. For more than 100 years, the family lived within a one-square mile area of the Ohio River. Here is the route they took:

1) Frame house on the riverbank located 250' southeast of St. Rose Church.

2) Charles Henry and Rachel purchased their two-family home at 2316 Gladstone Ave.

3) Charles "Fred" and Norine (my grandparents) rented from their Uncle Tom and Aunt Ella Jones living at 2269 Columbia Ave.

4) My grandfather purchased what was to become the home where my father and his siblings grew up at 2424 Eastern Ave. (now Riverside).

There were a couple of intermediate homes documented in the earlier pages of this blog, but these were the primary locations.  In addition, Rachel's mother and my gg-grandmother, owned a home on Collins Ave., also discussed in earlier posts.

The East End had (and still has) it's own culture.  It was largely a working-class neighborhood with both white and black residents.  Many of the white residents have Appalachian roots.  Many of the black residents came to the area from southern states as part of the great migration to the north in search of better opportunities.  It's one of those neighborhoods that gets in your bones.

Over the past couple of decades, the neighborhood has been going through a great deal of transition. Many of the homes have been torn down and are gradually being replaced by upscale homes and condominiums.  This trend started in the area closest to downtown and continues to move east.  The name of the street, Eastern Ave., was changed to Riverside Drive to reflect the area's new upscale image.

We were surprised to see that my father's home is now part of a group of homes that will probably be torn down in the next six months.  It's unclear what will happen with the school located across the street. You can see the sign on the porch column placed there by the developer.

But our East End story isn't going to end quite yet.  After all, my Mom and Dad haven't met yet -- and you just know that that is going to have something to do with the river . . .