View Place Through the Ages

At the southern end of Springfield Township is a quiet residential community called the View Place Area. Its name was derived from View Place Drive which runs off North Bend Road and affords the only accessibility to the community.

The area encompasses one-half square mile and is comprised of 263 homes located on fifteen streets. The land is quite hilly with elevations ranging between 750 and 960 feet above sea level. It is basically located on a hillside overlooking Millcreek Valley to the east.

Early records indicate the land was once owned by Clara Ingersoll and Harold Anderson. In 1953 Ms. Ingersoll sold her portion of the area to Frank L. Jackson and Walter Tiemeyer who began dividing up the land into lots for houses. In 1963, Mr. Tiemeyer sold his protion to Morton Bruce. As the developers, Mr. Jackson and Mr. Bruce had the streets paved and the area surveyed so they could divide up the land into five areas known as Beacon Heights, Brookhill, Jill's Hill, Valley View Acres, and View Place Subdivisions.

In the beginning the area was not served by utilities. After building their homes, early residents banned together to form the View Place Civic Association and petitioned The Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company to install electric and gas service. Subsequently water mains and telephone lines were extended in the area. One of the early settlers who still resides in the area is Mrs. Arlene Norris. She and her husband built their home on Beechtree in 1955. Theirs was the fourth residence built in the area.

In 1959, St. Xavier High School was constructed at the corner of North Bend Road and View Place Drive. A sewer line was installed from the school to an interceptor adjacent to Galbraith Road. Any of the residents of View Place that were on the high side of the this new sewer line were invited to tap into it at that time. Some residents took advantage of this opportunity and made the connection.

in 1959, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Cushman purchased 12 acres of land and several houses at the north end of the area from Harold Anderson. Mr. Cushman owned a business in Reading and in his spare time he planted and cultivated a peony farm on this land. Each year thousands of blooms could be seen on this farm before they were cut and taken to market. After retiring, Mr. Cushman sold his property to the Covenant Apostolic Church. In 1980, the church-school building was constructed on this land.

In 1993 a section of Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway was constructed on the north end of the community after many years of delay. This construction required the demolition of 5 housed in the area with subsequent loss of one street and shortening of another. There is no access to this highway from this community.

The View Place Civic Association is very active in civic affairs and organizes a number of activities for adults plus parades and parties for children during the various holidays.

- Submitted by Art Badger