Glendale Historic District - Glendale, OH
Posted by: 
TwistyNye
N 39° 16.276 W 084° 27.563
16S E 719167 N 4349956
Pre-Civil-War history, trains, and architecture, spanning 392 acres, 400+ contributing buildings.
Waymark Code: WME96M
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2012
Views: 4
Glendale Historic District serves two major categories of impact: its role as a center of railway transportation, and its development as Ohio's first planned community (and one of the nation's few first).
Along with its historic railway, it incorporated into a planned village in 1855, providing parks and forested greenbelts. Curvilinear roadways and parks were laid using principles of cemetery design and mathematics.
Glenway quickly became a railway transport center of the C,H&D RR (Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railway). It was even incurred upon during Morgan's Raid in the Civil War, 1863.
This text from the Ohio Historic Marker 40-31 reads as follows:
VILLAGE OF GLENDALE, 1855
Established in 1851 after the addition of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railway, Glendale incorporated in 1855 as Ohio's first planned community and one of the nation's first planned villages. The original planning included forested greenbelts and parks, curvilinear streets meandering around established trees, large lots, and superior building standards. Glendale is designated as a National Historic Landmark community from the Department of Interior and a Certified Local Government through the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, all owed to Glendale's persistent adherence to the plan and faithful preservation of original infrastructure. Much of today's preserved infrastructure includes the original 59 pivotal buildings, curvilinear streets, tree canopy, stone gutters, gas streetlights, and railroad depot.
(Actually, one of the 59 pivotal buildings has since fallen victim of fire, destroying the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. But the other 58 pivotal buildings remain.)
The Glendale Historic District is located south of Sharon Road, one mile west of I-75. In its Town Square sits a train depot which has become a museum. Yet the district spans every direction from there, and as far west as Rt. 4 Springfield Pike.
So much area is difficult to summarize, so these links may be of help:
http://glendaleohio.org/
Landmarks, including Pivotal Structures, and a .PDF file of 315 Contributing Structures
An Interactive Map indicating pivotal structures and parks
Chapters of Glendale's History
An architect and incorporator of Glendale: James Keys Wilson.