McNamara & Conner Subdivision

It was June 15, 1890 -- 125 years ago -- that this advertisement ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, June 15, 1890.

It is interesting to see what they thought buyers would appreciate about the location. At the top of the list was good commuting with convenient passenger trains to downtown -- 40 a day! Also good schools and churches, streets and sidewalks, public electricity and water (soon to come).

Below is an image of the McNamara & Conner subdivision plat. It was actually the third time these blocks were subdivided into lots. There were two earlier subdivision plans including this area filed by the Lockland Wyoming Improvement Company, but apparently no lots from the first two platted subdivisions ever sold. Timothy E. McNamara and Oliver E. Conner purchased these 10.87 acres in April 1890, and had this plan prepared in June of that year.

Looking at the plan, you can see that the lots fronting on Burns Avenue are the largest, 70 feet wide, with those facing Grove slightly smaller, 60 feet wide, and the lots on Crescent Avenue yet even smaller, at 50 feet wide. The subdivision's designer appears to have planned in advance for larger homes on Burns, and smaller, more affordable homes next to the railroad tracks.

The 1890 advertisement stated that McNamara & Conner would build "a few elegant" residences on the lots, but save a handful of homes constructed in the 1890s, most homes in the subdivision weren't built until the early twentieth century, and are more modest dwellings.

Only home in McNamara & Conner Subdivision built in 1890 according to Hamilton County Auditor records.
Source: Hamilton County Auditor.

Today there are 35 houses in these three blocks. Based on information from the Hamilton County Auditor, only 6 homes were built in the subdivision in the 1890s--most of those on the corners adjacent to Cooper Avenue. Another 5 houses were built in the 1900s, all on Crescent Avenue. During the 1910s 6 houses were constructed. During the boom years of the 1920s, 11 homes were built, and 5 more in the 1930s. Only 2 homes have been added in these blocks since World War II.

Researching the lives of the men who financed and marketed the subdivision, Timothy E. McNamara and Oliver E. Conner, reveals that they were businessmen with a diversity of interests. In addition to a real estate partnership, McNamara and Conner also shared ownership of an 1885 patent for a hand fire extinguisher.

Source: Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent Office, vol. 31 no. 11, June 16, 1885.  

Oliver E. Conner (1847-1922) focused his career on real estate. Below is his obituary.

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, October 4, 1922.

Real estate was a sidelight for Timothy E. McNamara (1846-1911), who was primarily in the distillery business. He spent part of his career managing the Millcreek Distilling Company, subsidiary of the Standard Distilling Company.