Niles Historical Society Story History of Niles' Streets

Betty Moritz wrote the following article, which was published in the Niles Times in 1980. Next time you drive around Niles, note the street signs and think of the history behind each one. Street signs reflect history.

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When Heaton’s Furnace was first plotted and mapped, and streets had to be identified, the settlers moving from the East into the newly opened Ohio country took the simplest approach. If a patch led to that so important grist mill, what better to call it than Mill Street?

Mango Block Building, built in 1894. Park Ave ended at Furnace St. (State) and no bridge existed. Streets were not paved.

Store was built by Vincent Mango. Isaac Shaker and Joe Abraham, two Lebanese immigrants, bought and remodeled it in 1913 . In 1923 the partnership dissolved, but from 1913 to 1966 Nilesites still purchased clothing in the store.

First National Bank Building on the corner of E. State (Mill Street) & Main Street. in downtown Niles.

At various times, it housed the Dollar Savings Bank, Home Federal Savings Bank and The Girl Scout Council. This building is also known as the Hartzell Building.

If laborers walked morning and night to their jobs at the iron furnace, who can fault calling the route they took Furnace Street? And wasn’t it logical to refer to the road that crossed the river and tied the new town to the settlements north and south as Main Street? And the one that led traffic past the park and the town hall, Park Avenue…and into Warren, Warren Avenue? Theirs was a life of practicality – no frills, no nonsense.

Residence of H. H. Mason located on Vienna Ave. in Niles. Mason moved into this homestead in 1859. Mr. Mason was the first mayor elected after Niles was incorporated as a village in 1866. It was here that he held court.

When land was given for a church to be built, the corner was labeled Church Street. In the railroad heyday, city fathers thought it fitting to have both an Erie and a Depot Street. Names like Vienna Avenue, Salt Springs Road, McDonald Avenue, North Road, South and West streets acted as compasses for those hardy immigrants.

First United Presbyterian Church. This first church was constructed in 1849-1850 on a lot donated by James Heaton on the southwest corner of N. Main & Church Sts. The plan of the church was colonial in effect and had two front entrances facing Main St. The pulpit was located between the two front doors and the floor sloped upward to the rear of the church. In the mid 1860's the interior was remodeled and the pulpit moved to the rear of the sanctuary.

A most intriguing way to learn about the people who built this city is to research its street names. Harmon Heaton, Pew, Hyde, Pratt, Allison, Battles are a partial listing of Niles’ earliest families. Memories of those long ago merchants and industrialists still live in the cement markers which read Ward, Crandon, Robbins, Russell, Bentley, Sayers, Mason and Wood.

The Dr. A.J. Leitch residence, located on the corner of W. Park Ave. & Butler St. in Niles.

Built before 1895 in the Italianate Villa Style of Victorian architecture, it was the home of the President of First National Bank, and later the home of Harry & Ethel Mason Evans.

A little bit of reading discloses two Masons, H. H. and Ambrose, so the city map gives credit to both. The Bentleys were bankers. E. A. Gilbert and J. H. Baldwin were 19th century industrialists. Thomas Russell came from Lisbon in 1841, an associate of James Ward in the building of a furnace on the Mahoning River. Founder James Heaton’s story is a familiar one. Even the daughters of these early families have their names immortalized on city maps – Ann and Emma Streets, Helen and Margaret Avenues, Estelle Court and Eliza Alley. One, Mrs. Ann Mason Williams, could boast three times over.

Residence of H. M. Lewis located at 170 N. Arlington, Niles. Still standing and still occupied. Reprinted from Artwork of Trumbull & Ashtabula Counties, published 1895. Until the 1880s, Arlington was referred to as 'Mechanic' street.

W. C. Allison was a lumber yard operator and related by marriage to William McKinley. B. F. Pew was the organizer and first president of the Niles Board of Trade as well as one of the first trustees of Union Cemetery. J. K. Wilson was a town clerk and Misters Harris, Wagstaff, and Hartzell were well-to-do businessmen.

W.C. Allison whose residence is still standing and occupied at the corner of Robbins Ave. and Washington, was involved in the Allison & Co. Lumber Yard & Mill located near the Erie depot around the turn of the century.

Prior to 1900, the list of local mayors and postmasters include surnames, Davis, Leslie, Ohl, and Hunter, as well as the more familiar, Mason, Robbins and Ambrose. Locating their names on city maps indicates the growth of the city in all directions and its emergence as a center of industry.

Nationwide, towns have customarily honored past presidents, and older Niles was no exception. The street markers constantly remind us of such great men as Washington, Lincoln, Grant, McKinley, Harrison, Madison, Taft and Roosevelt. Colonial history was kept alive by our forebears on such roads as Penn Avenue, Franklin Avenue, and Lafayette Street.

Proud of the roll Ohio played in the Civil War, community officials of that period were responsible for such markers as Stanton, Sherman, and Sheridan.

Little is left to remind us that the Indian did come and go across our fields. Directories list a Seneca Street and an Indian Trail. Do you suppose they trapped the beaver that gave their name to Beaver Street?

Pioneers of the early 1800’s found northeastern Ohio a densely wooded region. Some of Niles’ first streets were named for trees; Cherry, Maple, Chestnut, Linden, Poplar, Cedar and Hazel. More recent additions of this type are Hickory Lane and Spruce Court.

The Carmella House located on Maple St. in Niles. This well known downtown merchant came to Niles in 1900 and ran a confectionary store and ice cream parlor

A few of the early planners must have had an affinity for the aesthetic because names like Pleasant, Woodland, Fairlawn and Gardenland appear. Others used no imagination at all, tagging streets with numbers, First, Second, Third and...

The opportunity to learn to read and spell the names of streets is as close to school children as street signs that identify Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming and Dakota.

Today’s developers are not history-minded. They don’t honor war heroes or space age greats. Deep inside a few of them is the desire to be remembered by posterity so their names are on the streets which they built… Wade and George and Mauro Court.

Local builders whose roots are deeply attached to the family name in their neighborhood like Shaker Heights pay respect to their relatives when new avenues have to be identified. But most support the “catchy” combination or phrase. These no longer read Street and Avenue, but Lane and Drive: Pepperwood Drive, Summerberry Lane and Buckeye Lane as well as Blossom Drive.

Another fad is the foreign expression such as, Bonnie Brae, Buena Vista and Belle Terre. Romantic-sounding names Barcelona and Valencia heighten interest in an area for young home buyers. And ad-men know well the value of the euphonious, so they event a Lantern Lane and a Windward Way.
Practical, patriotic, or pretentious; street names are all signs of the times...