Mount Airy Forest recommended for National Register

The Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board has recommended Mount Airy Forest for the National Register of Historic Places.

The recommendation now goes to state historic preservation officer Dr. William K. Laidlaw Jr., who may choose to forward it to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places for consideration.

A decision from the Keeper is expected within 90 days.

Mount Airy Forest, the largest park in Cincinnati's park system at just under 1,470 acres, was created in 1911 with the acquisition of 168-acres of depleted produce and dairy farms.

The majority of the park was developed during the Great Depression with federal funding and federal labor programs, including the Works Progress Administration, the Civil Works Administration, and the African-American Civilian Conservation Corps.

The nomination also recognizes the design of landscape architect George E. Kessler and state forester Edmund Secrest, the quality of construction of its rustic structures, and for the work of R. Carl Freund, the park board architect who designed 12 buildings in the park between 1930 and 1959.

Also at the meeting, the board approved the content of the "Historic Resources of the Cincinnati Park and Parkway System 1817-1959" study, which could become the basis for deciding which components of the City's parks and parkway system are eligible for National Register listing; and recommended the Charles C. Meade House in Loveland for the Ohio State Registry of Archaeological and Historic Landmarks.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Ohio Historic Preservation Office
Photography by Scott Beseler